April 18, 2025

Michigan Technological University will honor more than 1,240 graduates at Spring Commencement ceremonies next Friday, April 25, and next Saturday, April 26. Both events will be held in the John J. MacInnes Student Ice Arena at the Student Development Complex.

Graduate Student Commencement begins at 3 p.m. next Friday, and Undergraduate Student Commencement starts at 10:30 a.m. next Saturday.

Michigan Tech’s 2025 Spring Commencement speaker is Olympian and Husky alum Deedra Irwin ’15. The Class of 2025’s student speakers are graduate student Tabasum Hamdard, who is earning a master’s degree in data science, and undergraduate student Mary Christine Stevens, who is receiving her bachelor’s degree in English.

Learn more at Michigan Tech News.

Join us on April 30 in the Memorial Union Building for the Essential Education Symposium, a full-day event open to all Michigan Tech faculty and staff as well as local community partners. The day begins with check-in and breakfast at 8 a.m., followed by sessions designed to deepen understanding of the Essential Education curriculum, explore innovative teaching and advising practices, and strengthen campus-community partnerships.

Lunch will feature a keynote from Shane Sutherland, founder, CEO and “chief mischief maker” of PebblePad, Michigan Tech’s ePortfolio platform. The event will wrap up with a panel of industry leaders and campus deans, followed by an awards and recognition ceremony, and will conclude at 3:15 pm.

Please register by Wednesday, April 23, using the Michigan Tech Essential Education Symposium Registration Form.

To learn more about the agenda and session topics, visit our Essential Education blog.

Questions? Contact us at essential-ed-l@mtu.edu.

The Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society's Michigan Beta chapter at Michigan Tech initiated 31 new members on April 15. The society recognizes engineers with excellent scholastic standing and exemplary character — values aligned with those of Michigan Tech: community, scholarship, possibilities, accountability, tenacity and leadership.

Congratulations to the newly initiated members of the Michigan Beta chapter:

Juniors

• Austin Bagwell — Civil Engineering
• Joshua Bearley — Mechanical Engineering
• Cole Bennetts — Civil Engineering
• Wyat Butler — Mechanical Engineering
• Lucy Cousino — Chemical Engineering
• Emily Dersch — Environmental Engineering
• Dominik Fleury — Electrical Engineering
• Mathew Kushman — Mechanical Engineering
• Grace Laura — Computer Engineering
• Ethan Lore — Electrical Engineering
• Brian MacEwen — Chemical Engineering
• Ethan Phillipson — Civil Engineering
• Andrew Priskorn — Mechanical Engineering
• Nataleh Rapp — Biomedical Engineering
• Sara Sand — Biomedical Engineering

Seniors:

• Luke Bauer — Civil Engineering
• Jayden Chow — Mechanical Engineering
• Lauren Denzin — Civil Engineering
• Evan Erspamer — Mechanical Engineering
• Miles Heskett — Mechanical Engineering
• Michael Krisztian-Terry — Computer Engineering
• Maggie Norberg — Biomedical Engineering
• Isaac Oldenburg — Mechanical Engineering
• Drew Slade — Mechanical Engineering
• Connor Solberg — Mechanical Engineering
• Joshua Thompson — Mechanical Engineering
• Garrett Waite — Electrical Engineering

Graduate Students:

• Squire Augustine — Civil Engineering
• Ahmad Bshennaty — Biomedical Engineering
• Javier De La Cerda — Civil Engineering
• Shipra Tiwari — Electrical Engineering

Tau Beta Pi is the oldest and most prestigious engineering honor society in the world. The association was founded in 1885 at Lehigh University, and the Michigan Beta chapter at Michigan Technological University was installed in 1904. We have welcomed 4,653 students and faculty alike into the society. This includes Class of 1931 graduate and Nobel Laureate Melvin Calvin, whose work has revolutionized our understanding of photosynthesis and plant biology.

For more information on the honor society, visit the Tau Beta Pi website and Michigan Beta chapter website.

Concert: “State of Imagination” – Superior Wind Symphony & Campus Concert Band
Friday, April 18 | 7:30 p.m.
Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts
Michigan Tech Music Series

Tonight, April 18, the Superior Wind Symphony and Campus Concert Band combine for their popular end-of-year concert, featuring imaginative masterpieces from the wind band literature.

The Superior Wind Symphony, conducted by Joel Neves, is the premier wind ensemble at Michigan Tech. Superior Winds is an auditioned ensemble of winds and percussion that performs the music of composers spanning five centuries, living and not, from all genders, ethnicities and genres. Their concerts offer symphonic thrills, innovative programming, fruitful collaborations and exciting premieres.

The Campus Concert Band, conducted by Jana Meckler, plays a variety of traditional and contemporary concert band literature as well as popular works. It shares concerts with the Superior Wind Symphony on the Rozsa stage and also performs at venues around the community.

