People

  • Assistant Professor of Economics, College of Business

Teaching Interests

  • Principles of Economics
  • Microeconomics
  • Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

Research Interests

  • Coupled human and environmental systems
  • Fishery economics and management
  • Computable General Equilibrium Modeling
  • Regional economic modeling
  • Research Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Teaching Interests

  • Electron Microscopy
  • X-ray Diffraction
  • Solid State Physics
  • Nanotechnology
  • Electronic Materials

Research Interests

  • Nanomaterials, Semiconductors, Superconductors, Giant Magnetoresistance Materials, Magnetic Materials
  • Materials Characterization by SEM, TEM, X-ray Diffraction, Raman Spectroscopy and Photoluminescence Spectroscopy
  • Applications of Nanomaterials in Electronics, Energy Harvesting and Quantum Switching
  • In-Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy
  • Mechanics of Nanomaterials and Composites
  • Electron Transport Properties of Nanomaterials and Composites
  • Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Areas of Expertise

  • Clean Coal Combustion
  • Fuel Switching in Coal Power Plants
  • Torrefaction and pyrolysis of Biomass

Research Interests

  • Emissions from Coal Power Plants
  • Simulation of Operation of Coal Power Plants
  • Torrefied-biomass (biocoal) as a Renewable Clean Replacement of Coal
  • Kinetics of Torrefaction and Pyrolysis of Biomass
  • Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Affiliated Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Areas of Interest

  • Micro-electromechanical systems
  • Micromachining materials and process technologies
  • Inertial pressure
  • Nanoscaled technologies enabling nanoelectronic devices
  • Technologies for the monolithic integration of sensors and actuators with electronics
  • Professor, Chemical Engineering
  • Affiliated Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Research Interests

  • Controlled chain polymerizations
  • Radiation-Initiated FRRPP
  • Thermoreversible Nanobiomaterials
  • Sustainability polymer materials/systems
  • Enhanced oil recovery and cleanup operations
  • Mathematical modeling/computer simulation of dynamic systems
  • Carbon Nanotube/polymer composites
  • Associate Professor, Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences
  • Witte Family Endowed Faculty Fellow in Mining Engineering

Research Interests

  • Generative AI for mine safety
  • Remote sensing for critical mineral exploration
  • InSAR for mining hazards
  • Geophysical inversion using deep learning
  • Stochastic resource modeling and stochastic optimization in mining

Teaching Interests

  • Mine Planning and Design
  • Mineral Resource Estimation
  • Mining System Reliability and Optimization
  • Geostatistics and Data Analysis
  • Assistant Professor of Economics, College of Business

Teaching Interests

  • Labor Economics
  • Economic Decision Analysis
  • Microeconomic Theory 

Research Interests

  • Labor Economics
  • Economics of Gender
  • Public Policy
  • Applied Microeconomics 
  • Distinguished Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
  • Richard Witte Endowed Professorship

Links of Interest

Research Interests

  • Biodegradable metals
  • Temporary medical implants
  • Wetting of solids and liquids
  • Characterization and modification of materials’ surfaces
  • Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering
  • Chemical Engineering Endowed Faculty Fellow
  • Director, Graduate Programs, Chemical Engineering

Research Interests

  • Particulate processing
  • Chemistry and thermodynamics of metals extraction; physical separation processes,
  • Sustainable raw materials production
  • Research Engineer/Scientist II, Materials Science and Engineering

Research Interests

  • Lightweight/High Strength Structural Materials
  • Metal Matrix Composites
  • Alloy Development
  • Net Shape Processing Methods
  • Powder Metallurgy
  • Failure Mechanisms in Materials
  • Research Scientist, Materials Science and Engineering
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Specialties

  • TEM
  • STEM
  • EELS
  • EFTEM
  • EDX
  • Electron Diffraction (SAD, CBED, NBD)

Research Interests

  • Nanostructured materials characterization
  • Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Research Interests

