KIP Newsblog

Category: Students of Kinesiology

Unveiling the Future: A Glimpse into the H-STEM Complex

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looking at students inside the H-STEM Complex
Michigan Tech’s Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology has found a new home, moving from the Student Development Complex at Michigan Tech to the main campus in the new H-STEM Complex.

To mark the Spring 2024 opening of the Michigan Tech H-STEM Complex, we asked graduate students for their impressions of the new facility, which brings multiple disciplines under one roof for increased innovation. As you’d expect from these emerging researchers, “collaboration” was the most-used word, along with “state-of-the-art,” “technology,” and “modern.” Here’s what Integrative Physiology majors Oluwatosin I. Oyeniran and Kyle Wehmanen, and Kinesiology major Lily Hart had to say about what the new facility, dedicated at the end of spring semester 2024, means to them.

Oluwatosin I. Oyeniran, PhD Student, Integrative Physiology, ’27

What are your first impressions of the H-STEM Complex?

OO: The H-STEM complex is a world-class and state-of-the-art educational facility that will provide solutions to societal challenges by consolidating quality teaching and research in engineering and health-related sciences.

KW: The new H-STEM complex is a great addition to the Michigan Tech campus. The design brings a modern feel to the heart of Tech and should help promote Tech’s commitment to education and research.

LH: My first impression of the H-STEM Complex was how spacious the research and teaching labs are.

How will the new facility enable you to become a better researcher?

OO: The H-STEM complex’s unique features such as its discipline-specific shared, flexible, collaborative lab and research spaces will enhance my learning and greatly support my quest to conduct quality and solution-oriented research and sharpen my scientific and technological skills.

KW: The new and expanded space makes research easier and more efficient. More importantly, the new building should foster increased collaboration both within and between multiple departments with optimized lab spaces.

LH: I believe that the new space will allow for collaborations with my peers. Having a communal grad office space has made it easy to not only get to know my peers better, but to get their input and ideas for coursework and research projects.

Kyle Wehmanen, MTU mechanical engineering undergrad, ’18, PhD Student, Integrative Physiology, ’25

What’s the number one improvement, from your perspective, of moving your program into the H-STEM Complex?

OO: For me, the major improvement is that, unlike our former location, the H-STEM complex is engineered to allow anyone inside and outside the workspaces to watch and visually experience diverse teams working jointly in shared, flexible, and collective teaching and research spaces. I look forward to maximizing all the opportunities and possibilities that the H-STEM complex will offer toward leading and advancing healthcare breakthroughs, technologies, and solutions for Michigan, the region, and the nation at large.

KW: The new state-of-the-art research spaces and overall inviting atmosphere of the building should promote excitement and energy in the coming years.

LH: The main improvement that I see as a result of the move is the KIP department becoming more integrated into Tech’s community. Moving to the main campus has given us a better presence

Lily Hart, Exercise Science grad, minoring in Psychology ’22, master’s student, Kinesiology ’24

About the Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology Department at Michigan Technological University

Tomorrow needs healthy communities. The Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology (KIP) at Michigan Technological University helps to build them. The KIP Department offers undergraduate degrees in exercise science and sports and fitness management. Graduate degree offerings include a PhD in Integrative Physiology as well as a master’s and accelerated master’s degree in Kinesiology.

Housed in the new H-STEM Complex, KIP leads several important health and wellness collaborative research projects across eight different labs. Supercharge your human health skills to meet the demands of an increasingly active and aging society at a flagship public research university powered by science, technology, engineering, and math.

Questions? Contact us at kip@mtu.edu. Follow all the latest happenings on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and the KIP Blog.

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KIP Graduate Student Receives MAGS/ProQuest Distinguished Masters Thesis Award Honorable Mention

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Isaac Lennox presenting his thesis during a poster session at the American College of Sports Medicine Conference in 2023.

Isaac Lennox, a recent MS in Kinesiology graduate, received Honorable Mention for the MAGS/ProQuest Distinguished Masters Thesis Award of 2024. Isaac’s thesis, “Exercise Is Medicine® on Campus: A National Analysis and Assessment of Community Impact,” was an examination of how the EIM-OC initiative impacts the health and vitality of university campuses and their surrounding communities. He was advised by Dr. Steve Elmer in KIP.

To read Isaac’s thoughts about his time spent at Michigan Tech and his research, go to the Graduate School’s Newsblog.

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Gracie VanLangevelde Awarded GLIAC Pat Riepma Postgraduate Scholarship

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Gracie VanLangevelde, a KIP graduate student and senior goalkeeper on Michigan Tech’s soccer team, has been named a 2023-24 Pat Riepma Postgraduate Scholarship recipient.

Gracie appeared in 57 games over the past five seasons for Michigan Tech. She was the 2023 GLIAC Goalkeeper of the Year and was a two-time All-GLIAC First Team selection. She was also honored by the United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Region First Team and the CSC Academic All-District Team, and was a four-time member of the GLIAC Academic Excellence Team.

Gracie graduated in spring of 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science and received the 2023 American Kinesiology Association’s Undergraduate Scholar Award. She will complete her master’s degree in Kinesiology at Tech in spring of 2024 and plans to attend the University of Buffalo’s Department of Rehabilitation Science to pursue a Doctor of Physical Therapy.

Read more about Gracie’s scholarly and athletic achievements at Michigan Tech Athletics.

