College of Sciences and Arts Newsblog

Category: News

Research Excellence Fund Awards

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ResearchThe vice president for research is pleased to announce this year’s recipients of the Research Excellence Fund Awards, and would like to thank all of the review committee members for participating in this important internal award process. Recipients in the College of Sciences and Arts include:

Infrastructure Enhancement Grants
Will Cantrell, EPSSI/Physics
Michael Gretz, Bio Sci

Scholarship and Creativity Grants
Ramon Fonkoue, HU
Kalen Larson, VPA
Emma Norman, SS
Steven Walton, SS

Mentoring Grants
Stefka Hristova, HU
Rebecca Schmitz, Math

Research Seed Grants
John Durocher, KIP
Adam Wellstead, SS

Technology Commercialization Grants
Lanrong Bi, Chem

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Creative Canvas Course Contest (C-4) Results

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Creative Canvas CourseThe Center for Teaching and Learning’s first Creative Canvas Course Contest (C-4) saw students nominate more than 100 different courses from almost every department. In the College of Sciences and Arts, the creative faculty recognized were:

Karin Schlenker (HU3280), Lecturer, Humanities
Richelle Winkler (SS3315), Assistant Professor, Social Sciences
Brigitte Zielinksi (BL2920) Instructor, Biological Sciences
Claire Zuraw (ESL0330), Instructor, ESL

View their video course tours.

From Tech Today.

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Michigan Space Grant 2013

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MSGCMichigan Tech faculty, staff members, and students received awards tallying $ 96,635 in funding through the Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC), sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Undergraduate students in the College of Sciences and Arts receiving $2,500 research fellowships include:

  • Ashima Chhabra (Chem): “Measuring surface roughness of mineral dust for comparison to Martian dust”
  • Nathanael Green (Chem): “A sequencing technology capable of monitoring variations of DNA methylation induced by travel in space”

Graduate student Colin Gurganus in Physics is receiving a $5,000 fellowship for his project entitled “Examining the Role of Surface Roughness on Atmospheric Nucleation Processes.”

Chemistry faculty member Loredana Valenzano is receiving a $4-5,000 seed grant for “Revealing the Performance Barrier: First Principles Prediction of the Physical-Chemical Properties of New Co-Crystals for Rocket Propulsion.”

Read more at Tech Today.

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Chemistry Grad Student Receives NSF Fellowship for Summer Research in China

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AsiaDouglas Smith will be traveling to Beijing this summer, courtesy of the National Science Foundation East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes. Smith, who is earning his MS in Chemistry, received the EAPSI fellowship to conduct research at Beijing Technological University.

Smith started his research career as an undergraduate, working with Assistant Professor Lanrong Bi (Chemistry). After he completed his BS in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, she continued as his advisor.

Read more at Tech Today.

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BonzAI Brawl Programming Challenge

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bonzAI 2013BonzAI Brawl is an all-day artificial intelligence (AI) programming competition. “The competition has grown over 50 percent this year, with about 180 contestants on 75 teams,” says Jason Hiebel, a computer science graduate student and one of the organizers of this year’s event.

Read more at Tech Today, by Kevin Hodur.

Have you ever had to program your video game to play it? Well, on Saturday, about 200 students did just that for the 6th Annual BonzAI Brawl at Michigan Tech University; students played a computer game about ducks all day for the competition.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Beth Cefalu.

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Two From CLS Among Top 25 Psychology Professors in Michigan

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Kedmon HungweAssociate Professor of Teacher Education Kedmon N. Hungwe and Assistant Professor of Psychology Edward T. Cokely have been named among the top 25 psychology professors in Michigan.

Hungwe is the Cognitive and Learning Sciences Director at Michigan Tech. His research interests include youth and adolescent development and science education.

Cokely received the Raymond S. Nickerson Best Paper Award, sponsored by the American Psychological Association, for his co-authored paper.

Edward Cokely Read more at the CLS News Blog.

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Army ROTC Cadet Training

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Army ROTC Spring 2013This battalion is called the Artic Warriors, and they’re certainly living up to their name as all 50 cadets complete field training in frigid rain and snow.

“We come out on Friday night, do land navigation,” explains Army ROTC Cadet Command Sgt. Major Christopher Sherrill. “Then Saturday we do tactical evaluations and Sunday we do rigorous training.”

Read more and watch the video at Upper Michigans Source, by Beth Cefalu.

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Two from CLS Among Top 25 Education Professors in Michigan

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Brad BaltenspergerProfessor Brad Baltensperger, chair of cognitive and learning sciences, and Joan Chadde, coordinator of education programs for the Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, have been named among the 25 top education professors in Michigan.

Baltensperger was recognized for receiving a $3.8 million, four-year National Science Foundation grant, along with four colleagues, for the Michigan Teacher Excellence Program. Chadde was recognized for K-12 outreach efforts in Great Lakes education and stewardship, watershed management and stream monitoring.

Joan Chadde ShumakerRead more at Tech Today.

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Ninth Annual ESC/BRC Student Research Forum Winners

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ESC BRC Research ForumThe Ecosystem Science Center and the Biotechnology Research Center announced award recipients of the Ninth Annual ESC/BRC Student Research Forum, held March 27. For the graduate students, two Grand Prize Awards and six Merit Awards were presented.

One of the Grand Prizes went to Ramkumar Mohan, a graduate student in Biological Sciences.

There were four Merit Awards to grad students in Biological Sciences: Komal K. Bollepogu Raja, Brian Danhoff, Anthony Matthys, and James Olson.

Undergraduate Jade Oritz in Biological Sciences was awarded one of the Grand Prizes for undergraduate research.

Read more at Tech Today.

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