  • Mechanical behavior of materials
  • Strengthening mechanisms
  • Deformation processing and design for manufacturing
  • Steels
  • Shape memory alloys
  • Deformation induced phase transformations
  • Diffraction
  • Professor, Biomedical Engineering
  • Affiliated Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
  • Affiliated Professor, Department of Biological Sciences

Research Interests

  • The biology and physiology of the lymphatic and blood vascular systems including vascular regeneration, remodeling and pathology
  • Vascular biomaterials, including polymeric, natural, and metallic, for vascular repair and regeneration
  • Professor Emeritus, Materials Science and Engineering
  • Adjunct Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Teaching Interests

  • Electron microscopy
  • Materials characterization
  • Thermodynamics and kinetics
  • Electronic materials
  • Senior design

Research Interests

  • Lithium ion batteries, ceramic battery materials
  • Surface and interface dynamics
  • Thin films and nanostructures
  • Thermodynamics
  • Magnetic materials
  • Diffusional instabilities and applications of electron microscopy
Robert Handler
"Only in the present do things happen"
—Jorge Luis Borges
  • Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering
  • Affiliated Assistant Professor, CEGE and Social Sciences
  • Faculty Advisor, Green Campus Enterprise

Courses

  • ENG 4515/5515 Introduction to Sustainability and Resilience
  • ENG 4525/5525 Systems Analysis for Sustainability and Resilience
  • CM 3980 Sustainable Chemical Engineering
  • Green Campus Enterprise

Research Interests

  • Life-cycle assessment
  • Sustainability and resilience
  • Food, Energy, and Water systems
  • Sustainable materials and manufacturing
  • Ecosystem services
  • Aquaponics and hydroponics
  • Professor, Chemistry

Research Interests

  • Synthesizing, processing, and characterizing polymers and composites or nanoparticles
  • Stimulus-response nanoparticles for drug delivery
  • Electrospinning of nanofibers for tissue scaffolds
  • Structured nanoparticles for low-leaching wood preservation
  • Biocomposites and biofibers
  • Studies of controlled nanoscale interfaces of rice-hull reinforced composites
  • Engineered wood- or biopolymer-reinforced composites having improved processing, longevity, moisture resistance, and mechanical properties
Allison Hein

Allison M. Hein

  • Research Engineer/Scientist I, Institute of Materials Processing (IMP)
  • Staff, Materials Science and Engineering

Research Interests

  • Beneficiation of coal, minerals, and solid waste.
  • Plating sludge leaching and pyro processing.
  • Environmental compliance and permits.
  • Technical and financial project planning and reporting.
Allison Hein

Allison M. Hein

  • Research Engineer/Scientist I, Institute of Materials Processing (IMP)
  • Staff, Materials Science and Engineering

Research Interests

  • Beneficiation of coal, minerals, and solid waste.
  • Plating sludge leaching and pyro processing.
  • Environmental compliance and permits.
  • Technical and financial project planning and reporting.
  • Professor of Practice, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology
  • Affiliated Professor of Practice, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Director, Machining and Additive Manufacturing Facilities

Research Interests

  • Automation of manufacturing processes
  • Additive, subtractive, hybrid manufacturing systems

Teaching Interests

  • Fundamentals of Machine Tool Technology
  • Computer Aided Manufacturing
  • Applied Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing
  • Design for Additive Manufacturing
  • Research Engineer I, Materials Science and Engineering

Specialties

  • STEM Imaging and EDS
  • SEM Imaging and EDS
  • EBSD
  • Metallography
  • Advanced Electron Microscopy Sample Preparation Techniques
    • carbon extraction replica
    • electropolishing
    • carbon coating
    • cross sectional polishing
    • anodizing, and so on
  • XRD
  • Mechanical Testing
  • MatLab
  • AZtec
  • Thermo-Calc
  • Altair Inspire Extrude
  • Olympus Stream Essentials
Peter Jaszczak

Peter Jaszczak

  • Lab Associate, Materials Science and Engineering

Specialties

  • EDM maintenance and machining
  • Sample prep and polish including electro-polish
  • Monitor furnaces and assist pours in the foundry
  • Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Research Interests

