Category: Academics

Graduate Education Week in Lansing

LansingFour graduate students are going to Lansing for Graduate Education Day, Tuesday, Feb. 19. Governor Rick Snyder has declared the week of Feb. 18 as Graduate Education Week, and more than 50 students from universities and colleges across the state will meet with legislators at the Capitol Building in Lansing.

Among the attendees is Melanie Talaga, a PhD candidate in chemistry from Negaunee, who is researching glycobiology and characterizing potential cancer biomarkers.

Read more at Tech Today.

ROTC Day of Challenges

ROTCMichigan Tech will be hosting its annual Day of Challenges for 5th through 12th grade students on Saturday, Feb. 23, sponsored by the Michigan Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Michigan Tech Army and Air Force ROTC programs. The event focuses on teamwork and mental and physical challenges, with events such as an obstacle course, a leadership reaction course and tests of swimming ability, all the while encouraging participants to learn and have fun.

Read more at Tech Today, by Kevin Hodur.

New Faculty in the College of Sciences and Arts

Erika Hersch GreenJohn Durocher, Erika Hersch-Green, Loredana Valenzano, Myounghoon Jeon, Lauren Bowen, Jinguang Sun, Zeying Wang, Kari Henquinet, Emma Norman, Jonathan Robins, Steven Walton are new faculty and existing faculty who have now accepted tenure-track and lecturer positions in Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Cognitive and Learning Sciences, Humanities, Mathematical Sciences, and Social Sciences.

Read more at Tech Today, by Travis Gendron.

Tech Celebrates World Usability Day

World Usability Day 2012The Human Interface Design Enterprise was showing off their driver simulator. It was one of a couple of major projects the group has taken on, according to Margo Woller-Carter, a PhD student in applied cognitive science and human factors. The Human Interface Design Enterprise is advised by Bob Pastel, associate professor in computer science.

Elsewhere, Harriet King discussed her master’s thesis in computer science, which focuses on two categories of daily computer users: those who know just enough (JE) to get their work done and those who are much more proficient and comfortable in their work (intrinsic). It was the focus of her poster presentation at the library. King is advised by Charles Wallace, interim chair of CS, and she received additional guidance from Karla Kitalong from humanities and Bob Pastel from CS.

Read more at Tech Today, by Dennis Walikainen.

Bob Mark Elevator Pitch Competition:That’s Entertainment (and Ingenuity)

Elevator Pitch 2012Winning first prize and $1,000 was MyPaar (My Love), a dating website for India, created by physics PhD student Abhi Kantamneni.

At the Fourth Annual Bob Mark Elevator Pitch Competition at Michigan Technological University, more than 20 teams made their best pitches promoting ideas for new businesses, and the judges had some hard choices to make. The contest emulates an elevator ride with a potential investor, and this year featured sound effects, dramatic lighting and entertainment.

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Dennis Walikainen.

8th Annual Northern Lights Film Festival

Northern Lights Film Festival 2012The Eighth Annual Northern Lights Film Festival will be held November 1-3 at the McArdle Theatre on the Michigan Technological University campus. This year’s festival brings recent award-winning independent films and filmmakers to the campus and surrounding community.

The Northern Lights Film Festival is sponsored by the departments of Humanities and Visual and Performing Arts, Cin/Optic Communication and Media Enterprise Team and PANK.

CLS and KIP at Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Meeting

HFES Annual MeetingFaculty and students attended the 56th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society last week in Boston.

Attending were faculty and graduate students from the Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences (CLS) and the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology (KIP). The contributed to oral presentations, a discussion panel, and poster presentations.

Read more at Tech Today.