Graduate School Newsblog

Tag: Awards

Spring 2010 Finishing Fellowships Awarded

Published
By

The Graduate School has awarded its Finishing Fellowships for spring 2010.

The following PhD candidates have received a one-time award:

  • Shreehari Elangovan, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
  • Margot J. Hutchins, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
  • Aaron David LaLonde, Materials Science and Engineering
  • Sara Robinson, Forest Science
  • Yuejun Yin, Civil Engineering

The fellowships are made possible by the Graduate School.

Application procedures for the Graduate School fellowship programs and photographs of recent recipients can be found online. Nominations are currently open for Finishing Fellowships and Dean’s Fellowships.

If you have any questions, contact Debra Charlesworth.

Continue Reading →

Physics Graduate Student Wins Awards in International Meetings

Published
By

Published in Tech Today

Chee Huei Lee, a physics graduate student, has won awards in two international conferences. Lee was one of the 50 finalists in the Science as Art competition at the fall meeting of the 2009 Materials Research Society . These finalists were chosen from nearly 200 artistic entries. Lee’s entry, titled “Dandelion Parachute Ball in the Nano World,” was artificially composed of multiple scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of boron nitride nanotubes.

After the on-site voting during the meeting, Lee won a second place in the competition. The MRS meeting was held in Boston from Nov. 29 to Dec. 4, with nearly 6,000 participants. Lee presented two talks in the Symposium K (Nanotubes and Related Nanostructures) of the meeting. Earlier, Lee also won a student travel award in the 1st Nano Today Conference held in Singapore. He is a senior graduate student in Professor Yoke Khin Yap’s research group. He is also a member of Phi Kappa Phi honor society.

Continue Reading →

GMES Students Receive Fellowships

Published

Tech Today

The Stan Dyl Geology Fellowship has been awarded to Elisa Piispa, a PhD student in geology, for her work on improving the proterozoic continental reconstructions based on combining characterizations of the paleomagnetism, geology, mineralogy and geochronology of mafic dike swarms in India. This fellowship will be used to support her travel to India to present her work. She is advised by Assistant Professor Aleksey Smirnov.

Joshua Richardson, MS student in geophysics, has been awarded the P. M. Thorton Endowed Fellowship for his work on emerging seismic structural imaging techniques involving active and passive source imaging of the upper crust. Richardson has conducted seismic surveys at the Bering Glacier in Alaska and on Fuego Volcano in Guatemala. He is advised by Assistant Professor Gregory Waite.

Elisabet Head, PhD candidate in geology, has received the Seaman Museum Fellowship for her work on fluid inclusions in olivines erupted by Nyamuragira volcano. She is advised by Assistant Professor Simon Carn and the fluid-inclusion aspects were conducted in collaboration with Professor Paul Wallace at the University of Oregon.

Continue Reading →

Lutch Selected as UTC-MiSTI Student of the Year

Published
By

Published in Tech Today

The University Transportation Center for Materials in Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure (UTC-MiSTI) has selected Russell Lutch as its Student of the Year. He receives a $1,000 award, travel and registration expense reimbursement to attend the annual Transportation Research Board conference in Washington DC, and a certificate from the US Department of Transportation.

As one of the first students funded in collaboration between Michigan Tech’s Rail Transportation Program (RTP) and the UTC-MiSTI, Lutch evaluated the sustainable use of concrete ties in arctic conditions. He participated as a graduate student mentor in the 2009 UTC-MiSTI Summer Scholars Program, and as co-advisor of an undergraduate team he investigated the material and the life-cycle of cross-tie alternatives for rail applications. For his graduate work, Lutch investigated railroad track structure, focusing on prestressed concrete railroad ties for heavy haul freight transportation. His study is a part of the project, “Synthesis of Railroad Engineering Best Practices in Deep Seasonal Frost and Permafrost Areas,” sponsored through the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and conducted under Michigan Tech’s RTP.

Lutch’s advisor is Devin Harris (CEE). In his graduate scholarship, Lutch presented, “Causes and Preventative Methods for Rail Seat Abrasion in North America’s Railroads,” at the 14th ASCE Cold Regions Engineering Conference, and “Prestressed Concrete Railroad Ties in North America,” at the 2009 American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association (AREMA) Conference.

Upon the completion of his MS in Civil Engineering, Lutch will be a structural engineer with Kiewit Construction Company in Omaha, Neb.

