Quincy smelting works was selected for a 2016 Historical Landmark Award from ASM International the world’s largest association of metals-centric materials engineers and scientists.
The citation reads “The Quincy Smelting Works is uniquely capable of interpreting the final stage of copper production for one of the few native copper ore mining regions on earth.”
The nomination letter was submitted by faculty from Michigan Tech Departments of Social Sciences and Materials Science and Engineering.
Outstanding alumni and friends will be recognized at the Alumni Reunion Awards Dinner on August 5, 2016. Among those with degrees related to materials science and engineering or metallurgy are:
Benjamin Almquist ’04 Materials Science and Engineering, London, England
Presented to alumni under the age of 35 who have distinguished themselves in their careers. The award recognizes the achievement of a position or some distinction noteworthy for one so recently graduated.
Almquist examines life at nano-scale, but thinks big. Currently a Lecturer at Imperial College in London where he leads his own research team. At Michigan Tech the award-winning researcher developed and refined an admirable life philosophy: “Leave the world a better place than when you arrived and find a way to enjoy making it happen.”
After earning a PhD from Standford, Almquist eventually moved on to MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies where he was awarded an NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellowship. “My research at MIT focused on new self-assembled biomaterials for treating non-healing diabetic foot ulcers, one of the most devastating complications of diabetes that actually carry a lower 5-year survival rate than breast and prostate cancer,” he explains.
Joshua ’03 and Jana Fogarty ’05 Materials Science and Engineering, Plymouth, Wisconsin
Presented to alumni and friends making significant contributions to the success of the Association and/or the University.
The Fogarty’s love story is Pure Michigan Tech. They met during Resident Assistant orientation in McNair Hall. In addition to the same college major, materials science, they found common ground in their passion for the outdoors. Josh graduated in spring 2003 and proposed to Jana at the 2004 Winter Carnival All Nighter.
In Winter 2007, they decided it would be fun to gather a few Michigan Tech alumni together for broomball, a tradition that continues. By 2013 more than 100 Michigan Tech Huskies and friends were arriving from seven states to enjoy broomball, chili and each other’s company.
William Bernard, Jr. ’69 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Perrysburg, Ohio
This award recognizes alumni who have made outstanding contributions both in their careers and to Michigan Tech over a number of years.
Bernard is tenacity personified. A local boy without resources to afford schooling and living expenses elsewhere, he stayed close to home and worked nearly 40 hours a week while completing his studies. He’s been with the same company for more than 40 years, ascending to sole owner and CEO of Surface Combustions, Inc in 1997.
His first job after graduation was field engineer in the Surface Combustion division of Midland and he progressed into engineering design, contract engineering, marketing, chief engineer and business unit manager roles.
When his division was threatened with closure, Bernard spearheaded a successful buyout, creating Surface Combustion, Inc. and in 1997 became the sole owner.
The 2000 Michigan Tech Academy of Material Science and Engineering Inductee and 2011 ASM International Fellow has earned numerous honors, including the 2009 Center for Heat Treating Excellence Distinguished Service Award and the 2013 ASM International Distinguished Life Membership Award.
Pearce (MSE/ECE) authored an article “What If All U.S. Coal Workers Were Retrained to Work in Solar?” in the Harvard Business Review.
In Print
Joshua Pearce’s (MSE/ECE) work on replacing coal work with solar was reprinted in Industry Week as well as being covered widely in the media including Politico and in articles covering both the US (One Year of Coal CEO Pay Could Retrain Every US Miner to Work in the Solar Industry– Greentech Media) as well as the Australian coal industries: What to do with coal workers? Retrain them for solar, says study.
In the News
Joshua Pearce’s (MSE/ECE) research on solar employment has been covered widely including by MIT Technology Review, Epoch Times, Indiana Public Radio, Grist, Clean Technica and Vox in an article: New study: it would be cheap to retrain coal workers for solar jobs
The story has also been picked up in Europe:
Solar Energy Is Powering New Careers And It Could Be Absorbing Coal Sector Job Losses
“The coal industry is on a downward slope from which it won’t get off,” Pearce, who teaches electrical engineering, told this reporter. “There is too much competition from not just natural gas but also renewables, and especially solar.”
Read more at Forbes, by Ken Silverstein.
In the News
Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) was quoted on energy industry employment in “One Year of a Coal CEO’s Salary Could Transition U.S. Coal Miners to Work in Solar Industry” in EcoWatch and also in “US solar industry hailed as ‘light at end of tunnel’ for jobless coal miners” in Mining.
In the News
Research by Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) was covered by the U.S. Department of State’s Share America.
In Print
André Laplume (SBE) and Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) co-authored the article “Global value chains from a 3D printing perspective,” which was published in the Journal of International Business Studies.
DOI: 10.1057/jibs.2015.47
In the News
3D Print ran a story on 3-D printing research co-authored by Michigan Tech alumni Amberlee Haselhuhn (MSE) and Bas Wijnen (MSE), undergraduate student Michael Buhr (ME), with faculty Paul Sanders (MSE) and Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE). The story is titled “Aluminum Alloys: Researchers Explore the Microstructure-Property Relationship in Metal 3D Printing.”
In Print
The article “Structure-Property Relationships of Common Aluminum Weld Alloys Utilized as Feedstock for GMAW-based 3-D Metal Printing” was co-authored by Michigan Tech alumni Amberlee Haselhuhn (MSE) and Bas Wijnen (MSE), undergraduate student Michael Buhr (ME), with faculty Paul Sanders (MSE) and Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE). The article was published in Materials Science and Engineering: A.