| Michigan Space Grants Available |
| The Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) is inviting applications for 2010-11. The application and review processes are online at www.umich.edu/~msgc .
Funding is available for the following: * Fellowship Program Michigan Tech’s MSGC liaison is Chris Anderson, special assistant to the president for Institutional Diversity. For more information, contact Anderson at csanders@mtu.edu or Michigan Tech’s MSGC Assistant, Carol Argentati, at 487-2474 or caargent@mtu.edu . Applications are due to Institutional Diversity no later than 3:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 16. The process for submission is as follows: 1) Create a budget be contacting Kellie Buss at Research and Sponsored Programs at 487-2226 or by email at kellie@mtu.edu . 2) Complete online forms at www.umich.edu/~msgc (but do not submit until after step 4). 3) Complete transmittal form by clicking here . 4) Print the materials and bring them to Institutional Diversity, which will provide a letter of approval to submit. Step 4 needs to be completed during the week of Nov. 16. |
The Graduate School is pleased to announce the arrival of new theses and dissertations from our recent graduates in the J. R. Van Pelt Library and John and Ruanne Opie Library. The names of our graduates, their degrees, advisors, and titles of their research are listed below.
R Adam Blankenbicker
Master of Science in Geology
Advisor: William I Rose
Thesis title: Video Analysis of Small Vulcanian Explosions at Santiaguito, Guatemala
Elizabeth Boisvert
Master of Science in Applied Ecology
Advisor: Thomas Grant Pypker
Thesis title: Initiation and Development of Three Lake Superior Coastal Peatlands
Daw Don Cheam
Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering
Advisor: Paul L Bergstrom
Dissertation title: Integration of Room Temperature Single Electron Transistor with CMOS Subsystem
Brandon Dilworth
Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Advisor: Jason R Blough
Dissertation title: Identification of Ground and Environmental Effects to the Pass-by Noise Testing of Snowmobiles
Varun Gouthaman
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Advisor: Reza Shahbazian Yassar
Thesis title: Micro-Fabrication of a Bio-MEMS Based Force Sensor to Measure the Force Response of Living Cells
Erik Hayenga
Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric and Technical Communication
Advisor: Marilyn M Cooper
Dissertation title: Ethics in Illustruction: Safety Cartoons in John Deere Tractor and Combine Harvester Operator’s Manuals, 1945-2007
John Hribljan
Master of Science in Biological Sciences
Advisor: Janice M Glime
Thesis title: The Influence of Moss and Litter Chemical Traits on Bryophagy in a Northern Temperate Forest Invertebrate, Porcellio scaber LATR.
Nicholas Jensen
Master of Science in Forest Ecology and Management
Advisor: Christopher Raymond Webster
Thesis title: Ungulate Winter Habitat Selection as a Driver of Heterogeneity in Ground-Layer Plant Communities
Samuel Johnson
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Advisor: Jeffrey Donald Naber
Thesis title: Premixed Lean Gas Combustion and HPCR Rate of Injection used with a Constant Volume Combustion Vessel
Eric Kalenauskas
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Advisor: Jeffrey Allen
Thesis title: Calibration Methods of an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler & Investigations of the Critical Wavenumber in Unstable Evaporating Thin Films
Keong Aik Lau
Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering
Advisor: Tony Neal Rogers
Dissertation title: Theoretical and Experimental Studies of the Temperature Dependence of the Henry’s Law Constant of Organic Solutes in Water
Shannon Lerner
Master of Science in Rhetoric and Technical Communication
Co-advisors: Marilyn M Cooper and Jnan Ananda Blau
Thesis title: Martin Buber and Luce Irigaray: Liminality and Historical Spiritual Moments
Kathryn Marlor
Master of Science in Forest Ecology and Management
Advisor: Rodney A Chimner
Thesis title: Determining the Role of Environmental Factors and Disturbance in the Distribution of Reed Canary Grass within Wetlands
Benjamin Melitz
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Advisor: Charles D Van Karsen
Thesis title: Feasibility Assessment of Inverse Frequency Based Substructuring to Obtain Automotive Powertrain Mount Properties
Jonathan Mellor
Master of Science in Environmental Engineering
Advisor: David W Watkins
Thesis title: Water and Sanitation Accessibility and the Health of Rural Ugandans
Bode Morin
Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial Heritage and Archaeology
Advisor: Terry S Reynolds
Dissertation title: Reflection, Refraction, and Rejection: Copper Smelting Heritage and the Execution of Environmental Policy
James Nugent
Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric and Technical Communication
Advisor: Robert R Johnson
Dissertation title: United States Certificate Programs in Technical Communication: A Feminist-Sophistic Investigation
Paul Pawelzik
Master of Science in Civil Engineering
Advisor: Qiong Zhang
Thesis title: A Life Cycle Analysis Methodology: Incorporating Technological Advances Over Time A Study of the Environmental Impact of Cellulosic Ethanol with Technological Advances over Time
Russell Stacy
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Advisor: Jeffrey Allen
Thesis title: Contact Angle Measurement Technique for Rough Surfaces
The SMART scholarship Program is a highly-selective, prestigious, national program that fully supports graduate and undergraduate education. Michigan Tech is recognized as one of the top schools in terms of SMART recipients. Our goal, in collaboration with the Department of Defense is to “greatly increase” the number of Michigan Tech SMART recipients.
The Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) scholarship-for-service Program fully funds graduate degrees in a wide range of technical areas, including all fields of engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and Mathematics. Recipients receive:
- Full tuition to any accredited U.S. University
- A very generous stipend
- $36, 000 for masters candiates
- 38,000- $41,000 for doctoral candidates
- $1000 Book allowance
- Health Insurance
- All required student fees
- Travel fees for internships
Deadline: December 15th
Please contact Jodi Lehman (jglehman@mtu.edu) if interested in applying.
In Tech Today
Alex Guth, PhD student, online lecturer, and Kenyan geology researcher, served as an expert for a National Geographic television show airing next spring.
The focus of the TV special is the concept of Pangea, the super continent that once existed before the current continents parted ways. The region of Kenya where the film crew worked is an important, and famous, marker in the theory, as it was once connected to the island Madagascar. The proof is in the animals, lemurs to be exact, that exist in both spots.
“I couldn’t speak as a biologist,” Guth said. But she could discuss her areas of expertise:
- mapping a visual history of the rift (her master’s research).
- tracking the history of climate change, paleo-climatology, in the region (her PhD focus).
These are 10-million-year histories.
For more information, and a picture of Alex in action, see an extended article on the Michigan Tech news site.
The Graduate School is pleased to announce the arrival of new theses and dissertations from our recent graduates in the J. R. Van Pelt Library and John and Ruanne Opie Library. The names of our graduates, their degrees, advisors, and titles of their research are listed below.
Ganesh Kumar Arumugam
Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry
Advisor: Patricia A Heiden
Dissertation Title: Controlled Nanostructures for Optoelectronic and Other Advanced Applications
Xin Bai
Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry
Advisor: Richard E Brown
Dissertation Title: Ab Initio Studies for Solvated Electrons in Hydrogen Fluoride, Water and Ammonia, The Dipole-Electron Interaction and Hydrogen Bonding
Emily C Fossum
Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics
Advisor: Lyon B King
Dissertation Title: Electron Mobility in ExB Devices
Jennifer M Heglund
Master of Science in Environmental Engineering
Advisor: Brian D Barkdoll
Thesis Title: Effects of Climate Change Induced Heavy Precipitation Events on Sediment Transport in Lower Michigan Rivers
Laura E Hernandez
Master of Science in Civil Engineering
Advisor: Stanley J Vitton
Thesis Title: Integrating the American Society of Civil Engineer’s Body of Knowledge into Soil Mechanics Laboratory Curriculum
Xiukui Li
Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering
Advisor: Seyed A Zekavat
Dissertation Title: Cognitive Radio Based Dynamic Spectrum Sharing
Joseph Miller
Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering
Advisor: William M Bulleit
Dissertation Title: Design and Analysis of Mechanically Laminated Timber Beams Using Shear Keys
Sowmya S Moily
Master of Science in Electrical Engineering
Co-advisors: Jindong Tan and Byung K Choi
Thesis Title: PayOne: Incentive for Epidemic Protocol-based Anonymity System
Puspamitra Panigrahi
Doctor of Philosophy in Physics
Advisor: Ranjit Pati
Dissertation Title: Controlling Electronic and Magnetic Properties of Ultra Narrow Multilayered Nanowires
Raja S Payyavula
Doctor of Philosophy in Forest Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology
Co-advisors: Chung-Jui Tsai and Scott A Harding
Dissertation Title: An Investigation of Phenolic Glycoside and Condensed Tannin Homeostasis in Populus by Salicyl Alcohol Feeding to Cell Cultures and by Transgenic Manipulation of the Sucrose Transporter, PTSUT4, IN PLANTA
Tongquan Wei
Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering
Advisor: Piyush Mishra
Dissertation Title: Energy-Efficient Fault-Tolerance Schemes for Multi-Core Hard Real-Time Systems
For over a year, Michigan Technological University’s EcoCAR Enterprise team members have been brainstorming and building a next-generation hybrid vehicle on their computers. Now they are ready to roll.
The team has taken delivery on a 2009 Saturn Vue Hybrid, a cross-over vehicle. General Motors, a major sponsor of EcoCar, donated new Vues to Michigan Tech and the 16 other US and Canadian universities participating in the competition.
To read more about EcoCAR and the Tech team’s strategy, see this story on the Michigan Tech News site.
