Graduate School Newsblog

AREMA 2013 Annual Conference scholarship winners

Published October 17, 2013

Seventeen students from the Michigan Tech Rail Transportation Program (RTP) traveled to Indianapolis to attend the 2013 Railway Interchange Exhibition and American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) 2013 Annual Conference. Students attended technical sessions and committee meetings. The students also provided support for the National University Rail Center (NURail) booth at the Exhibition. Michigan Tech is a member of the seven university NURail consortium.

Michigan Tech students, Antonio Passariello and Tanja Mattonen, were invited to be two of the four student interns of the Conference Operating Committee. Seven Michigan Tech RTP students were identified as AREMA scholarship winners, pulling in over $7,000 in scholarships and 20 percent of the winners nationwide. Congratulations to: Dylan Anderson, Chris Blessing, Antonio Passariello, Sean Pengelly, Hamed Pouryousef, Irfan Rasul, and Nicholas Lanoue. Click here for a complete description of the scholarships.

Pasi Lautala, 2007 PhD graduate, received the second prize in the AREMA Member-Get-A-Member Campaign, awarded at the annual conference.

Published in Tech Today.

Michigan Space Grant Consortium Funding Opportunities

Published October 17, 2013

By smcrisma

Funding Opportunities

The Michigan Space Grant Consortium announces funding opportunities in the following categories: Undergraduate Fellowship, Graduate Fellowship, Pre-College Education, Public Outreach, Teacher Training, and Research Seed Grant.

The deadline for proposal packages is no later than Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 5 p.m.

The internal Michigan Tech deadline is noon on Wednesday, Nov. 13.

To read announcements, submission requirements, and to submit a proposal, please visit the MSGC website and click the Fellowship Program tab, the Program tab, or the Research Seed Grant tab. Note–Proposals that exceed the page limits specified will not be considered.

Specific information regarding Michigan Tech requirements and submission procedures can be found at funding. For more information contact Paige Hackney (phackney@mtu.eduor 487-4371).

Women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply to all MSGC funding opportunities.

Published in Tech Today

Stepping Out in Style: Toward an Artificial Leg with a Natural Gait

Published October 17, 2013

By smcrisma

Humans rarely walk the straight and narrow; something’s always in the way. So Michigan Tech scientists are developing a computer-controlled prosthesis to make it much easier for amputees to turn as they walk.

In cooperation with a Mayo Clinic scientist, researchers at Michigan Tech are taking a giant step toward solving the problem. They are making a bionic foot that could make an amputee’s walk in the park feel, well, like a walk in the park.

Assistant Professor Mo Rastgaar and PhD student Evandro Ficanha

The secret lies in the ankle. Mo Rastgaar, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering–engineering mechanics, and PhD student Evandro Ficanha are working on a microprocessor-controlled ankle-foot prosthesis that comes close to achieving the innate range of motion of this highly complex joint.

These computerized artificial legs have pressure-sensitive sensors on the bottom of the foot that detect how the amputee is walking. The sensors instantaneously send signals to a microprocessor, which in turn adjusts the prosthesis to make walking more natural.

For the full story see Michigan Tech News

Published in Tech Today by Marcia Goodrich, magazine editor

Cyber Citizens article published in UP news website

Published October 17, 2013

By smcrisma

Upper Peninsula Second Wave, a UP news website, published article about Michigan Tech’s Cyber Citizens and their development of a citizen scientist smartphone application called EthnoApp.

The Cyber Citizens project goal is to build smartphone apps and websites that connect average citizens with scientists to help acquire valuable environmental information across the world.

A team of graduate and undergrad students at Tech led by Alex Mayer, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Robert Pastel, a professor of computer science, have worked to develop four different apps so far.

For more on the article, click here

Published in Tech Today

Alumnus featured during NBC Evening News

Published October 14, 2013

By smcrisma

News

RTC graduate and retired Army lieutenant colonel Otha Thornton ’01 was featured during the NBC Evening News Oct. 8 with Brian Williams because of his new role as president of the National PTA. Thornton, who was on Michigan Tech’s ROTC faculty, is the first African American man to serve in that capacity.

Published in Tech Today.

