Category: Academics

Business Insider has rated Michigan Tech number 11 among the top-20 public universities with the smartest students. In assembling its list, Business Insider used data from the website Niche and its College Prowler, a service that provides college reviews by students.

“We see all that our students accomplish here at Michigan Tech and all the companies seeking them out for employment,” said John Lehman, associate vice president for enrollment, marketing and communications. “It doesn’t take long to see that there is something pretty special about the students here. They are smart, amazingly smart. It’s satisfying to know that others see that as well.”

Business Insider also includes student quotes “to illustrate the student intellect and academic caliber of each school.” For Michigan Tech, a student said, “”I love my professors—all of them seem dedicated to their job, as well as understanding. The workload is more than most schools, but the best isn’t the easiest!”

College Prowler features rankings by students in more than 20 categories, from academics to weather and from computers to parking.

According to their website, Business Insider is “dedicated to aggregating, reporting, and analyzing the top news stories across the web.”

From Tech Today.

Read “The 20 Public Colleges With The Smartest Students” at Business Insider, by Peter Jacobs.

Mini Symposium 2014

March 5th (12 – 1 pm)
March 7th (11 – 1 pm)
MUB Ballroom A
Michigan Technological University

Special 2-day event highlighting many facets of protein scientists at Michigan Tech.

Savory talks discussing the field of protein science and cutting edge research in protein science.

VIEW THE GUEST SPEAKERS FROM THE DEPARTMENTS OF CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

You might be a protein scientist and not event know it! Come see, listen and enjoy.

Light, buffet lunch provided!

RSVP using this Registration Form

Contact: mtuproteinscientists@gmail.com

The mini symposium is sponsored by The Protein Society.

Michigan Tech’s Air Force ROTC Detachment has been named the “Team of the Year,” placing the program number one among 145 Air Force Detachments nationwide. “Their outstanding accomplishments speak greatly to the service they provide to the mission of the AFROTC,” said Col Eric J. Wydra, US Air Force commander.

From Tech Today.

Keith M. Baldwin, 85, passed away on Thursday, January 16, 2014, at Marquette General Hospital.

Baldwin came to the Michigan College of Mining and Technology in 1963 as an associate professor of physics. He taught many physics classes and senior labs and served as a faculty advisor for graduate students. In the early 1970s, Baldwin also became involved with the Keweenaw Research Center. He worked on vehicle research projects and helped secure contracts for vehicle testing. After early retirement from Michigan Tech in 1984, he partnered with the University to form KMB/Tech, developing lab equipment for physics teachers.

Professor Emeritus Don Daavittila (Physics) knew him well. “He was very interested in his subject and a very good teacher,” he said. “I enjoyed knowing him very much. He was also a Tech hockey fan, he was even at some games this year. Keith was a good guy.”

Read more at Tech Today.

To Russia with Code: Tech Students Make World Finals in Computer Programming

Only 120 teams of 10,000 worldwide are going, and Michigan Tech is one of them. They earned the right to go to Russia to compete in the world finals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest next June by finishing fifth in the North Central regional qualifying contest.

Computer science students Tom Holmes and Eric Rinkus and math major Ryan McNamara will be making the trip to Ural Federal University in Ekaterinburg with coach and computer science PhD student Jason Hiebel.

“This was my fourth year of trying,” Holmes added. “We’ll be practicing a lot with Jason, and Dave has been really helpful, too. We want to go there [Russia] and solve a decent number of problems. We want to get Tech’s name up there.”

Read more at Tech Today, by Dennis Walikainen.

In early November, the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning invited faculty to submit proposals to support blended learning course innovations. Proposals were accepted at three levels ($1,000, $5,000 and $10,000), and a total of $50,000 was originally planned to be awarded during this cycle.

The PIs in the College of Sciences and Arts that will receive support are:

$1,000
* Jason Carter (KIP) “Benchmarking Trip to University of Florida”
* Wil Slough (Physics) “Development of Blended Learning Materials for Uncertainty Analysis”

$5,000
* Karla Kitalong (HU) “MTMC and IGTAAP Tech Upgrade” (partial funding)
* Jason Gregersen (Math) “Blended and Online Linear Algebra”
* Leo Ureel (CS) “Canvas Teaching Assistant”

$10,000
* Jared Anderson (VPA) “Video Arts in Blended Learning (VIABLE)”

Read more at Tech Today.

CSA welcomes new faculty and existing faculty who have now accepted tenure-track and lecturer positions: Brigitte Morin, Andrew Galerneau, Marina Tanasova, Adam Feltz, Kelly Steelman, Leo Ureel, Stephanie Carpenter, Abraham Romney, Zhiying (Jenny) Shan, Tejin Yoon, Jason Gregersen, William Keith, Min Wang, Yang Yang, Ramy El-Ganainy, Melissa Baird, Carl Blair, Ryan Cook, Rebecca Graff, Nancy Langston, Chelsea Schelly, and Josh Loar.

Read more at Tech Today.

Cary Chabalowski, Anne Beffel, and Chandrashekhar Joshi are the three new department chairs in the college for Fall 2013.

Cary Chabalowski joins the Department of Chemistry as chair and professor of practice. Chabalowski is a computational chemist with an interest in quantum chemistry.

Anne Beffel is chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts. She defines herself as a “time artist” which she says means that she is deeply interested in connecting art and social context in time, using all forms and media.

Chandrashekhar Joshi chairs the Department of Biological Sciences. Joshi, a world-renowned plant molecular biologist, has been serving as interim chair of biological sciences for the past year.

Read more at Tech Today.