Continue Reading →

Tech MBA Honored Again by the Aspen Institute

Published
By

Published in Tech Today

The MBA program of the School of Business and Economics has been honored by the Aspen Institute’s 2009-10 edition of, “Beyond Grey Pinstripes,” a biennial survey and alternative ranking of business schools.

The SBE is rated 58 on a list of the top 100 business schools and has “demonstrated significant leadership in integrating social, environmental and ethical issues into its MBA program,” according to the Aspen Institute.

“Our faculty earned this recognition through their commitment to teaching and research in social, environmental and ethical stewardship as it relates to business,” said Darrell Radson, dean of the School. “Our MBA program focuses on conducting sustainable business in a technologically rich, constantly changing world and our faculty and students rise to that challenge.” The Michigan Tech MBA was previously honored by the Aspen Institute in 2007.

“The Tech MBA students are very concerned about a sustainable future,” said Ruth Archer, director of graduate programs. “They appreciate receiving a first-class MBA in managing technology and innovation at the same time that they learn how to integrate social value with corporate profitability. This recognition will enable us to attract more like-minded students.”

The Aspen Institute surveyed 149 business schools from 24 nations over 18 months in an effort to map the landscape of teaching and research on issues pertaining to business and society. Relevant data collected in the survey, as well as the entire “Global 100” list of business schools, is available at, www.BeyondGreyPinstripes.org . For more information on the Tech MBA, visit www.mtu.edu/business/mba/overview .

Continue Reading →

SFI Event Recognizes Scholars and Students

Published
By

Published in Tech Today

The Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI) held its fifth annual poster session and banquet in the Rozsa Lobby last Friday.

“The event offered SFI students, staff and faculty an opportunity to review some of the many successes throughout the year,” reports Denise Heikinen.

Professor Alex Mayer (GMES) and Professor Michael Mullins (Chemical Engineering) were recognized as 2009 distinguished fellows for their long-term leadership, scholarship and support in areas central to sustainability and to SFI.

Mayer, director of SFI’s Center for Water and Society, was honored for his passion and commitment to sustainability and water issues. Mullins, director of SFI’s Center for Fundamental and Applied Research into Nanostructured and Lightweight Materials, was recognized for his contributions to energy and human health.

The keynote speaker was Charles Kerfoot, professor in Biological Sciences and director of Lake Superior Ecosystem Research Center, who spoke about the new Great Lakes Research facility and how it will facilitate research and education about pressing issues in the Upper Great Lakes.

Seventeen graduate students and postdocs were inducted into the SFI’s Scholar Program. They are: Zeyad Ahmed, Felix Adom, Brandon Ellefson, Akhilesh Reddy Endurthy, Rabi Gyawali, Jiqing Fan, Robert Handler, Christopher Hohnholt, Meral Jackson, Azad Henareh Khalyani, Jennifer Lind, Jifei Liu, Xuhong Liu, Jarod Maggio, Jacob Midkiff, Ali Mirchi, and Fengli Zhang.

The Graduate Student Council announced the People’s Choice First Place Poster Award of $150. Actually there was a tie and two awards were made. One went to four physics graduate students for a poster, “Miniature Energy Sources: Biofuel Cells Based on Carbon Nanotube Arrays,” designed by Archana Pandey, Abhishek Prasad, Jason Moscatello and Abhay P. Singh. Their advisor is Associate Professor Yoke Khin Yap. The other award went to Craig Gossen and Stefan Marek (mechanical engineering), Ashley Thode (civil engineering), and Kim Landick, Krissy Guzak, and Cara Hanson (environmental engineering), for “Improving Airflow in Ventilated Improved Pit Toilets.” Their advisors are Assistant Professor Kurt Paterson and Associate Professor David Watkins (both CEE) and Associate Professor and Assistant Provost Donna Michalek (ME-EM).

SFI’s operations manager, Richard Donovan, awarded the Inaugural Operations Manager Award of $200 to the Efficiency Through Engineering and Construction Enterprise. Members are: Ashley Brown, Dianna Cacko, Stephen Chartier, Patrick Green, Jordan Huffman, Eric Kinonen, Markus Manderfield, Andrew Manty, Michael D. Powers, and Tyler Sutkowi. The ETEC team submitted three posters: “Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad”; “Habitat for Humanity”; and “Generations of Energy.” For some of their work, these students collaborated with Melissa Davis, an SFI staff member and director of a local nonprofit called New Power Tour. Davis also was recognized as a scholar of SFI. The advisor for ETEC is Lynn Artman of the School of Technology.