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KIP Department Hosts National Biomechanics Day

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After a hiatus due the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan Tech’s Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology is gearing up for 2024 National Biomechanics Day. National Biomechanics Day is part of a worldwide initiative to increase the influence and impact of biomechanics in our society with a focus on outreach and education in schools.  

Nathan, Kate, Logan, Blake, Wil (students in Dr. Duncan’s Advanced Biomechanics class)

This year’s theme for NBD is celebrating the 21st century’s breakthroughs in science. Our department, led by Dr. Carolyn Duncan’s Advanced Biomechanics class, will be taking students through a series of fun activities related to biomechanics technologies, including motion capture, surface electromyography, and force platforms. These activities will show how we can explore real-life situations (e.g. fall prevention, the NFL combine, and strength training). They will also demonstrate to students how the concepts that they are currently learning in their high school STEM classes, such as biology and physics, applies to the world around them since biomechanics is the study of physics acting on the living organisms. 

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KIP Doctoral Student Elected as GSG Research Chair

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Oluwatosin Oyeniran, a doctoral student in Integrative Physiology, was elected to serve as the Research Chair for the Michigan Tech Graduate Student Government (GSG).

Oluwatosin Oyeniran (PhD student) was elected to the serve as the Research Chair of GSG.

The GSG research chair is responsible for organizing the major GSG research events and activities on campus, which include the Graduate Research Colloquium, 3 Minute Thesis Competition, Merit Awards Program, and Alumni Reunion Poster Session. Oluwatosin’s one-year term as a research chair will start May 1st with the possibility of re-election for an additional one-year term.

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KIP Student-Athlete Selected as CSC Academic All-District Honoree

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Kate Meister, a guard on Michigan Tech’s women’s basketball team, has been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team for 2023-24. Kate holds a 3.89 GPA currently as a KIP master’s student and has already earned her BS in Human Biology with a minor in Pre-Health Professions. This season she became the 30th player in the women’s basketball program to score 1,000 career points.

The Academic All-District® Women’s Basketball teams that are selected by CSC aim to recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom.

To read more about the honor that Kate has received and her accomplishments, go to Michigan Tech Athletics’ press release.

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KIP Graduate Students Earn Awards

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Congratulations to three of KIP’s graduate students on their recent research, teaching, and scholarly achievements! Compliments to these students, as well as the faculty that provide the training and mentorship for their success. 

  • Lily Hart (MS student) received the Harry R. Cohodas U.P. Graduate Student Fellowship for Summer 2024.
  • Felix Cottet-Puinel (MS student) is the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Scholarship from the Graduate School.
  • Kyle Wehmanen (PhD student) is the recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Award from the Graduate School.
  • Kyle Wehmanen received a second year of funding for his Michigan Space Grant Consortium Fellowship.
Lily Hart
Felix Cottet-Puinel
Kyle Wehmanen
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KIP Hosts Student Research Forum

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Presenters from left to right: Lily Hart, Lexi Little, Nathan Balok, Kyle Wehmanen, Xinqian (Sherry) Chen, Derrick Simet, Oluwatosin Oyeniran

The MTU KIP department hosted its annual Student Research Forum on February 16, 2024 as part of its February department seminar series. Students and faculty from the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology, as well as the Central Michigan University Doctorate of Physical Therapy Program attended. Several undergraduate and graduate students presented their research, educational, and outreach related projects.

As part of the thematic style poster session, students first delivered short, 3-minute oral presentations to the audience and then gave more in-depth explanations of their projects to attendees that circulated through the posters. The student presentations were excellent, and students were commended for their work and level of professionalism. Importantly, the questions and feedback that students received will help them move their projects forward and prepare to present their work at regional and national conferences later this Spring.

To help support student travel to conferences, please consider contributing to our student travel fund through our giving opportunities page. 

Audience listening to the students’ 3-minute presentations
Small groups interacting with presenters and their posters
Left to right: Xinqian (Sherry) Chen (KIP PhD candidate) with Dr. Zhiying Shan
“Brain-Derived Extracellular Vesicles from Dahl Salt-Sensitive Rats with High Salt Diet Increase PVN and SON Vasopressin Levels in Sprague Dawley Rats”
Left to right: Derrick Simet (member of Dr. Chen’s lab) with Dr. Qing-Hui Chen
“Inhibiting Local Brain Metabolism of Ethanol in the Central Nucleus of the Amygdala Blunts Sympathoexcitatory Responses Induced by Ethanol in Sprague Dawley Rats”
Left to right: Dr. Steven Elmer with Oluwatosin Oyeniran (KIP PhD student)
“Classroom Techniques for Teaching Skeletal Muscle Contraction”
Left to right: Nathan Balok (KIP MS student)
“Physiology Outreach in the Upper Peninsula,” Dr. Steven Elmer, Kyle Wehmanen (KIP PhD student)
“Metabolic Cost of Human Locomotion on Soft Terrain”
Left to right: Dr. Carolyn Duncan, Alexandra Little (BioSci undergraduate student), Lily Hart (KIP MS student)
“Surface Electromyography to Quantify Deep Tendon Reflexes”
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KIP and CMU-DPT Alum Brett Gervais Nominated as a Copper Shores Superior Educator

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Brett Gervais is an alum of both the MTU KIP department in Exercise Science and the CMU Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT) program. He was nominated as a Copper Shores Superior Educator for his role as a football and track and field coach in the Lake Linden-Hubbell school district. He is currently a physical therapist at Aspirus in Calumet. Congratulations to Brett for earning such a great honor and being a positive role model for so many student athletes in our local area.

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