Graduate School Newsblog

Tag: Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Graduate Research Diversity Supplement

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The Directorate for Engineering (ENG) and National Science Foundation (NSF) are again offering Graduate Research Diversity Supplements (GRDS).  Requests for funding of a GRDS should be made by the Principal Investigator of a currently active ENG research award.

GRDS candidates must be United States citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the United States.  Eligible graduate students must be newly enrolled in, or planning to pursue a PhD in an engineering discipline.

Visit the COS Funding Opportunities site for more information.

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Expedition Grants

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The Expeditions Council consists of representatives from National Geographic editorial divisions (magazines, television, books, and so on) who review and vote on grant applications and an advisory board of external consultants.

The Expeditions Council is editorially driven; projects must have the potential to yield compelling stories and images. Applications are also judged on the qualifications of applicants and their teams and on the merit and uniqueness of the project.

Major fields of study the Expeditions Council funds:
– Adventure
– Culture
– Mountains/Volcanoes
– Natural History and Conservation
– Underwater Exploration

In addition to financial support, the Expeditions Council offers its grantees the opportunity to work effectively with the National Geographic’s many divisions. Grantees are therefore able to share the results of their expeditions with National Geographic’s global audience.

Eligibility
International applicants are encouraged. However, submissions must be made in English if they are to receive timely consideration by the Expeditions Council.

Applicants are expected to have qualifications and experience pertinent to the expedition or project they propose, and advanced academic degrees are not required. Those planning work in countries other than their own should consider including at least one local collaborator as part of their expedition team.

Grant Amounts
Grants generally range from U.S. $5,000 to $35,000 and are to be used for direct field expenses: transportation, supplies, subsistence, and permit costs as well as other related fees (e.g., interpreters, guides, and porters).

The Expeditions Council does not provide fees for photography, videography, and writing. Such fees are negotiated separately with editorial units.

In order to generate the best story, coverage of the expedition may be assigned to National Geographic photographers, writers, and film crews.

Grant Requirements
Grant recipients must provide a full accounting of their expenditures on completion of the project. They are also required to submit a report summarizing their findings within two months of returning from the field.

National Geographic requires that grant recipients give right of first refusal for coverage to National Geographic magazine, National Geographic Television & Film, and all other publication and broadcast media of the National Geographic Society and its subsidiaries. This right specifically includes books, all other National Geographic Society magazines, lectures, exhibits, our Web site and other electronic media, as well as publicity about the project.

Grant Restrictions
National Geographic Society grants may not be used for indirect costs, overhead, and other expenses not directly related to the project. Fringe benefits are also excluded, as are salaries. Funds may not be used for travel to scientific/professional meetings or conferences, legal actions, land acquisition, endowments, construction of permanent field stations, or publishing research results. Grant recipients are expected to provide the National Geographic Society with rights of first refusal for popular publication of their findings.

Obtaining a Grant
Applying for a grant from the Expeditions Council is a two-step process.

Step 1: Pre-Application
Before receiving an application form, each team leader must submit a pre-application form online. There are a few things you should know before doing so:

  • The pre-application form can be completed in multiple sessions. You will be allowed to save your work and complete it at another time.
  • You will be asked to upload an electronic copy of your curriculum vitae (CV) while completing the form. Instructions will be provided.
  • Please make sure that your browser is configured to receive cookies.
  • This system works best on Internet Explorer 5.5 and Netscape 6.0 or higher.
  • If you have any questions about the online pre-application form, Please email ecouncil@ngs.org.
  • The Expeditions Council accepts pre-applications throughout the year. Please submit your pre-application at least six months before anticipated project dates.

Within eight weeks, the team leader will receive a decision. If the pre-application is approved, the council will send the team leader an email with a link to the full application online.

Fill out pre-application.

Step 2: Application
After receiving an application, the team leader must complete and submit their application online. There are a few things he or she should know before doing so:

  • The Expeditions Council accepts applications throughout the year. However, please allow six months from the receipt of your application for the Expeditions Council to formally review and consider it.
  • Previous National Geographic Society grantees must first comply with all prior reporting and financial-accounting obligations before submitting applications for additional support.
  • We strongly encourage electronic submission of all documents. If this is not possible, please submit your information to the following address:

Expeditions Council
National Geographic Society
1145 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
U.S.A.

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Steinman Fellowship

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The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) awards this fellowship to a graduate from an ABET-accredited engineering program entering a graduate program in engineering. To be eligible for the fellowship, a candidate must be a senior in an undergraduate engineering program that is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). The candidate must also have taken and passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam and must have been accepted into a graduate engineering degree program at a school with an EAC-ABET-accredited graduate or undergraduate program. U.S. citizenship is required.

