Category: In the News

By Kimberly Geiger, College of Engineering, June 8, 2021

Michigan Technological University has joined the Power Systems Engineering Research Center (PSERC) — a collaboration of university and industry members.

“We are very pleased to be members of PSERC, where our researchers can combine efforts with other members to creatively address key challenges in creating a modern electric energy infrastructure,” stated Janet Callahan, dean of Michigan Tech’s College of Engineering. “Michigan Tech will be the 13th university in the partnership, and will bring three new industry partners into PSERC,” she added.

Those partners are DTE, Consumers Energy and Hubbell. The full list of member universities is available on the PSERC website.

“The overall goal of joining PSERC is to catalyze transdisciplinary research by teaming up with other institutions and relevant industry partners for national grant competition,” said Chee-Wooi Ten, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Michigan Tech. Ten will serve as Michigan Tech’s PSERC site director.

Started as a National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC), PSERC began in 1996 and was first led by Cornell professor Robert J. Thomas, and then Vijay Vittal of Arizona State University. Today PSERC is directed by Kory W. Hedman, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Arizona State University. 

PSERC member expertise includes power systems, applied mathematics, complex systems, computing, control theory, power electronics, operations research, nonlinear systems, economics, industrial organization and public policy. 

Michigan Tech brings much to the research collaborative, said Callahan, particularly in key areas of power systems engineering, social sciences and, most importantly, computing involved heavily in data science and cybersecurity. Cross-disciplinary interaction will be encouraged and expected, for example, with the University’s Department of Applied Computing where Ten holds an affiliated faculty position and where Hubbell is a member of the departmental industrial advisory board.

Membership in PSERC will enable Michigan Tech to apply for seed grants together with other PSERC universities. Ten envisions Michigan Tech faculty members submitting seed grant proposals annually. “PSERC membership will enable Michigan Tech to go beyond its traditional research boundaries,” he said. “Historically, power area research at Michigan Tech focuses on the metering of electrical loads met by generation. We’ll see more opportunities that involve the intersection of new cross-disciplinary areas.”

PSERC grants can also fund graduate student research, noted Callahan. “Any faculty member at Michigan Tech can submit proposals, but this is especially good news for assistant professors and other new faculty members seeking to establish a research program,” she said. “This aligns with our institutional Tech Forward initiatives and University vision to grow to 10,000 students, especially our graduate student population.”

Members of PSERC typically meet in person three times per year with the PSERC  Industrial Advisory Board (IAB). This meeting provides a regular opportunity to build new and productive partnerships among faculty and students from other PSERC universities as well as with industrial partners.

“These meetings are unparalleled, a regular opportunity to meet and mingle with energy researchers from other PSERC institutions. We’ll be able to brainstorm and discuss possible collaborations,” said Ten. “I am also very pleased to work with Kory Hedman, the new director of PSERC.”

“While we are now part of the PSERC ecosystem that allows us to submit proposals, the work has only just begun,” Ten concluded. “I am looking forward to working with our PSERC members and creating value with Michigan Tech’s research strengths.”

View the original article here.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university, home to more than 7,000 students from 54 countries. Founded in 1885, the University offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, and social sciences. Our campus in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula overlooks the Keweenaw Waterway and is just a few miles from Lake Superior.

by Allison Mills, University Marketing and Communications

A major challenge for fully autonomous vehicles is navigating bad weather. Snow especially confounds crucial sensor data that helps a vehicle gauge depth, find obstacles and keep on the correct side of the yellow line, assuming it is visible. Averaging more than 200 inches of snow every winter, Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula is the perfect place to push autonomous vehicle tech to its limits.

In two papers presented at SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing 2021, researchers from Michigan Technological University discuss solutions for snowy driving scenarios that could help bring self-driving options to snowy cities like Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis and Toronto.

The team includes Nathir Rawashdeh and doctoral student Abu-Alrub (CC) as well as Jeremy Bos and student researchers Akhil Kurup, Derek Chopp and Zach Jeffries (ECE).

Read more about their collaborative mobility research on mtu.edu/news.

This MTU news story was published by Science Daily, TechXplore, Knowridge Science Report and other research news aggregators.

Two recent rankings place Michigan Tech among elite colleges and universities on both the state and national level. 

Michigan Tech was rated #2 on the list of the Best Accredited Online Colleges in Michigan by EDsmart. The ranking service assesses online colleges in Michigan based on data that covers cost, academic quality, student satisfaction and salary after attending. 

Michigan Tech was ranked #13 on the list of the 50 Best Value Public Colleges in America by Stacker. The ranking included only public, four-year colleges and weighed the cost of tuition with each school’s acceptance rate, quality of professors, diversity and the median earnings for alumni six years after graduation.

