Author: College of Engineering

Sue Hill is the Digital Content Manager for the College of Engineering.

Walter Milligan is the New Chair of Materials Science and Engineering

Walt Milligan
Walt Milligan

The College of Engineering announces that Walter Milligan has accepted the position of Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, beginning July 1, 2021.

“I am very happy that Walt has agreed to be the Chair of Materials Science and Engineering,” stated Dean Janet Callahan. “His 31 years of experience at Michigan Tech, both on the faculty and in administration, will be a great asset for the Department and the College.”

Milligan began his academic career at Michigan Tech in 1989, and for 17 years he taught MSE and conducted interdisciplinary research on high-performance structural materials. In 2006, he took on a new challenge, and was appointed as Michigan Tech’s first Chief Information Officer, and was tasked with building a robust, campus-wide information technology organization. He held that position until 2015 when he returned to the faculty, and in 2019-2020 he served as the Interim Department Chair in the new Department of Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology.

Milligan earned a BS in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, as well as MS and PhD Degrees in Materials Engineering from Georgia Tech. He has worked for GE Aircraft Engines, Carpenter Technology Corporation, NASA – Glenn Research Center, the Nuclear Research Center in Grenoble, France, and the University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway. He is a Fellow of ASM International and a Distinguished Life Member of Alpha Sigma Mu, and has served on the Boards of Directors of TMS and ABET.

“It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here for 31 years,” Milligan said. “This Department is my home, and one of the founding disciplines of the University, with a rich tradition and history. I am honored to lead the Department to its next phase.”

By the College of Engineering.

Materials Science and Engineering for High School Students

MSE 2100: Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering

New Dual-Enrollment Course at Michigan Tech!

Pouring melt, stretching a sample, and displaying a micrograph.

Semesters Offered

Fall 2021 Course Delivery Course Registry
Aug. 30–Dec. 17, 2021 Online #85007
Spring 2022 Credits Instructor
Jan. 10–Apr. 29, 2022 3 Mary Fraley

Course Description

Learn about how engineering materials are processed and designed!

We will look at polymers, metals, ceramics, glass and composites.

Why take this course?

Earn college credits while in high school with dual enrollment!

MSE 2100: Intro to Materials Science and Engineering is now being offered as a new dual-enrollment course at Michigan Tech for high school students. These credits can be used towards a degree at Michigan Tech or any college that accepts MSE 2100 transfer credits. Many engineering curriculums, both at Michigan Tech and elsewhere, require this course or will accept it as an elective.

Who can take this course?

High school juniors and seniors who have completed high school Chemistry and Algebra 2.

How to Register

Contact your high school guidance counselor to complete the dual enrollment forms.

Registration is completed through the Michigan Tech Admissions office. Email mtu4u@mtu.edu or call 906-487-2335.

Questions About the Course

Contact Mary Fraley
Sr. Lecturer, Materials Science and Engineering
Michigan Technological University
mafraley@mtu.edu
906-487-1899

MSE Alum Megan Kreiger receives 2021 Michigan Tech Alumni Association Outstanding Young Alumna Award

Megan Kreiger
Megan Kreiger

Outstanding students, staff, and a special alumni were honored Friday (April 16) during Michigan Tech’s 27th Annual Student Leadership Awards Virtual Ceremony.

Outstanding students, staff, and special alumni were honored on Friday, April 16th at Michigan Tech’s 27th Annual Student Leadership Awards Virtual Ceremony.   At that event, Michigan Tech alums Kaitlin Bunker (BS EE ’10, MS EE ‘12, PhD EE ’14) and Megan Kreiger (BS Math ’09, MS MSE ’12) were introduced as the Alumni Association Outstanding Young Alumni for 2021.  Dr. Brunker is currently a manager at the Rocky Mountain Institute, and Megan works for the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois.  Dr. Brunker delivered the keynote address at the awards ceremony.

By Student Leadership and Involvement.

Morgan Drumm is Student Employee of the Year

Morgan Drumm
Morgan Drumm

Outstanding students, staff, and a special alumni were honored Friday (April 16) during Michigan Tech’s 27th Annual Student Leadership Awards Virtual Ceremony.

Morgan Drumm was selected as Student Employee of the Year. Morgan has been a valuable member of the International Programs and Services department. Her nominator states, “I’ve never encountered someone with so much drive, dedication, and incredible attention to detail. In her role, Morgan worked with international students with Optional Practical Training, or OPT. The work is described as tedious, with a great amount of pressure. However, this did not stop Morgan from going above and beyond approaching the work with vision and creativity.”

