Graduate School Newsblog

Tag: Chemical Engineering

Divising of Analytical Chemistry Fellowship Program

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The American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Graduate Fellowship Program is designed to encourage basic research in the field of analytical chemistry, to promote the growth of analytical chemistry in academic institutions and industry, and to provide recognition of future leaders in the field of analytical chemistry.  The program has endeavored to be a model of the benefits of cooperation between the academic and industrial communities, with chemical companies employing Ph.D. analytical chemists sponsoring the fellowships for outstanding analytical graduate students.

The Graduate Fellowship Committee of the ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry, which is comprised of representatives from the sponsoring companies, analytical faculty from undergraduate institutions, and scientists from national laboratories, evaluate the applications and make the fellowship awards.  Both nine-month ($21,000) and summer ($7,000) fellowships are available.

Eligibility criteria

The applicant must be a full-time student working toward a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry and must have completed the second year of graduate study by the time the fellowship period begins.  The applicant’s research supervisor must be a member of the American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry. Only one nomination per research supervisor will be accepted. Summer Fellowships must begin on June 1, 2011, therefore applicants for summer 2011 fellowships must not have completed their thesis research before September 1, 2011. Nine-month fellowships may begin on June 1, July 1, August 1 or September 1, 2011, therefore applicants for 2011-2012 nine-month fellowships must not have completed their thesis research before March 1, 2012. Applicants for awards in previous years are encouraged to reapply. Previous nine-month fellowship recipients, however, are not eligible for a second award.

Applicants must demonstrate outstanding research ability and accomplishment, as evidenced by peer-reviewed publications in analytical chemistry. Consequently, fellowships are normally awarded to students in their third or fourth years of graduate study when they have established a publication record.

Application process

Students must submit an application package consisting of a nomination form from the research advisor, an application describing previous accomplishments and the proposed research during the fellowship period, and all undergraduate and graduate transcripts.  In addition, students must arrange to have three letters of recommendation submitted on their behalf.

Application package (due December 10, 2010):

  1. 1)the completed nomination form from the research supervisor (1 page, available for download here)
  2. 2)the completed application form (5 pages, available for download here)
  3. 3)complete undergraduate and graduate transcripts

Please contact Jodi Lehman (jglehman@mtu.edu) or (487-2875) if interested in applying.

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BRC Announces Fall Travel Grants

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The Biotechnology Research Center has announced the recipients of its 2010 Fall Travel Grants:

Graduate students

  • Surendar Dhadi (Biological Sciences) will receive $500 toward a podium presentation at the Plant and Animal Genome XIX Conference to be held in San Diego, Calif., in January, 2011.
  • Aytug Gencoglu (Chemical Engineering) will receive $500 toward a podium presentation at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, in November, 2010.
  • Seyyed Hessam Mir Shah Ghassemi (ME-EM) will receive $500 toward a podium presentation at the Materials Research Society Fall Meeting to be held in Boston, Mass., in December, 2010.
  • Kaela Leonard (Chemical Engineering) will receive $500 toward a podium presentation at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, in November, 2010.
  • Kefeng Li (Biological Sciences) will receive $500 toward a poster presentation at the Plant and Animal Genome XIX Conference to be held in San Diego, Calif., in January, 2011.
  • Sapna Kumari (Mathematical Sciences) received $500 toward a podium presentation at the Genetic Analysis Workshop that was held in Boston, Mass., in October, 2010.
  • Chungja Yang (Chemical Engineering) will receive $500 toward a podium presentation at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, in November, 2010.