Several Michigan Tech College of Computing degree programs have been ranked among the best in the nation by Intelligent.com. In addition, the research guide ranked the University number three among all colleges in Michigan.

Intelligent.com looked at nearly 2,300 accredited colleges and universities nationwide making evaluations based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation and post-graduate employment. Programs were evaluated on a scale of 0 to 100 with Michigan Tech making it to the final list for 12 separate degree programs.

The four College of Computing programs and their national ranking as rated by Intelligent.com are:

• Master’s in Health Informatics Degree Programs — #5
• Software Engineering Degree Program — #5
• Computer Science Degree Programs — #16
• Master’s in Computer Engineering Degree Programs — #27

Additional Michigan Tech degree programs included in the ranking are:

• Master’s in Civil Engineering Degree Programs — #4
• Marketing Degree Programs — #5
• Sports Management Degree Programs — #8
• Sports Medicine Degree Programs — #20
• Master’s in Mechanical Engineering Degree Programs — #22
• Master’s in Electrical Engineering Degree Programs — #25
• Master’s in Science Education Degree Programs — #26
• Master’s in K-12 Education Degree Programs — #43

Michigan Technological University is one of six universities to join the National Science Foundation CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program, a nationwide program to recruit and train the next generation of information technology professionals, industrial control system security professionals and security managers.

The five-year, $3.3 million NSF grant provides up to three years of full scholarship support for 20 undergraduate and graduate students.

In return, following graduation, recipients must work in a cybersecurity-related job for federal, state, local or tribal government for a period equal to the length of the scholarship, among other requirements.

“The U.S. is facing a significant shortage of well-trained and well-prepared cybersecurity professionals,” said Yu Cai, professor of applied computing at Michigan Tech and the principal investigator of the grant. “Michigan Tech has developed a national and international reputation in cybersecurity education, research and outreach activities. We are thrilled to be part of the solution to the nation’s cybersecurity workforce challenge.”

Applications for Michigan Tech’s 2021-2022 cohort are now being accepted. Application guidelines and requirements can be found on the SFS website. The deadline to apply is June 1, 2021. Student informational sessions will be announced shortly. 

The degree programs included in the CyberCorps scholarship opportunity are listed below.

1. BS in Cybersecurity (CyS)
2. BS in Computer Network and System Administration (CNSA)
3. BS in Computer Science (CS)
4. BS in Software Engineering (SE)
5. BS in Computer Engineering (CpE)
6. BS in Electrical Engineering (EE)
7. BS in Management Information Systems (MIS)
8. MS in Cybersecurity

The SFS program at Michigan Tech involves multiple programs and departments, including the College of Computing and its Department of Applied Computing and Department of Computer Science, the College of Engineering’s Department of  Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the College of Business’s Management Information Systems B.S. program. 

The SFS program also partners with the Pavlis Honors College to engage SFS scholars in a blend of faculty mentoring, peer mentoring and customized pathways.

Michigan Tech joins 78 current CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service universities across the country. In its announcement, NSF noted that Michigan Tech has a long history of K-12 outreach, which it expects to leverage as part of its project.

The project PI is Professor Yu Cai, Applied Computing. Co-PIs and other important personnel include Professor Jean Mayo, Professor Todd O. Arney, Professor Bo Chen, Professor Chee-Wooi Ten, Professor Kedmon N. Hungwe, and Dr. Laura Kasson Fiss.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university, home to more than 7,000 students from 54 countries. Founded in 1885, the University offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, and social sciences. Our campus in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula overlooks the Keweenaw Waterway and is just a few miles from Lake Superior.

by University Marketing and Communications
Read the Michigan Tech press release here. (Published Feb. 8, 2021)

Michigan Technological University has appointed Dennis Livesay to hold the inaugural Dave House Deanship in the College of Computing effective February 1, 2021. 

View a video of the announcement from the Feb. 5 Michigan Tech Alumni Board meeting.

Michigan Tech launched the College in 2019 to meet the technological, economic and social needs of the 21st century, and answer industry demand for talent in artificial intelligence (AI), software engineering, data science and cybersecurity. In doing so, Tech became the first University in the state with a college of computing.

The gift from Dave House ’65 to endow the dean position reinforces the University’s commitment to computing.

“The College of Computing is central to the future of Michigan Tech. Thanks, in part, to Dave’s visionary gift and Dennis’s leadership, the college is poised for tremendous success on both the national and international stage,” said Rick Koubek, President. 

House, whose many career accolades include growing Intel’s microprocessor product business from $40 million to $4 billion per year, has championed Michigan Tech’s efforts in computing.

“Computing is centric to all disciplines, and Michigan Tech has been wise to move forward with a focus on computing,” said House. “This endowed position will allow the new college to attract the best faculty and the brightest students and the University to continue to be the leader in computing education.”

