Graduate School Newsblog

Tag: Civil Engineering

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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Michigan Tech Names 2010 Sports Hall of Fame Class

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by Wes Frahm, director of athletic communications and marketing

Michigan Tech will induct seven new members into its Sports Hall of Fame during induction ceremonies scheduled for Friday, Oct. 1.

The induction class of 2010 includes former hockey player Russ Becker, former men’s basketball and tennis player David Cvengros, former football coach Jim Kapp, former football player Walter Kyes, former volleyball player Rhonda Pruitt (Lockhart), former hockey player Jamie Ram and former men’s basketball player Matt Trombley.

The seven inductees will join the 179 members already in the Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame, which was started in 1985.

Below is a brief biography of Russ Becker, an alumnus of the Graduate School.

Russ Becker

Becker played defense for the hockey team from 1984-88. He played in 83 career games. The Virginia, Minn., native was part of a fourth-place team in the WCHA as a senior with a 19-15-1 record. After graduating with a degree in civil engineering, Becker remained with the hockey program as a graduate assistant coach and gained a master’s in civil engineering. Since leaving the University, he has remained heavily involved in Tech hockey. His contributions to Michigan Tech have been significant, and his gift in 2004 allowed Tech to purchase a hockey treadmill. Becker made another pledge in 2009 to aid in other improvements to the Student Ice Arena. Becker resides in St. Paul, Minn., and serves as president and CEO of APi Group, Inc.

More details about the other inductees can be found in Tech Today:

    Excerpt from Tech Today.

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    New Theses and Dissertations Available in the Library

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    The Graduate School is pleased to announce new theses and dissertations from the following programs:

    • Civil Engineering
    • Electrical Engineering
    • Environmental Engineering
    • Environmental Policy
    • Forest Ecology and Management
    • Forest Science
    • Industrial Archaeology
    • Mathematical Sciences
    • Mechanical Engineering
    • Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

    are now available in the J.R. van Pelt and Opie Library.

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    New theses and dissertations in Library

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    The Graduate School is pleased to announce new theses and dissertations from the following programs:

    • Applied Ecology
    • Applied Natural Resource Economics
    • Biological Sciences
    • Chemistry
    • Civil Engineering
    • Electrical Engineering
    • Environmental Engineering
    • Forest Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology
    • Geology
    • Mineral Economics
    • Rhetoric and Technical Communication

    are now available in the J.R. van Pelt and Opie Library.

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    New theses and dissertations

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

    Nicholas Krom
    Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Sciences
    Advisor: Ramakrishna Wusirika
    Dissertation title: An Arrangement of Gene Pairs, Retrotransposon Insertions, and Regulation of Gene Expression in Plants

    Russell Lutch
    Master of Science in Civil Engineering
    Advisor: Devin K Harris
    Thesis title: Capacity Optimization of a Prestressed Concrete Railroad Tie

    Jason Sommerville
    Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
    Advisor: Lyon Bradley King
    Dissertation title: Hall-Effect Thruster-Cathode Coupling: The Effect of Cathode Position and Magnetic Field Topology

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    Six fellowships awarded from The DeVlieg Foundation

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    The Graduate School is pleased to announce the awarding of six fellowships made possible by the generous support of The DeVlieg Foundation.  This years recipients will tackle a wide range of research problems from osteoarthritis in the knee to comparing the cost and effectiveness of two water treatment technologies.  Recipients are:

    • Darrell Cass, Civil Engineering, MS Candidate
    • Colin Gurganus, Physics, PhD Candidate
    • Alexandru Herescu, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, PhD Candidate
    • Megan Killian, Biomedical Engineering, PhD Candidate
    • Jarod Maggio, Environmental Engineering, PhD Candidate
    • Ashlee Vincent, Environmental Engineering, MS Candidate

    See our web page for details about the nomination process, and for photos of our recipients.

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    Four Michigan Tech Graduate Programs Rank in Top 50 Nationwide

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    Graduate school rankings released by US News and World Report today rank four of Michigan Tech graduate engineering programs in the top 50 nationwide. The annual rankings evaluated graduate programs in 192 schools of engineering.