Undergraduate student

  • Jessica Forrest (BME) received $500 toward a poster presentation at the Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting that was held in Austin, Texas, in October, 2010.
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New Theses and Dissertations Available

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The Graduate School is pleased to announce new theses and dissertations are now available in the J.R. van Pelt and Opie Library from the following programs:

  • Applied Ecology
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Civil Engineering
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Engineering Physics
  • Forest Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology
  • Geophysics
  • Industrial Archaeology
  • Materials Science and Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
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Fall 2010 Finishing Fellowships Awarded

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The Graduate School is proud to announce the following students are recipients of a one-time Fall 2010 Finishing Fellowship:

  • Alexandru Herescu, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
  • Megan L Killian, Biomedical Engineering
  • Chee Huei Lee, Physics
  • Cho Hui Lim, Chemical Engineering
  • Yu Liu, Civil Engineering
  • Jiang Lu, Physics
  • Cory P. McDonald, Environmental Engineering
  • Louis R. Pignotti, Chemistry

The fellowships are made possible by the Charles L. Lawton Endowed Fellowship, Neil V. Hakala Endowed Fellowship, Doctoral Finishing Fellowship, and the Graduate School.

Pictures of our recent awardees are available online.

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Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship

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The Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE
CSGF) application is now available online at
https://www.krellinst.org/doecsgf/application/ .

Students must be planning full-time, uninterrupted study toward a Ph.D. degree at a U.S. university.  Students in their first or second year of graduate study in engineering, mathematics, or the physical, computer, or life sciences are eligible to apply for the Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (CSGF).  Exceptional senior undergraduates who can meet all the requirements listed in this application may also apply.

The deadline to apply is January 11th, 2011.

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DOD SMART Visit Canceled

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Due to a family emergency, Dr. Knox Millsaps needed to cancel his visit to Michigan Tech next week.  He apologizes for any inconvenience and encourages anyone interested in the DOD SMART program to contact him directly (millsaps@nps.edu) with any questions or concerns. 

On Tuesday, October 19th there will still be a general presentation about the SMART scholarship by Jodi Lehman, which faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend.  The luncheon for Wednesday, October 20th has been canceled.  The presentation will be from 12:00-1:00 in the Memorial Union Ballroom B1. 

Jodi is also available to work with students to identify a national lab that fits with SMART applicants’ field of interest and to mentor students in developing a competitive proposal.  She is also available to present and answers questions about the SMART program to classes, departments, and student organizations.   

Again, we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and thank you for your interest and support in helping Michigan Tech students understand more about the DOD SMART program.  We also thank those individuals and departments who went above and beyond to provide Dr. Millsaps with a campus visit that highlights Michigan Tech’s unique attributes related to DOD SMART fields. 

The DOD SMART visit will be rescheduled for spring.  Please contact Jodi Lehman (jglehman@mtu.edu) with any questions. 

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Inter-American Foundation (IAF) Grassroots Development Fellowship Program

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IAF Fellowships are available to currently registered students who have advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. in the social sciences, physical sciences, technical fields and the professions as related to grassroots development issues. Applications for clinical research in the health field will NOT be considered.

Awards are based on both development and scholarly criteria. Proposals should offer a practical orientation to field-based information. In exceptional cases the IAF will support research reflecting a primary interest in macro questions of politics and economics but only as they relate to the environment of the poor. The Fellowship Program complements IAF’s support for grassroots development in Latin America and the Caribbean, and preference for those applicants whose careers or research projects are related to topics of greatest interest to the IAF.

IAF’s Fellowships provide support for Ph.D. candidates to conduct dissertation research in Latin America and the Caribbean on topics related to grassroots development. Funding is for between four and 12 months. The Inter-American Foundation expects to award up to 15 Doctoral Field Research Fellowships in 2011. Research during the 2011-2012 cycle must be initiated between June 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012.

  • Round-trip economy-class transportation to the field research site from the Fellow’s primary residence. Fellows must comply with the Fly America Act.
  • A research allowance of up to $3,000, pro-rated monthly.
  • A stipend of $1,500 per month for up to 12 months.
  • Accident and sickness insurance
  • Attendance at a required “mid-year” Grassroots Development Conference to discuss each Fellow’s progress with members of the IAF’s academic review committee and meet with IAF and IIE staff.

For more information please visit:

http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/IAF-Grassroots-Development-Fellowship-Program

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Graduate Programs Assessed

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The National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies has released a comparison of more than 5,000 doctoral programs at 212 universities across the nation, including Michigan Tech.

The assessment–seven years in the making–rated 12 PhD programs at Michigan Tech, giving highest marks to two in SFRES: forest molecular genetics and biotechnology, and forest science.

