February 19, 2026

Troy Bouman ’12 ’16 ’21 is using both his business acumen and mechanical engineering doctorate to excel as an entrepreneur. His company, All UP Snow Blowing, is making snow removal less stressful in the Keweenaw through one practical and compassionate goal: to show up when it matters.

“When my son passed away, I realized the importance of having people in a community who help — both professionally and personally,” said Bouman, a three-time graduate of Michigan Tech’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE).

Bouman and his wife Andrea ’11 ’12 spent months at the hospital after the premature birth of their twins in 2021. After losing their son, they dedicated themselves to the care of their daughter, who grew stronger with a care plan that included hours of skin-to-skin contact. Whiling away the hours as the delicate baby slept on his chest, Bouman came across a video showcasing snow removal techniques in Quebec. He saw the benefits a similar business could bring to the Copper Country.

“So many people helped us through that difficult time in 2021, as well as when we tried again and lost our daughter to prematurity in 2023,” said Bouman. “I saw a need in our area, I found this technology that wasn’t being used here, and I had a desire to be one of those positive parts of the community. That’s how All UP started.”

Read more about Bouman’s successful and rapidly expanding company in MAE Magazine.

Zaid Bakri, an Atmospheric Sciences Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Physics at Michigan Technological University, received the Best Student Poster Presentation Award at the Third Symposium on Cloud Physics during the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), held in Houston, Texas.

Bakri works under the supervision of Professor Claudio Mazzoleni. His research focuses on developing a polarimetric imaging remote sensing technique to characterize the size distribution of cloud droplets generated in a laboratory cloud chamber, such as the Pi Cloud Chamber at Michigan Tech. The size distribution of cloud droplets has a strong influence on precipitation and Earth’s radiative balance. Therefore, Bakri’s research contributes to a better understanding of weather and climate, precipitation and the hydrological cycle. His poster was recognized for its significant scientific contribution and the exceptional presentation quality.

The AMS Annual Meeting is one of the leading international conferences in atmospheric and environmental sciences, bringing together researchers, professionals and students from around the world. This recognition highlights the strength of graduate research at Michigan Tech and our continued contributions to advancing the understanding of cloud and atmospheric physics.

Insights from Student Affairs is a monthly series providing the latest updates and information directly from Student Affairs professionals at Michigan Tech.

In our latest entry, Cody Kangas, executive director of Career Services, discusses the unique challenges students face as they enter a rapidly shifting workforce. Kangas explains that the role of Career Services extends far beyond post-graduation job placement; instead, it serves as a critical integrator, connecting academic learning with real-world application.

To learn more about why Career Services is a high-level strategic partner for your area — and how they are preparing our students for the evolving world of work — read the full post on the Student Affairs Newsblog.

Do you have a system, product, service or prototype that could benefit from user testing?

Students in the Department of Psychology and Human Factors course HF4/5880 Usability Evaluation are seeking real-world projects to conduct a full usability evaluation, including planning, user testing, analysis and actionable recommendations.

Projects can include:

• Early- or late-stage prototypes
• Existing products, services or interfaces
• Comparisons between alternative designs
• Digital or physical systems

This is a great opportunity to receive evidence-based usability feedback while supporting hands-on student learning.

Interested or want more information? Contact Erich Petushek, Ph.D., at ejpetush@mtu.edu.

Due to the University closure starting at noon yesterday, Feb. 18, Financial Services and Operations has postponed our Lunch and Learn until Wednesday, Feb. 25, from noon to 1 p.m. ET on Zoom. Anyone who previously registered will not need to do so again, as the calendar invite has already been updated.

This session will be hosted on Zoom and recorded for those unable to attend. Please register for the Lunch and Learn to receive the Zoom link and recording.

We’ll be covering the following topics. When you sign up, you’ll have the opportunity to share any questions in advance and we’ll be sure to address them during the session.

1. Budget Office
• What are budget/fund transfers?
• How to process a budget transfer in Experience
  
  
2. Navigating Perceptive Content (PC)
• How documents get uploaded to PC
• How to look up specific documents (invoice, PO, journal, etc.)
• How to review and approve documents in PC

If you have any questions, please reach out to Jamie Meleen at jameleen@mtu.edu or 906-487-2122.

For Michigan Tech faculty or staff seeking temporary or long-term housing, The Elements community in Houghton offers a variety of options suitable for individuals and families. Apartments range from studios to four bedrooms. Amenities include on-site parking, a fitness center, meeting and study rooms, a convenience store, and in-unit washer and dryer.

Tour The Elements during an open house tomorrow, Feb. 20, from 5-7 p.m. at 405 Fairview St.

For more information or to schedule a tour of a specific apartment style, visit their The Elements website, call 906-481-5668 or email info@theelementshoughton.com.

The 2026 Sustainability Film Series, coordinated by the Michigan Tech Office of Sustainability and Resilience, will present February’s film “Farming While Black” at 7 p.m. tonight, Feb. 19, in Fisher 138. Associate Professor Angie Carter (SS) will facilitate an engaging discussion following the film. 

A powerful cinematic exploration of the intersectionality of race, class and agriculture, “Farming While Black” offers a vital lens through which viewers can examine historical and contemporary issues of land ownership, food sovereignty and economic inequality.

Add “Farming While Black” to your Google Calendar.

The Sustainability Film Series offers thought-provoking films and engaging conversation around environmental and sustainability topics. Films are screened on the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. in Fisher 138. Refreshments are provided, and each film is followed by a facilitated discussion. The series is open to the public, and all films are free to attend.

