Styles in Word are used to format text consistently throughout your document. Each paragraph may have a single style applied to it. For each paragraph, styles define the:
Styles are found on the Home tab of Word, in the Styles section (boxed in the figure below).
The University is closed on Thursday, November 28th and Friday, November 29th. When the University is closed, the “two week” rule for submitting drafts is relaxed to the next available business day. The Graduate School does not expect students to submit drafts to the committee or the Graduate School when the University is closed (but the Pre-defense form will still calculate these dates as the “due” dates).
Additionally, the University is scheduling campus wide home directory maintenance from Thursday Nov. 28, 7 p.m., through Sunday Dec. 1, 11 p.m. During this time:
To track progress during the upgrade please visit http://status.it.mtu.edu.
If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, about the planned upgrade, please call the User Services help desk at 487-1111 or email it-help@mtu.edu for assistance.
Save time by using EndNote software to manage your citations. No prior knowledge of EndNote is required for this workshop. The session will cover: how to create and build an EndNote library, how to add references from online databases and PDFs, best practices for organizing your citations and incorporating references into a Microsoft Word document using EndNote’s “cite while you write” tool. The workshop is at 3 p.m. Tuesday, July 10 in Library 242 Register here.
Tabs can be used to align text in a document. This is very useful for lining up the numbers in the table of contents, equations in the body of the document, or lining up lists of items. Spaces should never be used to line up items, since each character in a font is a different width. Precise alignment of items is only possible with a tab.
Learn how Endnote can save you hours of time in the library research and document preparation process!
The Van Pelt and Opie Library is offering two, free EndNote Basics workshops for Michigan Tech graduate students on March 26 and March 28. EndNote is citation management software which allows anyone to easily collect, organize and use their research references.
In this free library workshop participants will learn the basic skills for building a collection of citations, how to manage their collection and how to include the citations in their documents. The workshop will also go over how to easily create bibliographies.
The sessions will be held:
Seating is limited. Please sign up today by sending and email to: libraryworkshop@mtu.edu
The Graduate School is pleased to announce the Michigan Tech nominees for the Council of Graduate Schools/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award.
Environmental and Energy Policy
Valoree Gagnon
Chemistry
Melanie Talaga
I started my Ph.D. in the Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics Department at Michigan Tech in May 2018 under the guidance of Profs. Mahdi Shahbakhti and Darrell Robinette. My research work is in the field of automotive powertrain controls and focuses on developing physics-based control systems for reducing undesirable noise and vibration characteristics called clunk and shuffle, respectively, in automobiles. The goals of this project are to improve the driving comfort in passenger vehicles while simultaneously reducing vehicle development time and calibration effort. Therefore, our work aims at providing benefits to both the customer and the manufacturer of the vehicle. This is an industry-focused project and we have been collaborating with an automotive OEM to exchange ideas and our results from this work.
I am thankful to the Graduate school, the MEEM department, and our industry partner for supporting me throughout my Ph.D., through assistantships, and this fellowship. This fellowship will help me focus on wrapping up my Ph.D. deliverables and finishing my thesis.
Aref Majdara
Electrical Engineering
I came to Michigan Tech in August 2013 to pursue my PhD in Electrical Engineering. I completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in my home country, Iran.
My PhD research is focused on developing computationally efficient algorithms for non-parametric high-dimensional density estimation, with applications in density-based data mining and machine learning techniques.
Besides research activities, since Fall 2014, I have been working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, and I had the opportunity to teach five different ECE labs during seven semesters, which has been an invaluable experience for me.
I am truly grateful to the Graduate School for providing me with financial support through the Doctoral Finishing Fellowship. This fellowship has made it possible for me to put my entire focus on publishing my research and completing my thesis, towards completion of my PhD degree this semester.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to MTU Alumni and Friends, for making this fellowship possible through their generous donations.
I joined Michigan Technological University as a Ph.D. student in the Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics Department in Fall 2017. I obtained my Masters’ degree from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, and a Bachelors’ degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in Mechanical Engineering. Before I started pursuing my Ph.D., I was engaged as a faculty member in the Military Institute of Science and Technology in Bangladesh.
At Michigan Tech, I work at the Laboratory of Mechanics & Modeling of Advanced Materials under Dr. Trisha Sain’s supervision. We develop experimentally informed multiscale, coupled multiphysics continuum level models to predict the constitutive response of polymers and their composites: from the manufacturing stage to operational condition until failure. I mainly study the thermal aging and degradation of these materials in their operating environments at great detail. Our model predicts aging-related phenomena in these materials, such as oxidation-induced cracking, property degradation, ductile to brittle transformation, and the constitutive response changes.
I am grateful to the graduate school of MTU for the financial support through the doctoral finishing fellowship for the fall semester. This aid will surely help me to complete my thesis on time.
I began my PhD journey at Michigan Technological University with a desire to make healthcare more accessible through low-cost, reliable diagnostics. My research focuses on developing molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) biosensors—customizable, shelf-stable devices designed as alternatives to traditional antibody-based systems. By tailoring the polymerization conditions and integrating nanomaterials, I aim to enhance the sensitivity and stability of these sensors for use in point-of-care applications.
This work is driven by the belief that everyone deserves access to timely medical testing. MIP sensors hold great promise for use in underserved areas, where refrigeration or specialized lab equipment may not be available. Their potential to address healthcare gaps in remote or low-resource settings is one of the most exciting parts of my research.
During my time at Michigan Tech, I have published two articles on MIP-based cortisol and lactate sensors, with a third currently pending publication. I’ve had the honor of receiving the Health Research Institute Fellowship and several presentation awards. Beyond research, I’ve served as a Graduate Student Government representative, helping organize events such as the Alumni Poster Session, 3-Minute Thesis, and Graduate Research Colloquium—experiences that have strengthened my commitment to supporting the graduate student community.
One of the highlights of my time at MTU has been serving as a teaching assistant and mentoring students in our lab. These experiences have inspired me to pursue a future career in academia, where I hope to foster curiosity and hands-on learning in the next generation of engineers.
I am sincerely grateful to the Graduate School and the Graduate Dean Awards Advisory Panel for this fellowship. I’d also like to thank my advisor, Dr. Yixin Liu, the Chemical Engineering Department, and my friends and family for their unwavering support.