Don’t miss this opportunity to catch them both live tonight.

Get Tickets to “State of Imagination” — Pay As You’re Able Tickets are still available.

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Concert: “Considering Matthew Shepard” – Choirs of Michigan Tech
Saturday, April 19 | 7:30 p.m.
Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts
Michigan Tech Music Series

Tomorrow, April 18, the public is invited to an evening of choral music with a combined performance by the Michigan Tech Concert Choir and conScience: Michigan Tech Chamber Singers.

“Considering Matthew Shepard” is conducted by Jared Anderson with music by Craig Hella Johnson and texts by Michael Dennis Browne, Lesléa Newman and Craig Hella Johnson. The Grammy-nominated work is a powerful and compassionate response to Shepard's murder 27 years ago.

Shepard, a gay college student at the University of Wyoming, was kidnapped, beaten, tied to a fence and left to die on the high plains on Oct. 6, 1998. “Considering Matthew Shepard” is a musical depiction of his life and the true events surrounding the circumstances of his murder, which led to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, signed into federal law in 2009. The work invites performers and audiences to risk opening up to a story in which we must recognize the presence of the divine in everyone.

“Considering Matthew Shepard” was inspired and developed from “October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard,” a book of poems written by Newman. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event.

Get Tickets to “Considering Matthew Shepard” — Pay As You’re Able Tickets are available.

Content Guidance: This work includes references to homophobia, strong language, violence and death.

Job Postings for Friday, April 18, 2025

Staff and faculty job descriptions are available on the Human Resources website. For more information regarding staff positions, call 906-487-2280 or email humanresources@mtu.edu. For more information regarding faculty positions, contact the academic department in which the position is posted.

Data and Technology Specialist, C​areer Services. Apply online.

Title IX Coordinator, E​qual Opportunity Compliance and Title IX. Apply online.

Research Engineer II, Michigan Tech Research Institute. Apply online.

Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer that provides equal opportunity for all, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Accommodations are available. If you require any auxiliary aids, services, or other accommodations to apply for employment, or for an interview, at Michigan Technological University, please notify the Human Resources office at 906-487-2280 or humanresources@mtu.edu.

Jin Choi (ECE) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $254,369 research and development grant from the National Science Foundation.

The project is titled "Collaborative Research: Novel Robust Continuous Time-Efficient Biometric Profiling and Authentication Using Multispectral Photoplethysmography."

This is a potential three-year project.

Bridge Michigan mentioned Hayden Henderson (GLRC) in a story about researchers mapping the bottom of the Great Lakes to explore hidden habitats. Henderson and additional researchers are using advanced technology to document benthic habitats, providing vital data for fishery and resource management.

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PR Newswire, Grand Rapids’ WOOD TV8, Yahoo! Finance and 121 outlets nationwide mentioned Michigan Tech in stories about the American Center for Mobility’s upcoming “SAFE” Demo Day on June 6. The event will showcase Michigan Tech’s real-world application of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, highlighting their advancements in vehicle safety.

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The Daily Mining Gazette covered the Parade of Nations' 2025 logo design contest and essay scholarship opportunity. Local K-12 students are invited to participate in the logo design contest for a chance to have their artwork featured on event materials, while high school seniors planning to attend Michigan Tech can compete for a $1,000 scholarship. The deadline for both is June 15.

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The Mining Journal mentioned Michigan Tech men’s basketball junior Marcus Tomashek in a story about the 2024-25 GLIAC Commissioner’s Award honorees.

Art Installation by Lisa Gordillo Opening Today in Houghton

The art installation "Magdalena" by Associate Professor Lisa Gordillo (VPA) will open today, April 18, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Houghton. The large-scale work of art was conceived as a place for grief, hope, comfort and care, and was inspired by the question: "How do we hold grief and hope together in our lives, honoring and making space for both?"

Gordillo created the works of art displayed in the space from research on sacred texts, ancient views of the cosmos and the idea that making space to sit with loss and with joy is powerful, tender and necessary.

The exhibit is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, with a noon liturgical service. During the installation, Gordillo will stitch the text of the ancient love poem, “Song of Songs,” across a linen cloth, and visitors are welcome to assist her.

The installation will change position between tonight and Sunday, April 20, with visiting hours to continue on Wednesdays from 12-5 p.m., from April 23 through May 21.

Everyone is welcome.

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Human Resources Services Update

Human Resources will not have a regular on-site presence in the Memorial Union Building from May 5 through Aug. 8.

During this period, Human Resources will be available by appointment only on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Please reach out to hr-help@mtu.edu to schedule an appointment.

HR will resume regular full-day hours on Wednesdays and Thursdays in the MUB on Aug. 11.