  • Microstructural mapping in laser additive manufactured titanium
  • Modeling and characterization of Nextel® reinforced aluminum metal matrix composites
  • Reactive synthesis processes
  • Thermomechanical processing
  • Co-deformation of multiphase alloys
  • Mechanisms of strengthening
  • Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Research Interests

  • Microstructural mapping in laser additive manufactured titanium
  • Modeling and characterization of Nextel® reinforced aluminum metal matrix composites
  • Reactive synthesis processes
  • Thermomechanical processing
  • Co-deformation of multiphase alloys
  • Mechanisms of strengthening
  • Assistant Professor, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology
  • Affiliated Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Faculty Advisor, Advanced Metalworks Enterprise

Research Interests

  • Biomechanics—Solid Mechanics
    • Head Impacts
    • Helmet Performance and Design
  • Solid Mechanics
    • Finite Element Analysis and Vibration Analysis
  • Manufacturing
    • Machinability of Metals

Specialties

  • Understanding football helmet design and performance
  • Solid mechanics and finite element analysis methods
  • Helping student groups with design and analysis of components
  • Vibration analysis
  • Shock analysis methods
  • Senior Research Engineer/Scientist II
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Teaching Interests

  • Focus on X-ray diffraction techniques

Research Interests

  • X-ray diffraction theory and applications
  • Mechanical alloying
  • Intermetallic materials
  • Physical metallurgy
  • Nanoscale materials
  • Materials characterization
  • Powder metallurgy
  • Associate Dean for Research
  • Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
  • Director, Rail Transportation Program, Michigan Tech Transportation Institute

Research Interests

  • Rail and highway transportation / engineering
  • Highway-rail grade crossing and trespasser safety
  • Multimodal transportation; planning, policy, supply chain logistics and economics
  • Sustainability of transportation and life cycle/life cycle cost analysis
  • Railway capacity analysis and modeling
  • Curriculum and engineering education development
  • Industry/university collaboration
  • Professor, Biomedical Engineering

Research Interests

  • Biomimetic, bio-inspired materials
  • Biointerface
  • Antimicrobial and antifouling coatings
  • Polymer chemistry
  • Nanotechnology
  • Tissue adhesives
  • Research Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Research Interests

  • Surfaces and interfaces
  • Surface functionalization, thin films, photovoltaics and catalytic surfaces
  • Material characterization by X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS (ESCA)), SEM, Auger and Raman spectroscopy
  • Professor, Physics and Materials Science and Engineering

Links of Interest

Research Interests

  • Photonics
  • Nonreciprocal Phenomena
  • Research Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Research Interests

  • Porous ceramics
  • Phase transformation
  • inorganic nonmetallic materials
  • Antimicrobial behavior of materials
  • Materials characterization
  • Mineral processing and applications
  • Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Affiliated Professor, Physics

Areas of Interest

  • Integrated optical devices
  • Electronic substrate manufacturing and design
  • Director, Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory (ACMAL)
  • Staff, Materials Science and Engineering
  • Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Research Interests

  • Physical Metallurgy
  • Phase Transformations
  • Thermodynamics
  • Microstructure Evolution
  • Heat Treatment of Metals and Alloys
  • Calorimetric and Dilatometric
  • Characterization of Materials
  • Microstructure-Mechanical Property Relationships
  • High Strength-High Toughness Materials
  • Fracture/Rupture of Materials
  • Steels
  • Welding
  • Heavy-Industry Manufacturing
  • Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Affiliated Assistant Professor, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology
  • Director, Michigan Tech Center for AI; Coordinator, MTU NIST PREP Program

Research Interests

  • Advanced manufacturing
  • Industry 4.0
  • Human-robot-machine interaction
  • Physics-based/data-driven modeling
  • Manufacturing process monitoring
  • Industrial automation
  • University Professor
  • John O. Hallquist Endowed Chair in Computational Mechanics, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Affiliated Professor, Materials Science and Engineering and ASME Faculty Advisor