New Module: Incorporating Information Literacy into Instruction

Published October 14, 2013

By smcrisma

Announcements

The Van Pelt and Opie Library and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) invite faculty and graduate students to attend a module, Incorporating Information Literacy into Instruction, consisting of three one-hour sequential workshops.

Instruction and Learning Librarian Sarah Lucchesi is delivering the module through theCTL’s University Teaching and Learning (UTL) Seminars program. In this module, using the framework of Michigan Tech information literacy rubric for undergraduate students (learning goal #6), we will explore the library’s information resources, digital tools for keeping current in a field of study and assignment elements that allow students to practice information literacy skills.

Faculty and graduate students are welcome to register only for this three-workshop series, or as a part of the complete UTL Course Design program. The workshop sessions are:

Monday, Nov. 4th, 11th and 18th
11 a.m. to noon in Library 242

Please register by noon, Friday, Nov. 1.

If you have any questions, contact instrlib@mtu.edu

Published in Tech Today.

WWF funding and fellowship opportunities

Published October 14, 2013

By smcrisma

Funding Opportunities

The Luc Hoffmann Institute pursues synthesis ideas that will deliver cutting edge results with a clear pathway to application for decision makers and civil society practitioners in WWF’s key focus areas. WWF focus areas can be broken into goals focused onpriority places and priority species, and goals focused on reducing human impact, or the human footprint. Many of these goals receive additional focus through WWF’s Global Initiatives.

Our next call for full proposals is JANUARY 5th, 2014. For this call, we are accepting proposal ideas across the full suite of WWF focus areas, with a particular focus on synthesis proposals relevant to the goals of WWF Global Initiatives, as well as proposals that explore trade-offs and consequences of alternative social, economic, and ecological futures in the greater Yangtze River area.

To allow enough time to make the next proposal deadline, we recommend that you send us your proposal ideas no later than December 1st, 2013.

If you have any questions related to our process, or in submitting your idea, please contact Emilie Cavallo at ecavallo@wwfint.org.

Proposal submission is a two-step process.

Accepting applications for 2014 Ford Foundation Fellowships Programs

Published October 10, 2013

By smcrisma

Applications are being accepted for the 2014 Ford Foundation Fellowships Programs for Achieving Excellence in College and University Teaching. Full eligibility information and online applications are available on our website at: http://nationalacademies.org/ford

Eligibility Requirements:

U.S. citizens, nationals, permanent residents, or individuals granted deferred action status under the DACA program
Planning a career in teaching and research at the college or university level in a research-based filed of science, social science or humanities

Stipends and Allowances:

Predoctoral–$20,000 to the fellow, institutional allowance of $2,000 for three years
Dissertation–$21,000 for one year
Postdoctoral–$40,000 for one year, $1,500 employing institution allowance, to be matched by employing institution

Awardees have expenses paid to attend one Conference of Ford Fellows.

Approximately 60 predoctoral, 35 dissertation, and 24 postdoctoral fellowships sponsored by the Ford Foundation and administered by the National Research Council of the National Academies.

Application Deadline Dates:

Predoctoral: November 20, 2013
Dissertation: November 15, 2013
Postdoctoral: November 15, 2013

For Further information please contact:

Fellowships Office, Keck 576
National Research Council of the National Academies
500 Fifth Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202.334.2872
Fax: 202.334.3419

infofell@nas.edu

To the Moon: Michigan Tech Alumnus Contributes to Lunar Mission

Published October 10, 2013

By smcrisma

News

Aboard a spacecraft orbiting the moon is a little bit of Brandon Dilworth.

His body is comfortably here on Earth. But for the last several years, Dilworth has poured all his professional skill and passion into a game-changing scientific project that is now hitching a ride on the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer. Launched by NASA Sept. 6. LADEE (dubbed “laddie”) left its Earth orbit Oct. 2 and entered a lunar orbit Oct. 6., Soon, the technical project that Dilworth has been working on at MIT Lincoln Laboratory for the last four years will spring into action.

“I’ve supported the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration since my first day at Lincoln,” he said. “I got my PhD in August 2009, drove out to Massachusetts, and started work the next Monday.”

Since Dilworth earned his master’s and doctorate in mechanical engineering at Michigan Tech, he has been working on equipment that will revolutionize space communication.

The full release is posted on the Michigan Tech news site.

Published in Tech Today.