College of Sciences and Arts Newsblog

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.

Summer Youth Programs (SYP), weeklong explorations for students in grades 6–12, begin on Michigan Tech’s campus next week.

Explorations feature a week of hands-on activities, a taste of campus life and a host of new friendships for participants. Popular explorations this year include engineering bridges, dams and skyscrapers; studying wolf/moose ecology while backpacking on Isle Royale; video game programming; sports science; mobile robotics and blacksmithing.

Read more at Tech Today.