    Michigan Tech’s ranked engineering programs included:
    • Environmental engineering–28th
    • Mechanical engineering–48th
    • Materials science and engineering–48th
    • Civil engineering–49th

    Tech’s College of Engineering overall ranked in the top 100, at 86th.

    For the first time this year, US News and World Report also ranked biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, earth sciences, mathematics and physics. Earth sciences at Michigan Tech ranked in the top 100, at 81st. Physics ranked 122nd, and biological sciences, 207th.

    “This year’s rankings really show that competition for the ‘top 50′ is increasing. We are neck-and-neck with some very strong programs” said Jackie Huntoon, dean of the Graduate School.

    Each year, US News and World Report ranks graduate schools of engineering, business, the sciences, the humanities and social sciences, medicine and other health specialties, law and education. They base these rankings on two types of data: expert opinions by the programs’ peers and statistical indicators of program quality. The data come from surveys conducted in the fall of 2009 of more than 12,400 academics and professionals and more than 1,200 graduate programs.

    Engineering specialties are ranked solely on the basis of assessments by department chairs in each specialty. The American Society for Engineering Education recommends the department chairs to be surveyed.

    The rankings will be featured in the May 2010 issue of US News and World Report, scheduled to be on the newsstands on April 27. A guidebook called “America’s Best Graduate Schools” will be available for purchase on April 20.

    Information is also available online at www.usnews.com/grad .

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    Graduate Students Showcase Their Research in Lansing

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    capitolFour graduate students from Michigan Tech have gone to Lansing to talk with legislators about their graduate studies and future plans. Participating in an observance of Graduate Education Week in Michigan, they are joining more than 70 others from universities across the state, meeting with their hometown legislators and displaying posters in the Capitol.

    Michigan Tech students include Michael Brodeur-Campbell of Lake Linden, who is working on his PhD in chemical engineering; Megan Killian from LaSalle, an interdicisplinary PhD student in biomedical and mechanical engineering; Melanie Kueber, a PhD student in civil engineering from Munising; and Christopher Morgan of Jenison, who is working toward a PhD in mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics.

    Brodeur-Campbell, who is originally from Port Huron, earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and business administration at Michigan Tech. His research focuses on improving the enzymatic breakdown of cellulose to glucose, a vital step in the production of ethanol from plants. This step has proved a major hurdle to commercial production of this kind of ethanol, which does not compete with the food supply, due to the high cost of the enzymes and the length of time they take to work.

    Killian’s research focuses on how mechanical loads applied to the meniscus–cartilage in the knee–affect the behavior of this tissue at the microscopic and cellular levels, with the aim of eventually improving tissue engineering of replacements. She is also studying osteoarthritis produced by injuries to the knee, in hopes of developing better treatments and rehabilitation strategies.

    Kueber, who also earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at Michigan Tech, went on to earn her master’s in project management at Northwestern University. Back at Tech for her doctoral studies, she is working to modify specifications and test methods for coal fly ash used in highway concrete, to make coal ash more useful as a supplementary material in concrete.

    Morgan, a member of the Advanced Internal Combustion Engines research group at Michigan Tech, has been using gasoline direct- injection studies to compare ethanol to pump-grade gasoline in a combustion vessel. Now he is working on building a mobile hybrid electric vehicle learning laboratory funded by the US Department of Energy and helping undergraduate senior design students build a hybrid electric vehicle for educational use.

    Graduate education is a key to a prosperous future for Michigan, said Jacqueline Huntoon, dean of Michigan Tech’s Graduate School. Michigan ranks ninth in the US for the number of research-based doctorates awarded, with 2,720 awarded in 2008-09. Of those, 47 were awarded at Michigan Tech.

    all-attendees

    Photos courtesy of Randy Mascharka and Eastern Michigan University

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    Two Tech Students Awarded Scholarships

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    Two Michigan Tech students have been awarded scholarships from the Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS) Michigan chapter.