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Chemistry Seminar with Pritam Mandal

Pritam Mandal, adjunct assistant professor of physics at Michigan Technological University, will be presenting at this week's Chemistry Seminar. The seminar will be held in person at 3 p.m. today, April 18, in Chem Sci 101.

Mandal's presentation is titled "Phases, Line Tension, and Pattern Formation in Langmuir Films at the Air-Water Interface."

From the abstract:
This seminar provides an overview of Langmuir films composed of lipids, cholesterol, and other amphiphilic molecules at the air-water interface. The research focuses on understanding the phase behavior of lipid-cholesterol mixtures, the temperature dependence of interphase line tension within coexisting domains, and pattern formation in chiral lipid monolayers. The first study presents a direct comparison of individual domains in a mixed lipid-cholesterol (DMPC/dChol) monolayer observed by fluorescence microscopy (FM), Brewster angle microscopy (BAM), and light scattering microscopy (LSM) in the presence of two different probes. While all three techniques identified the same domains, depending on conditions, some domain types were more evident in one technique than others. The second study investigates the temperature dependence of line tension at the boundary of monolayer and trilayer phases in a Langmuir film composed of the smectic liquid crystal 4-octyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl (8CB), monitoring the film through surface pressure-area isotherms and BAM imaging. Line tension is estimated by modeling the relaxation dynamics of a stretched trilayer domain. The third study explores temperature-dependent hierarchical pattern formation in a Langmuir film of the polymerizable chiral lipid 23:2 Diyne PE. When compressed between 30°C and 37°C, the film, observed using BAM, exhibits a transition from spiral to concentric (target) patterns with increasing temperature. These studies highlight the value of Langmuir films as model systems for investigating two-dimensional materials, providing insights into phase behavior, line tension, and pattern formation, informing biosensor design and deepening our understanding of lipid rafts.

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CFRES Friday Seminar with Jared Wolfe

Please join the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science (CFRES) for our Friday Seminar Series today, April 18, from 3-4 p.m. in Noblet G002, followed by a social in the Forestry Atrium.

Jared Wolfe, assistant professor and wildlife ecologist in CFRES, will present “Testing the Blueprint of Extinction in the Tropics,” a field-based test of a conceptual extinction model, using a large-scale rainfall experiment in the Amazon to uncover the ecological factors driving the decline of tropical forest birds.

To have your event automatically appear, please submit them to the University Events Calendar.

Men's Tennis at Lake Superior State University

Friday, April 18, 12–3 a.m. | Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Men's Tennis at Lake Superior State University Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Track & Field at Phil Esten Challenge

Friday, April 18, 12–3 a.m. | La Crosse, Wis.

Track & Field at Phil Esten Challenge La Crosse, Wis.

Women's Tennis at Lake Superior State University

Friday, April 18, 12–3 a.m. | Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Women's Tennis at Lake Superior State University Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Graduating and Still Looking

Friday, April 18, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. | Administration and Student Services Building (Admin, Building 1), 220 Career Services

Are you graduating in April? Are you still looking for your first opportunity out of college? Join us Friday mornings for coffee and discuss possibilities and strategies for...

Magdalena: An Art Installation for Grief, Comfort, and Hope Premieres at Trinity Episcopal Church

Friday, April 18, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | Trinity Episcopal Church

Hosted by Trinity Episcopal Church Trinity Episcopal Church will host the art installation Magdalena, an exhibition supporting grief, comfort, care, and hope by artist Lisa...

Ladies Bible Study

Friday, April 18, 3–4 p.m. | 1st Floor, Opie Van Pelt Library

Want to learn about women of the Bible? The Do's and Don't of lady wisdom and the harlot? Join Rachel and Gabby as they teach through the ladies of the bible. This is a...

Game Night

Friday, April 18, 7–10 p.m. | His House Campus House

Looking for a fun way to unwind and connect with friends? Join us for Game Night! 🕹️ Whether board games, card games, video games, or even ping pong, there’s something...

State of Imagination - Superior Wind Symphony and Campus Concert Band

Friday, April 18, 7:30 p.m. | Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts

MICHIGAN TECH MUSIC SERIES EVENT The Superior Wind Symphony and Campus Concert Band combine for their popular end-of-year concert, featuring imaginative masterpieces from the...

SoundGirls: Wild Wild West McRave

Friday, April 18, 8 p.m.–12 a.m. | McArdle Theatre

Saddle up, partner! This ain't your usual Friday night—on April 18th, from 8:30pm to 12:00am, the McArdle Theatre is transforming into a neon-soaked, bass-thumpin' frontier....

The Graduate School is pleased to announce the following dissertation, thesis and report defenses occurring next week. Please consider attending to learn more about our students’ scholarship and celebrate their academic accomplishments. Check the University Events Calendar for last-minute updates to times, dates and locations.