In keeping with the spirit of the event, sustainability, Chef Eric Karvonen prepared a dinner of fresh roasted trout from Lake Superior, vegetables from Chip Ransom’s organic farm on the Houghton Canal, grass-fed bison from northern Wisconsin and wild blueberries from Gay. Pictures of the event are available at the following URLs: http://www.doe.mtu.edu/news/2009/sfi_october2009/index.html .

http://www.doe.mtu.edu/news/2009/sfi_october2009/posters.html .

Continue Reading →

Spring 2009 BRC Travel Grants Announced

Published

Tech Today

The Biotechnology Research Center has announced the recipients of its 2009 Spring Travel Grants:

* Postdoctoral Scientist Yordan Yordanov (SFRES) will receive $500 toward his podium presentation at the 4th International Symposium on Plant Dormancy, to be held in Fargo, N.D., in June.

* Graduate student Sarah Kiemle (Biological Sciences) will receive $500 toward her podium presentation at the 2009 Phycological Society of America Annual Meeting, to be held in Honolulu in July.

* Graduate student Johnathan E. Lawrence (Biological Sciences) will receive $500 toward his poster presentation at the Experimental Biology 2009 Conference, held in New Orleans in April.

* Graduate student Angela Lucas (Biological Sciences) will receive $250 toward her poster presentation at the Experimental Biology 2009 Conference.

* Graduate student Anahita Pakzad (ME-EM) will receive $500 toward her podium presentation at the TMS 2009 Annual Meeting, held in San Francisco in February.

* Graduate student Ratul Saha (Biological Sciences) will receive $500 toward his poster presentation at the American Society for Microbiology 109th Meeting, held in Philadelphia this month.

* Graduate student Zijun Xu (Biological Sciences) will receive $290 toward his poster presentation at the 51st Annual Maize Genetics Conference, held in St. Charles, Ill., in March.

Continue Reading →

Graduate Students Earn Honors

Published
By

Published in Tech Today.

CEE Professors, Graduate Student Win Rudolph Hering Medal
Alex Mayer and David Hand, both professors of civil and environmental engineering, and Karen Endres, a former PhD student, have been named winners of the 2009 Rudolph Hering Medal from the American Society of Civil Engineers. The award is given annually for the best paper on environmental engineering or water resources published in an ASCE journal during the previous year.

Their award-winning paper is titled “Equilibrium versus Nonequilibrium Treatment Modeling in the Optimal Design of Pump-and-Treat Groundwater Remediation Systems.”

The prize is a prestigious one among environmental engineers. The medal will be presented at the Environmental and Water Resources Institute Annual Congress May 17 in Kansas City.

Graduate Student Awarded Travel Assistance to Railway Conference
Graduate student Shane Ferrell, a member of the Rail Transportation Program, was awarded $1,800 in travel assistance from the International Heavy Haul Association to attend its June 2009 conference in Shanghai, China.

The Rail Transportation Program at Michigan Tech was established by the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute in 2007. The program provides rail-related education and research activities, engaging students and faculty with industry partners.

Continue Reading →

MBA Student Chad Daavettila Honored

Published

Tech Today

MBA student Chad Daavetilla was inducted into the Michigan Tech chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma business honor society.  Students ranking in the top 20 percent of master’s degree programs at schools accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International are eligible for membership.

While almost 300,000 students receive bachelor’s or master’s degrees in business each year, only about 20,000 are inducted into lifetime membership in Beta Gamma Sigma. BGS membership provides many benefits, including career development advice, leadership conferences, networking with successful business people and scholarships.

The co-advisors for the Michigan Tech chapter of BGS are Associate Professor Chelley Vician and Assistant Professor Mari Buche (SBE). For more information about BGS, visit http://betagammasigma.org/index.htm .

Continue Reading →

Computer Science Faculty Member, Doctoral Candidate Receive Best Paper Award

Published
By

Published in Tech Today

Doctoral candidate Alicia Thorsen and Assistant Professor Philip Merkey (Computer Science), along with Professor Fredrik Manne of the University of Bergen in Norway, received the Best Paper Award at the High Performance Computing and Simulation Symposium held in late March in San Diego.

Thorsen presented the paper, “Maximum Weighted Matching Using the
Partitioned Global Address Space Model.”

This paper described the design and implementation of an algorithm, expressed in a new programming language, UPC, which is designed to program the coming generation of petascale supercomputers.

Continue Reading →