2013 recipient Tyler Plamondon (right) accepts the award from Dr. Will Cantrell (left).
Back Row: Raymond Shaw, Ethan Miltenberger, Jacob Smock, Jonathan Curtis, Jeremy Dobbs, Mac Brennan
Front Row: Eric Kaphengst, Clarence King, Kathryn Cox, Tyler Plamondon, Abigail Dillon, Derek Van Damme
The Discover blog “Out There” features Professor Robert Nemiroff’s (Physics) research on the nature of spacetime. In “Dispatches from AAS: The Not-There Universe,” editor Corey Powell writes about three discoveries that are remarkable for what they did not find and quotes Nemiroff as saying “perhaps the golden age of cosmology is not over just yet. There may be more discoveries out there.”
Special for classic rock fans: Powell draws a parallel with the 1960s Zombies hit “She’s Not There.”
From Tech Today.
Dispatches from AAS: The Not-There Universe
Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity implies that space should be smooth at very small distances, just as it is smooth at the distances we experience. Some newer theories, which attempt to go beyond relativity, suggest otherwise: They predict that sub-subatomic space is a froth of unseen particles and energy. Nemiroff figured out a way to see who is right. He tracked gamma rays—radiation that is like light but much more energetic—from an exploding star roughly 7 billion light years from Earth, and looked for signs that they had scattered off any frothy space along the way. He found none. For the umpteenth time, a challenge to Einstein has failed.
Read more at Discover Magazine, by Corey S. Powell.
Once again the Michigan Tech chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) has been selected as one of the Outstanding SPS Chapters. This is the third year in a row for such a distinction with this chapter.
The Michigan Tech chapter is part of Zone 09. The award criteria include K-12 outreach, community service, interactions with alumni, and other considerations.
Paintings by Miguel Levy
Rozsa Gallery
January 18 – February 15, 2013
Reception for the Artist
Friday, January 18, 6:00 pm
Admission is free.
CS Faculty/Students Win Best Paper Award
Computer Science Assistant Professor Chaoli Wang, former CS undergraduate student John Reese, former CS MS student Huan Zhang, CS PhD student Jun Tao, and Physics Professor Robert Nemiroff will receive a Best Paper Award for their paper, “iMap: A stable layout for navigating large image collections with embedded search”, at the IS&T/SPIE Conference on Visualization and Data Analysis, Feb. 4-6, 2013, in Burlingame, Calif. Jun Tao will present the award paper at the conference.
For their next steps, the authors will further develop techniques for animated transition and graph-based image layout, deploy the visualization results on the display wall at the Immersive Visualization Studio (IVS) at the Center for Computer Systems Research (CCSR) for outreach, and eventually release a web-based online program to benefit a wider user base.
From Tech Today.
A large crowd in Fisher 135 was treated to a newly formatted Fourth Annual Bob Mark Elevator Pitch Competition Wednesday night. It was more realistic: the contestants had only 90 seconds to pitch their product, with elevator sound effects marking their beginnings and endings.
More than 20 teams did their best pitches, and the judges had some hard choices to make. Winning first prize and $1,000 was MyPaar (My Love), a dating website for India, created by physics PhD student Abhi Kantamneni. He also won the Audience Favorite Award and $200.
Kantamneni said he got his inspiration for the idea at 2:30 a.m. one morning, while immersed in another competition. “I realized that my other idea was no good, and I needed to follow one important part of a business model: think of the customer first.”
In spite of nearly double the number of contestants and added entertainment, the event still concluded in about an hour and a half, thanks to many hands that helped: SBE Instructor Michele Loughead and undergrad students Travis Beaulieu (physics and one of last year’s winners), Mason Pew (sound design) and Haley Carlson (marketing).
Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Dennis Walikainen.
The School of Business and Economics’ Bob Mark Memorial Elevator Pitch Competition was covered by the Detroit News recently.
From Tech Today.
The Department of Physics welcomes Sanjeev Gupta, a Fulbright scholar, who came to Tech Oct. 22. Gupta was awarded his PhD in physics from Bhavnagar University, India, in 2010, and spent time as a postdoctoral researcher at the Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy. His time at Michigan Tech will be spent primarily with Professor Ravi Pandey’s research group.
Gupta will help design advanced materials that can be future building blocks for solar cells, batteries, and photonic and optoelectronic devices.
From Tech Today.
Two teams from Michigan Tech have been chosen to join in the Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge. One of the teams is GreenedIt!, a web-based application for energy auditing.
GreenedIt! team members are physics students Travis Beaulieu, an undergraduate, and graduate student Abhilash Kantamneni. The team traveled to East Lansing for their initial training this past weekend.
“The training we received through the challenge was incredibly useful,” said Beaulieu. “The whole point was to try and get young entrepreneurs into the mindset of finding a customer need and forming the idea around the customer’s feedback. Thankfully this training worked for our team, and we had a complete pivot during the weekend.”
Read more at Tech Today, by Dennis Walikainen.
The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) will hold a Lunch and Learn, “A Blended Learning Buffet,” from noon to 1 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 25. The location will be provided after registration.
Among the discussion facilitators will be:
Will Cantrell and Claudio Mazzoleni (both of Physics)–Just in Time Teaching
Mike Meyer (CTL/Physics)–Discussion Boards
Read more at Tech Today.
A Blended Learning Buffet
Short introductory videos are posted here, including Discussion Boards by Mike Meyer, Just In Time Teaching by Will Cantrell and Claudio Mazzoleni, and Computerized Testing Center by Joel Neves (Visual and Performing Arts) and Mike Meyer.
View more at the CTL public course page.
Designing Courses in Canvas
Learn more about blended learning at the CTL Blended Learning Showcase.