Morgan is a materials science and engineering major.

By Student Leadership and Involvement.

MSE Grad Ninad Mohale Awarded Second Place Presentation in the 2021 Graduate Research Colloquium

Ninad Mohale
Ninad Mohale

Oral Presentations

Ninad Mohale from the Materials Science and Engineering department took second place for his presentation titled “Effects of Eta Phase on the High Temperature Creep Behavior of Nimonic 263.” The research is sponsored by the United States Department of Energy (DOE). Mohale is advised by Professor Walter Milligan.

This year’s Graduate Research Colloquium organized by the Graduate Student Government was hosted virtually due to COVID restrictions. There were in total 48 presentations — 17 poster presenters and 31 oral presenters.

Poster presentations took place in a pre-recorded video style and the oral sessions were hosted live via Zoom. You can watch all the poster videos and recordings for the oral sessions here. Each presentation was scored by two judges from the same field of research.

Participants were able to gain valuable feedback from these judges before presenting their research at an actual conference. It was stiff competition amongst all presenters.

A hearty congratulations to all the winners at this year’s Colloquium. The Graduate Student Government would like to thank everyone: presenters, judges, volunteers, and GSG supporters, for making this a great event despite COVID-19 restrictions. GSG would also like to hear ways in which this event could be improved next year using this feedback form.

By Graduate Student Government.

Joe Licavoli Earns Graduate Student Government Merit Award

Joe Licavoli
Michigan Tech MSE Research Engineer Dr. Joe Licavoli

Every year the Graduate Student Government (GSG) at Michigan Tech gives out four types of awards to recognize and celebrate the hard work of graduate students, faculty and staff at Michigan Tech.

Joseph J. Licavoli, Research Engineer and Scientist II, Materials Science and Engineering, was recognized as an Exceptional Staff Member in the GSG 2021 Merit Awards.

Dr. Licavoli earned his bachelor’s, master’s and PhD in Materials Science and Engineering, all at Michigan Tech. He has worked for Daimler Chrysler CIE, Sandvik Hard Materials, Alcoa Howmet, and most recently the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Albany, Oregon.

His research interests include materials processing techniques for high temperature alloys, porous metals, high entropy alloys, lightweight materials, biomedical alloys, and trace elemental control.

MSE People Briefs Spring 2021

Elizabeth Miller

New ACMAL Lab Manager Liz Miller

Elizabeth Miller has taken on the role of ACMAL lab manager. Miller holds a bachelor’s degree in Forest Science from Michigan Tech.

Miller is actively involved in several local nonprofit organizations including the Singletrack Flyers Youth Mountain Bike Club, SöKē Trails Club, Copper Country Ski Tigers, and Kaleidoscope: Keweenaw Alternative Education Org. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her two kids and husband cross country skiing, hiking, and mountain biking.

Gina Goudge

New MSE Coordinator Gina Goudge

Gina Goudge replaced Valentina O’Kane as departmental coordinator in Spring 2021.

Gina has worked at Michigan Tech since 1994 providing administrative, budget, and business operation services to department leadership throughout the University, including administrative, academics, student affairs, and advancement. When not at Michigan Tech, Gina enjoys spending time with her family, watching her sons play sports, and enjoying the beautiful Keweenaw area.

Melissa Beth Johnson

New Office Assistant Melissa Beth Johnson

Melissa Beth Johnson has joined MSE, replacing Rachel Griffin as an Administrative staff in the 6th floor main office.  Melissa moves from a prior joint position in the departments of Kinesiology and Integrated Physiology Sciences (KIPS) and Cognitive Learning and Sciences (CLS).  We’re really pleased to acquire Melissa’s artistic talents in social media and photography.  She is also an enthusiastic and accomplished rock-hound!  Welcome aboard, Melissa!

MSE Office Coordinator Valentina O’Kane bids farewell

Office coordinator-extraordinaire Valentina O’Kane bid farewell to MSE in October following the reassignment of her husband, John, to Hanscom AFB in the Bedford, MA, and following the completion of his 3-year term as Commander of the Air Force ROTC unit at Michigan Tech in August.  Valentina was terrific colleague and valued member of the MSE family; we appreciate all that she has done for the department, for the faculty and staff, and for our students.  Our best wishes to Valentina and the O’Kane family!  