    Erin Bertocchi, an undergraduate civil engineering student from Gwinn, MI, received the Sharon D. Banks Memorial Scholarship awarded specifically for women pursuing an undergraduate degree related to the field of transportation. Erin discovered her interest in the design and construction of roads through two previous summer internships with MDOT’s Technical Service Centers in Newberry and Escanaba.

    Mary Christiansen, a graduate student from Shelby, MI, pursuing her PhD in Civil Engineering, was selected to receive the Helene M. Overly Memorial Scholarship awarded annually to a graduate student pursuing a degree related to the field of transportation. Mary is a scholar in the University Transportation Center for Materials in Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure (UTC-MiSTI), working on the development of geopolymer cement concrete with Larry Sutter and Karl Peterson.

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    New Theses and Dissertations in the Library

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    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.

    Brian Beachy
    Doctor of Philosophy in Forest Science
    Advisor: Andrew J Storer
    Dissertation title: Impacts of the Exotic Beech Bark Disease Complex in Michigan

    Jessica Beachy
    Doctor of Philosophy in Forest Science
    Advisor: Andrew John Storer
    Dissertation title: The Development of Trapping, Survey and Educational Tools for the Exotic Invasive Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilusplanipennis Fairmaire) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)

    Luke Bowman
    Master of Science in Geology
    Advisor: William I Rose
    Thesis title: Community Perceptions of an NGO’s Impact on Disaster Preparedness in Los Planes de La Laguna, Santa Ana Volcano, El Salvador

    Venkat Donuru
    Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry
    Advisor: Haiying Liu
    Dissertation title: Design and Synthesis of Novel BODIPY Polymeric Dyes, and Redox-active Tetrathiafulvalene-Carbohydrate Conjugates for Potential Biosensing Applications

    Chad Fortin
    Master of Science in Applied Ecology
    Coadvisors: Christopher Raymond Webster and David James Flaspohler
    Thesis title: Floristic Quality as a Potential Driver of Vegetative Diversity-Productivity Relationships and Arthropod Habitat in Restored Grasslands

    Bryan Franklin
    Master of Science in Computer Science
    Advisor: Steven R Seidel
    Thesis title: Analysis and Performance of a UPC Implementation of a Parallel Longest Common Subsequence Algorithm

    Valerie Fuchs
    Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Engineering
    Coadvisors: John S Gierke and James R Mihelcic
    Dissertation title: Nitrogen Removal and Sustainability of Vertical Flow Constructed Wetlands for Small Scale Wastewater Treatment

    Alex Joseph Varghese
    Master of Science in Electrical Engineering
    Advisor: Paul L Bergstrom
    Thesis title: Fabrication of Piezo Resistive Strain Sensor for Orthopedic Fracture Implant System

    Jodi Lehman
    Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric and Technical Communication
    Advisor: Patricia J Sotirin
    Dissertation title: International Teachers in the American Classroom: Deposing the Myth of Monolingualism

    Ruben Otoniel Matias Gomez
    Master of Science in Geology
    Advisor: William I Rose
    Thesis title: Volcanological Map of the 1961-2009 Eruption of Volcande Pacaya, Guatemala

    Julian Mills-Beale
    Master of Science in Civil Engineering
    Advisor: Zhanping You
    Thesis title: New Test Procedures for Aggregate Specific Gravities and Absorption

    Srichand Pendyala
    Master of Science in Computer Science
    Advisor: Robert Louis Pastel
    Thesis title: Sketch Recognition through Shape Based Interaction

    Ratul Saha
    Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Sciences
    Advisor: Susan T Bagley
    Dissertation title: UV Disinfection of Metalworking Fluids: Analysis Using Molecular Tools

    Steven Vormwald
    Master of Science in Computer Science
    Advisor: Steven M Carr
    Thesis title: Predicting Remote Reuse Distance Patterns in Unified Parallel C Applications

    Fuyu Xu
    Doctor of Philosophy in Forest Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology
    Advisor: Chandrashekhar Pralhad Joshi
    Dissertation title: Molecular Mechanism of Cellulose Biosynthesis in Plants

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