Livesay, who most recently served as dean of the College of Engineering at Wichita State University, brings 20 years of experience in higher education to Michigan Tech. With a diverse background spanning the biomedical sciences, computing and engineering, he plans to work with partners across campus to address the digital transformation happening in every discipline.

Provost Jackie Huntoon stated she is very happy that Livesay is joining Michigan Tech. “His deep understanding of computing and its impact on all aspects of modern life make him well suited for the deanship of the College of Computing,” she said. “He brings an entrepreneurial perspective to the dean’s role that will enhance efforts currently underway in the College of Computing and across campus.” 

Livesay shares House’s conviction that computing is fundamental to all disciplines.

“Every discipline is a computing discipline,” said Livesay. “When I first started saying this a decade ago, it was more of a tagline, but it is absolutely true today. The modern economy is defined by our ability to create data, transmit it in a secure way and then translate it into action. This is particularly true in science, engineering and business, but also in the social sciences, humanities and the arts. Going forward, we want to be a critical partner in all of those areas.”

The Dave House Dean of Computing is Michigan Tech’s first endowed deanship. The University has nine endowed department chairs and dozens of endowed faculty positions, allowing it to maintain a world-class faculty.

“We thank Dave again for his vision and commitment to Michigan Tech’s future. We are indeed fortunate to have alumni like him who care so deeply for our students,” said Bill Roberts, Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Engagement.

View the announcement below about the new deanship from a recent meeting of the Michigan Tech Alumni Board.

Michigan Tech’s BS in Software Engineering is in the top 10 nationwide according to College Rank. The website ranked the 35 Best Bachelor’s in Software Engineering.

Michigan Tech, which appears at number nine on the list, was one of only two Michigan colleges to make the ranking. The University of Michigan – Dearborn was ranked 15th.

“It’s great to see our program get this well-deserved recognition,” says Professor and Chair Linda Ott, Computer Science. “We consistently hear from industries that hire our graduates that our alumni are well-prepared and quickly become productive developers in their organizations.”

“Our students gain a solid theoretical framework, which provides the foundation for life-long career growth and success, as well as extensive practical, hands-on experience through class projects, internships and the Michigan Tech Enterprise program,” Ott explains.

College Rank uses a ranking methodology based on three aspects — Potential Salary After Graduation (40%), Individual Program Accreditation (30%) and Overall Affordability (30%).

“This program will help you to secure your position in a well-regarded profession,” says the College Rank website about Michigan Tech’s Software Engineering program. “You’ll be able to work with teams in your classes as well as labs and in the Senior Enterprise or Design programs. The Enterprise Program is a unique opportunity that brings together students of all majors to work on real projects with real clients in a business-like environment. You’ll receive guidance and coaching from faculty mentors throughout every step of your journey here.”

Two College of Computing RedTeam students are part of a five-member team that finished 3rd in last weekend’s invitation-only Lockheed Martin Advanced Technologies Laboratories (ATL) Capture the Flag cybersecurity competition.

The multi-day virtual event involved 200 students on 40 teams. It opened for answer submission Friday, January 8, at 8:00 p.m., and closed Sunday, January 10, at 8 p.m.

The 3rd Place team, GoBlue!, trailed the 2nd Place team by only 14 points. RedTeam members are Michigan Tech undergraduates Dakoda Patterson, Computer Science, and Trevor Hornsby, Cybersecurity, and three University of Michigan students from the RedTeam’s partnership with that institution.

Michigan Tech RedTeam faculty advisors are Professor Yu Cai, Applied Computing, and Assistant Professor Bo Chen, Computer Science.

“We were lucky to be one of the 40 teams invited,” said Cai. “This was no small task, as the CTF included a large number of points in Reversing and “pwning” challenges, which proved to be fairly difficult. Other challenges were Cryptography, Stegonography, Web Exploitation, and miscellaneous challenges.”

CTF competitions place hidden “flags” in various computer systems, programs, images, messages, network traffic and other computing environments. Each individual or team is tasked with finding these flags. Participants win prizes while learning how to defend against cybersecurity attacks in a competitive and safe arena.

Top Three Teams

Michigan Tech was ranked as having the best return on investment (ROI) of any public college in Michigan by Stacker.com.

In an article published Saturday, “Public College in Every State with the Best ROI,” Stacker listed the public school with the “best bang for the buck,” in each state.

Michigan Tech came out on top of the 15 public colleges or universities in Michigan considered for the ranking. The article’s author John Harrington said of MTU, “Students at the school develop printable 3D prosthetic hands created from recycled plastic to help kids in Nicaragua, create quieter snowmobiles and launch orbiting nanosatellites.”

Stacker considered public colleges that primarily issue bachelor’s degrees. “The college with the highest 40-year ROI in every state was included. The study incorporated net present value, that calculates future earnings based on income ten and forty years, respectively, after starting college.”