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Materials Science

Research Interests

  • Computational Mechanics
  • Computational Materials Science
  • Computational Chemistry
  • Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering

Research Interests

  • Particulate Separation
  • Surface Chemistry
  • Process Modelling
  • Graduate Director of Physics
  • Professor, Physics

Links of Interest

Specialties

  • Quantum Materials
  • Associate Professor, Chemistry
  • Affiliated Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Links of Interest

Research Interests

  • Surface chemistry and interfacial science 
  • Bridging reactions at the gas/solid and liquid/solid interfaces under model (ultra-high vacuum) and real (near ambient pressure) conditions
  • Growth, properties, and reactions on complex surfaces for energy and environmental applications
  • Designing metal and oxide architectures and nanostructured materials using tailored bottom-up approaches; growth techniques including, atomic layer deposition, physical vapor deposition, self-assembly, solution nucleation
Matthew Portfleet

Matthew Portfleet

  • Director Mine Safety Program, Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences
  • Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
  • Affiliated Associate Professor, Biological Sciences

Links of Interests

Research webpage

Research Interests

  • Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) and Nanotechnology
  • Microfluidics for cancer research
  • Microenvironment platforms to characterize cellular interactions
  • Sensors and devices for biomedical sensing and implantable devices
Mark Rhodes II
"Every artist, every scientist, must decide NOW where they stand. They have no alternative. There is no standing above the conflict on Olympian heights. There are no impartial observers. Through the destruction-in certain countries-of the greatest of human literary heritages, through the propagation of false ideas of racial and national superiority, the artist, the scientist, the writer is challenged. The struggle invades the formerly cloistered halls of our universities and other seats of learning. The battlefront is everywhere. There is no sheltered rear. The artist must take sides. They must elect to fight for freedom or slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative."
—Paul Robeson, 1958, Here I Stand
  • Assistant Professor of Geography

Research Interests

  • Post-Industrial Geographies & Heritage
  • National Identity in the 21st Century
  • Cultural Sustainability and Sustainable Tourism
  • Political Ecology, Place, & Memory
  • Critical Geographies & Memorial Landscapes

Areas of Expertise

  • Memory and Memorialization
  • Heritage Institutions
  • Cultural Landscape
  • Welsh Studies
  • Historical Geography 
  • Cultural Geographies
  • Associate Professor of History

Areas of Expertise

  • Commodity history
  • Global economic and business history
  • History of colonialism
  • Food history
  • Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Links of Interest

Research Interests

  • Multiscale, multiphysics modeling of aging in polymers & polymer composites
  • Degradation of metallic implants in physiological environment
  • Fracture, damage and impact behavior on materials
  • Analysis, design and testing of novel multifunctional lightweight polymer composite materials
Paul Sanders
"The more you do, the more you do."
—George Sanders (my Dad)
  • Patrick S. Horvath Endowed Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
  • Foundry Educational Foundation (FEF) Key Professor
  • Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST) Foundation Steel Professor

Teaching Interests

  • Lead MSE undergraduate senior design program: integrate mechanistic models, ICME tools, experiments, and statistics
  • Apply design knowledge via real-world, industry-sponsored projects

Research Interests

  • Alloy design in Al, Cu, Fe, Ni, and MPEAs 
  • Apply ICME and statistical tools with machine learning and DOEs in alloy optimization
  • Verify via production through casting, wrought processing (extrusion, rolling, drawing, swaging), and/or (wire) additive manufacturing
  • Applications in sustainability (recycling), transportation (lightweighting), and efficiency (thermal stability)
Timothy Scarlett
"Whereas innovation, in the backwards reading of creativity, lies outside of time, improvisation, in a forward reading, is inherently temporal."
—Elizabeth Hallam and Tim Ingold (2007) Creativity and Cultural Improvisation. Berg, New York.
  • Associate Professor of Archaeology and Anthropology