Application deadline: March 1st

Award amount: $10,000

For more information visit: http://www.nspe.org/Students/Scholarships/steinman.html

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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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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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Parade and Festival: ‘What a Great Day’

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The Parade of Nations and the Multicultural Food and Music Festival graced the campus and community Saturday for the 21st time. It was a day on which different people did the same thing–celebrate diversity. The theme of the day: “Many Nations, One Heart.”

Bob Wenc summed up the doings, “It’s like a rainbow. So many different cultures, styles and stories.” He says Tech has about 700 international students from more than 70 countries, from Argentina to Zimbabwe. He worked on the event as a representative of International Programs and Services. He loves the work. “Exiting,” he said. “It makes me feel like I’m doing something for the community and the University. We all want to matter. This is my way.”

The parade wove through Hancock and Houghton like a ribbon. Flags danced. The native attire was gorgeous. The weather was windy with a fall chill in the air; the mood was calm and warm. Amid all the pageantry, the music was a clarion call for getting along.

Curbside, the little children watched in wonder. “This is great,” a retired elementary teacher said. “It’s good for our children–that they grow up accepting other cultures and sharing them. It helps to promote understanding.”

Abhijeet Vaidya, an Indian graduate student in mechanical engineering, has only been here a month. “I like it here very much,” he said. “It’s a very good place. It’s like home.” What does he want people to know about his culture? “Sacrifice. And respect for everybody.”

The Pep Band showed up in rousing full force–a wonderfully gaudy spectacle, accented by the trademark goofy hats that ranged from a sombrero to a witch’s hat to a stovepipe Mickey Mouse affair. Eric Anderson, a fifth-year student in civil engineering, plays the trombone. He is unabashedly upbeat about the Pep Band. “It’s something unique,” he said. “Other universities have their marching bands. We have the Pep Band. We’re able to do more things, and we have more fun.” He likes going beyond sport events and getting exposure in the community.

Tech’s Chris Anderson has been involved with diversity on campus for more than 20 years. The event, she said, “is a chance to embrace life and the things that make us similar. And we do it through music and food–the best ways to celebrate. It’s fun. It feels good.”

“It’s one of the highlights of the year,” said another observer. “I enjoy the parade. I enjoy the music. But it’s the food after.”

That food was served up in Dee Stadium. Sanchai Kuboon, a PhD student in MSE, is from Thailand. He said food is a marked characteristic of Thai culture. “We are proud of the variety of food in Thailand.” He says it is especially spicy. He was serving up beef curry; a sweet drink made with the longan fruit; and stir-fried noodles.

Another salient feature of Thai life, he said, is martial arts. And a third is respect for others, manifested in part by the Thai way of greeting people: hands together, as in prayer, and a bow. Kuboon summed up these cultural characteristics as “riches.” He likes Tech and Houghton. “You treat us as we are at home.”

Iltesham Z Syed, an Indian PhD student in ME-EM, manned a food station set up by the Muslim Student Association. He was serving up haleem, a combinaion of wheat, meat, and Indian spices, and an “Arabian dessert”–baklava. Proceeds will be donated to the flood victims in Pakistan.

Syed is from Mumbai, a city of 16 million. “I love this place,” he said Houghton. “I love country life.” He’s been here three years. He spoke of his religion: “My message is clear. It’s peace. It’s equality. It’s friendship.” He laments extremism in the culture. “I feel sad about this. This is not what we believe in. This is not what we preach. What we want is for everyone to live together in complete harmony.” He wears a sherwani, a nearly full-length, tan tunic with a Nehru collar. He says he only wears it on special occasions.

The marching band of Cass Technical High School from Detroit had Dee Stadium throbbing. 30 band members, 11 energetic dancers. Sharon Allen, director, said it was an honor to be involved in “cultural sensitivity–all nations getting along peaceably.”

Madeline Mercado Voelker, coordinator of Hispanic/Latino Outreach, is from Puerto Rico and has worked on this event since 1999. “What a great day,” she exclaimed. Amid all the nations, the local community stands out, too, she said. “I never felt like a minority here,” she said. “This is home. It’s a beautiful place. I wouldn’t change it for anything.” She knows a graduate who moved back to Puerto Rico; his wife is having a hard time readjusting to city life. “The UP stays in your heart wherever you go,” she said.

by John Gagnon, promotional writer

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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