Federal Stimulus Funds a Boon for Sustainability Studies at Michigan Tech, Part 2
by Marcia Goodrich, senior writerMichigan Tech is receiving over $3 million in federal funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, courtesy of the National Science Foundation. All four grants address sustainability topics. In the first part of a two-part series, we reviewed the three research projects made possible by federal stimulus funds. Today, we look at a new fellowship program that will improve doctoral students’ communication skills by bringing them into middle school classrooms.
Global Watershed GK12 Fellowships: Diving Deep into Water Topics with Middle School Teachers, Students
Starting this fall, Michigan Tech PhD students will begin an in-depth, collaborative effort to bring the engineering, natural science and political aspects of water resources to middle school students and their teachers. Professor Alex Mayer (CEE), director of the Center for Water and Society, anticipates that the effort will go beyond raising young people’s awareness of water issues. “Our goal is to give our doctoral students enthusiasm for communicating their work and a lifelong commitment to working with K12 schools,” he said.
Graduate students can have difficulty explaining their research to those outside their discipline, said Mayer. Yet, good communication skills are critical on multiple fronts, including teaching, professional advancement, and particularly for generating public understanding and support for science. “Communicating with lay people is difficult even for us who have been in the business for many years,” he said. “If our PhD students can learn to engage middle school students, they can reach any audience.”
Over its five-year length, the $2.5-million program will provide two-year Global Watershed GK12 fellowships to 18 PhD students, starting with five in summer 2010. The fellowships will consist of a generous stipend and tuition and fees. Each participant will be paired with a middle school teacher. Under the supervision of their teachers, the graduate students will deliver lessons on water-related topics, including their own work. They will also serve as a resource for their teacher on water-related topics.
The students will work in school districts throughout the western and central Upper Peninsula. In districts that serve a high proportion of Native American students, they will work with a consultant to make sure their lessons reflect native culture.
The program also has an international component. In cooperation with the Colegio Muñoz school system in Hermosillo, Sonora, Spanish-speaking PhD students will be paired with teachers in Mexico, in areas where water shortages have reached a critical level.
“They will give the teachers tools they can use even after the students leave their classrooms, and they will engage the middle school students to pursue careers related to water and watersheds,” Mayer said. “They can become ambassadors to the community from their university and connect with tomorrow’s citizens while furthering their own professional development.”
It will take an extra commitment from the PhD students, adding about a semester to their studies. But it will also give them advantages, especially if they join a university faculty, Mayer said. The National Science Foundation requires that many grant proposals, including the prestigious CAREER awards, include a K12 component. New faculty members who have participated in these fellowships should have no trouble involving K12 students and teachers in their work.
Coprincipal investigators on the grant are Associate Professor Nancy Auer (Biological Sciences), Associate Professor Linda Nagel (SFRES), Chair Bradley Baltensperger (Cognitive and Learning Sciences) and Shawn Oppliger, director of the Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, (Mathematics and Environmental Education).
The Graduate School is now accepting nominations for the spring 2010 Finishing Fellowship competition. Complete applications are due to the Graduate School no later than 4pm on October 29, 2009.
See our web page for complete information about the application procedure. Contact Debra Charlesworth with any questions.
Students are eligible if all of the following criteria are met:
- Must be a PhD student.
- Must expect to finish during the semester supported as a finishing fellow.
- Must have submitted a Petition to Enter Full-Time Research Only Mode. No Finishing Fellowships will be awarded to students who fail to receive approval of their petition.
The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) has established the DOE Office of Science Graduate Fellowship ( DOE SCGF) program to support outstanding students to pursue graduate training in basic research in areas of physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, engineering, computational sciences, and environmental sciences relevant to the Office of Science and to encourage the development of the next generation scientific and technical talent in the U.S.
The Fellowship award provides partial tuition support, an annual stipend for living expenses, and a research stipend for full-time graduate study and thesis/dissertation research at a U.S. academic institution for three years.
Application deadline is November 30th
Please email jglehman@mtu.edu if you are interested in applying.
Published in Tech Today
There will be several upcoming flu vaccine clinics available through Michigan Tech Counseling and Wellness Services and Portage Health.
The influenza vaccine (flu shot) is recommended for everyone, but especially for people living in close quarters, such as residence halls, and for people who have chronic health issues such as asthma and diabetes. The flu shot may not be given to people who have a severe allergy to eggs, as eggs are used in the manufacture of the vaccine.
Upcoming clinic dates:
Tuesday, Oct. 13
11 a.m to 4 p.m.
Memorial Union Peninsula Room
Wednesday, Oct. 21
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Memorial Union Ballroom A
Wednesday, Oct. 21
4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Wads G17/19
Cost of the vaccine is $25, payable with cash, check (to Portage Health), or credit card.
Important note: Anyone under the age of 18 cannot be vaccinated without parental permission. If this pertains to you, request a permission form from wellness@mtu.edu .
For more information, contact Counseling and Wellness Services at 487-2538 or wellness@mtu.edu . To find out more about influenza and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccination recommendations, click here .
More information about the H1N1 flu, ways to prevent it, and what to do if you have influenza like illness can be found on the University’s web site.