Research Interests

  • Historical and Industrial Archaeologies
  • Heritage and Energy Systems, Sustainability and Development
  • Creativity and Work Process
  • Remote Sensing, Survey, and Geospatial Sciences
  • Heritage, Placemaking, and Culture Building
  • Archaeometry and Conservation Sciences
  • Community-based scholarship, public science/humanities
  • Engineer/Scientist, Materials Science and Engineering
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
  • Undergraduate Academic Advisor, Materials Science and Engineering

Advising Contact

Teaching Interests

  • Senior design
  • Corrosion
  • Mechanical behavior of materials
  • Materials characterization

Research Interests

  • Corrosion
  • Environmental effects
  • Deformation processing
  • Light metals
  • Research Professor, Chemical Engineering
  • Robbins Chair in Sustainable Use of Materials

Research Interests

  • Bioprocess engineering
  • Alternative energy/Biofuels
  • Sustainability
Russell Stein

Russell Stein

  • Research Engineer/Scientist II, Materials Science and Engineering
  • Associate Professor, Physics

Links of Interest

Research Interests

  • Light-matter interactions and quantum optics on nanoscale platforms (i.e. nanostructures)
  • Coherent and nonlinear processes in metal or semiconductor nanocavities
  • Time-resolved laser spectroscopy and nanofabrications
  • Professor Emeritus and Research Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Teaching Interests

  • Materials Characterization
  • Cementitious Materials
  • Concrete & Concrete-Making Materials

Research Interests

  • Materials Characterization
  • Cementitious Materials
  • Concrete & Concrete-Making Materials
  • Concrete Durability
  • Secondary & Recycled Materials
  • Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Director, Multi-Scale Technologies Institute (MuSTI)
  • SAE Aero Faculty Advisor

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Ex-situ and in-situ characterization of transport properties through porous media
  • Proton exchange membrane fuel cell in-situ diagnostics and modeling
  • Fuel cell systems modeling and analysis
  • Primary / secondary metal-air battery diagnostics and modeling
  • Gas-liquid two-phase flows in microchannels
  • Shock wave compression in microchannels

Research Interests

  • Transport phenomena in multiscale/multiphase systems
  • Thermo-fluid system diagnostics, modeling, and optimization
  • Polymer electrolyte fuel cells for automotive application
  • Renewable energy
  • Combustion dynamics modeling
  • Senior Geospatial Research Scientist
  • Visiting Assistant Professor, Social Sciences

Education

  • PhD, Industrial Heritage and Archaeology, Michigan Technological University
  • MS, Industrial Archaeology, Michigan Technological University
  • BS, Anthropology and History, Cleveland State University
  •  

Research Interests

  • Industrial and Urban Archaeology
  • Historical GIS
  • Deindustrialization
  • Industrial Landscapes
  • The Archaeology of Brownfields
  • Spatial Analysis of Historical Industrial Pollutants
  • Big Data Approaches to Archaeology
  • Publicly-engaged Scholarship
  • Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Research Interests

  • Understanding microstructural evolution in materials under complex thermal conditions
  • Electron microscopy
  • Phase transformations
  • Process-structure-property relationships of additively manufactured builds
  • Materials for nuclear reactor applications
  • Thin films
  • In situ TEM
  • Strategies for high-throughput characterization of materials
Thomas Wood

Thomas Wood

  • Senior Research Engineer/Scientist I, Materials Science and Engineering
  • Associate Professor of Economics, College of Business

Teaching Interests

  • Macroeconomics
  • Monetary Theory and Policy
  • International Economics
  • Economic Decision Analysis

Research Interests

  • Barriers to technological adoption
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Institutions and regulation
  • Informal economy
  • Growth and development
  • Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
  • Affiliated Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences

Research Interests

  • Neuroengineering
  • Brain Stimulation (Optogenetic and Electrical)
  • Neural Signal Processing
  • Brain-Computer Interface
  • Brain and Behavior (Parkinson's Disease, Depression, Stroke, and Addiction)

BME Research Areas

  • Biosensors and Biomedical Instrumentation
  • Biomedical Optics and Ultrasound
  • Adjunct Associate Professor, Physics

Specialties

  • Molecular Biology
  • Biotechnology
  • Bio-nanotechnology