Rachel Griffin now a Blue Bolt

MSE Administrative staff member Rachel Griffin has left the university to pursue her passion as a mentor for female K-12 students as the new volleyball coach and an administrative assistant at Dollar Bay High School.  Our sincere thanks for everything Rachel did for MSE, and our best wishes in her awesome new role assisting and guiding students for the future. 

Pinaki Mukherjee heads West

MSE staff member and Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) specialist Pinaki Mukherjee has accepted a similar position at Stanford University.  Pinaki joined MSE and Michigan Tech in 2017, and has been invaluable to the campus by way of his leadership and abilities in bringing the aberration-controlled FEI Titan Themis microscope operational and available to university researchers.  We wish Pinaki and his family the best of luck in the Bay area of California, and look forward to continued collaborations.

Mary Fraley

Mary Fraley Joins the MSE Faculty

Mary Fraley joined MSE as a Senior Lecturer in Fall 2020. She was previously with the Department of Engineering Fundamentals.

Mary is an alum of MSE (BS MY 90, MS MY 94). In addition to teaching first-year engineering courses, she has had a prominent presence in the MSE teaching program for several years. Mary is active in engineering education research and in developing teaching innovations in the engineering curriculum. She has identified by the campus community as one of Michigan Tech’s positive female role models.

MSE Alumna Dr. Kathy Hayrynen Earns American Foundry Society Award

Kathy L. Hayrynen
Dr. Kathy L. Hayrynen

The American Foundry Society (AFS) award-winners have been announced by the AFS Board of Awards.

Kathy L. Hayrynen, vice president of R&D, Applied Process Inc. (Livonia, Michigan) will be awarded the John H. Whiting Gold Medal for her exemplary work in cast iron research and standards, chairing the AFS Technical Council, leadership in streamlining the AFS Cast Iron Division, as well as for advocacy and mentorship of students and women in metalcasting.

Hayrynen graduated with BS, MS, and PhD in Metallurgical Engineering from Michigan Tech in 1986, 1989, and 1993, respectively. She was inducted to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering Academy in 2006.

The award will be presented virtually at the Metalcasting Congress 2021 this April. An in-person ceremony for the Gold Medal is also planned for the 2021 Foundry Leadership Summit in September.

MSE Retirement Announcement: Owen Mills

Owen Mills
Owen Mills

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering congratulates Owen Mills on his upcoming retirement. We have enjoyed working with him during his years here at Michigan Tech and not only is he a valuable asset to MSE but we consider him part of the MSE family.

Owen you will be missed by all of us more than words can say! Your time, experience, expertise, has been so beneficial to MSE and Michigan Tech. We hope your successor will strive to follow your stellar example. We are saddened to see you go but wish you nothing but success and happiness in retirement. While June 30, 2020, was his last day, we will celebrate his retirement at a later date in August.

New Approach to Simultaneous In Situ Measurements

Timothy Leftwich
Timothy Leftwich

Graduate student Chathura de Alwis (Chem), research assistant professor Timothy R. Leftwich (MSE), and assistant professor Kathryn A. Perrine (Chem) published their seminal paper on their new surface technique, “New Approach to Simultaneous In Situ Measurements of the Air/Liquid/Solid Interface Using PM-IRRAS” in Langmuir on March 16, 2020.

Leftwich is an associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and manager of the Surface Analysis Facility in the shared facility ACMAL, the Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory.

Cite This

New Approach to Simultaneous In Situ Measurements of the Air/Liquid/Solid Interface Using PM-IRRAS
Chathura de Alwis, Timothy R. Leftwich, Kathryn A. Perrine
Langmuir 2020, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXX
Publication Date: March 16, 2020
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b03958

Extract

Vibrational spectroscopy techniques have evolved to measure gases, liquids, and solids at surfaces and interfaces. In the field of surface-sensitive vibrational spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy measures the adsorption on surfaces and changes from reactions. Previous polarized modulated-infrared reflection–absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) measurements at the gas/solid interface were developed to observe catalytic reactions near reaction conditions.

This article presents a new method that is used to observe in situ adsorption of molecules using PM-IRRAS at the gas/liquid/solid interface. We demonstrate the meniscus method by measuring the adsorption of octadecanethiol on gold surfaces.