Other noteworthy Tech programs included chemical engineering, chemistry, environmental engineering, mathematical sciences, materials science and engineering and mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics.

“The NRC used a complex and very sophisticated statistical analysis procedure to attempt to objectively compare similar PhD programs,” said David Reed, vice president for research. “I’m very pleased that our programs in forestry–and in some of the engineering and science specialties–came out so well. It speaks very highly of the faculty and students involved.”

Although the results of the NRC study were described as “rankings,” graduate programs at different universities weren’t actually ranked or compared directly one to another. Rather, using a complicated statistical analysis of 21 variables and two sets of data, the programs were assigned “ranges.”

Both data sets were based on results of faculty surveys. In one survey, faculty members were asked what factors were most important to the overall quality of a graduate program. In the other, they were asked to rate the quality of a sample of programs in their field.

The results, which took several years to analyze, show the number of programs evaluated in each field and the range in which Tech’s programs fall. In forest science, for example, 34 programs were compared, and Michigan Tech’s were ranked between 2nd of 34 and 23rd of 34.

“The results are not rankings,” said Jacqueline Huntoon, dean of the Graduate School. “The report tells us that there is a 90 percent chance that the ‘true’ ranking of each of our programs falls somewhere within the reported range.”

“The results do have some interesting implications,” Huntoon went on to say. “We found out what is most important to a good reputation–the number of PhDs graduated, the number of publications of the faculty, and the research awards received by faculty. The results clearly show that the reputation of a graduate program depends on its size.”

“That validates the direction in which Michigan Tech has been moving–making a conscious effort to grow its Graduate School programs,” Huntoon added.

She expressed concern that the NRC data is out of date. It was collected in 2006-07 and included data from 2001-02 to 2005-06.

“We aren’t the same university or the same graduate school we were then,” Huntoon noted. “In 2005, we only had 870 graduate students. Now we have 1,241. We have made a major commitment to growing our graduate school.” The new data will be useful as a benchmark to measure future progress at Michigan Tech, she said.

The last NRC graduate program assessment was conducted in 1995. It evaluated only three PhD programs at Michigan Tech: geosciences, mechanical engineering and physics.

by Jennifer Donovan, director of public relations

Published in Tech Today

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First In Series of Federal Funding Workshops – Sept 15th and 16th.

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A federal fellowship/scholarship writing workshop will be held on Wednesday, September 15th  and Thursday, September 16th at 4:00 in Fisher 135.

You will only need to attend one of the workshops, as they are the same workshop, different days and time.

During the workshop we will review 3 samples of NSF GRFP personal statement essays. Tips will be given on how to organize your essay, utilize wording, and meet the merit criteria expected by reviewers

Prepare for the workshop by:

1. Understanding how NSF defines “broader impacts”

2. Brainstorming answers to NSF “personal statement” questions


    If you (or someone you know) plan on attending, please RSVP to Jodi Lehman (jglehman@mtu.edu).

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    DAC Graduate Fellowship Program in Analytical Chemistry and Chemistry Science

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    DAC Graduate Fellowship Program in Analytical Chemistry

    Fellowships for graduate students in analytical chemistry are sponsored by various companies and organizations and are awarded through the DAC. The purposes of these fellowships are to encourage basic lected”>research in the field of analytical chemistry, to promote the growth of analytical chemistry in academic institutions and industry, and to provide recognition of future leaders in the field of analytical chemistry.

    Both nine-month and summer fellowships are available. Most applicants apply for both awards unless mitigating circumstances (previous summer commitments, impending completion of degree requirements, etc.) exist.

    Nine-month fellowships provide for nine months of graduate study and research in analytical chemistry at any ACS accredited institution of the appointee’s choice. The fellowship may not be accepted concurrently with any other external fellowship. Because the purpose of the fellowship is to provide opportunity for research, the holder will not engage in outside work for added compensation during the period of the fellowship. It is expected that the fellow will be engaged in full-time research for the duration of the fellowship and be in residence at the home institution (except when performing collaborative experiments which are part of the funded project).

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