Join Catholic Campus Ministries at St. Albert the Great University Parish, a registered student organization at Michigan Tech, at 7 p.m. tonight, Feb. 19, in Fisher 139 for “Strange Cosmologies” a talk given by Brother Guy Consolmagno, S.J.

Consolmagno is the former head of the Vatican Observatory and the current president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation.

From the abstract:
The time of Galileo marked a revolution in science, an explosion of new ideas not only of how the universe worked but what sorts of questions were worth asking and what sort of answers might satisfy… including some truly bizarre ideas of what the Earth looked like and how (and why) it was situated in the heavens. We’ll look at some of the more colorful concepts that people espoused at the time… and what that might tell us as we grapple today with dark matter and dark energy.

Tonight, Feb. 19, the Michigan Tech Theatre Series proudly presents “PROOF”, a play written by David Auburn and directed by Nich Radcliffe.

“PROOF” tells the story of Catherine, a troubled young woman, who has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father’s who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind.

Get Tickets
Purchase tickets online or at the Rozsa Center during regular Box Office hours.

PROOF – Michigan Tech Theatre
Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 19-21 | 7:30 p.m. nightly
McArdle Theatre
Michigan Tech Theatre Series

The RTC Research Forum in collaboration with the Michigan Tech Writing Center invites the campus and local community to attend its “Creative Work in Progress” session, featuring readings by Department of Humanities faculty and graduate writers. This engaging session will showcase recent poetry and prose — both published work and works-in-progress — offering audiences a unique opportunity to experience new creative writing at various stages of development.

The event will take place tomorrow, Feb. 20, at noon in the Petersen Library, located on the third floor of the Walker Arts and Humanities Center. Admission is free and open to the public. Students, faculty, staff and community members are warmly encouraged to attend.

The reading highlights the vibrant creative scholarship emerging from the Department of Humanities and fosters conversation about craft, research and artistic practice. It also reflects the interdisciplinary and collaborative spirit of the RTC Research Forum and the Michigan Tech Writing Center, bringing together Humanities faculty and graduate writers in a shared celebration of literary art.

For more information, please contact Mark Lounibos at mdlounib@mtu.edu.

Featured Readers:

• M. Bartley Seigel is the author of “In the Bone-Cracking Cold” (Wayne State University Press, 2025) and “This Is What They Say” (Typecast Publishing 2013). A former poet laureate of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow, his poems have appeared in literary journals such as Poetry Magazine, Michigan Quarterly Review, About Place, and Fourth River, among many others. He is the MTU Writing Center’s director as well as an associate professor in the Department of Humanities and an affiliated associate professor in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

• Claire Helakoski is a creative writer and assistant director of the MTU Writing Center. Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, and has been published in Broad River Review and Thirteen Bridges Review. Her essays have appeared in Dunes Review, South Florida Poetry Journal and Oxford Magazine.

• Ana W. Migwan (Anna Lindgren) is an Ojibwe poet based in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and an enrolled member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. She is an Indigenous Nations Poets 2026 Fellow. Her poetry appears or is forthcoming in West Trestle Review, Yellow Medicine Review, Chapter House Journal, Beauty All Around Us, Liminal Spaces and Passages North, and was nominated for Best New Poets 2025.

• Mark Lounibos is the author of the poetry chapbook “All the White Men Killed Themselves” (Deadman Press, 2025). He is currently working with the National Park Service to author a graphic novel about the park ranger experience on Isle Royale. He is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Humanities.

• Jenni Nance is a writer and future clinical mental health counselor focused on healing through narrative and expressive arts therapies. Her writing has appeared in Eckerd Review, Spry Literary Journal, Sweet: A Literary Confection, Creative Loafing and elsewhere. Her writing has been honored by the Knocky Parker Creative Nonfiction Award, the Eckerd Review Poetry Prize, Creative Loafing’s Fiction Contest (Judge’s Pick) and the Atlantic Center for the Arts Fellowship #171 with Chris Abani. In 2014, her lyric essay, “Breaking Beautiful Things,” was nominated for the AWP Intro Journals Award. She is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Humanities.

Join Research Development via Zoom on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at noon for “Creating Personnel Documents with SciENcv”. During this session, you will learn how you can create and maintain your personnel documents in SciENcv. Once you get the initial setup done, you’ll be able to easily make updates and generate biosketches and current and pending documents that are compliant with the current rules of federal agencies.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) requires that all senior personnel listed on NSF proposals use an online tool called SciENcv to prepare their Biographical Sketch and Current & Pending Support forms, which are required proposal elements.

Additionally, the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Department of Energy have new processes for Common Forms that require the use of SciENcv to produce compliant documents.

This event is for anyone interested in submitting proposals who has not yet learned the SciENcv system, or could use a refresher on system basics. The session will cover all steps, from sign-up to producing the required documents; no prior experience is necessary. It will be recorded and posted to the RD Toolkit for anyone who is unable to attend.

Please direct any questions to RD-L@mtu.edu.

Join the SciENcv Workshop on Zoom.

Are you interested in enhancing your use of open and reproducible research practices? The DataSENSE NRT project at Michigan Tech will be hosting a workshop over spring break to help!

DataSENSE Workshop Series: Reproducible Research with Quarto 
Presenter: Laura Brown, Professor in Computer Science
Monday, March 2, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Rekhi G006

What You’ll Learn:

• Reproducibility and Project Organization
• Quarto and R/RStudio

If time permits, tips for using Quarto in the class for slides and demos will be covered.

Who Should Attend:

The target audience is learners who have some experience in R/Rstudio (recommended but not required). Familiarity with using the shell terminal is recommended.

Register to attend at the DataSENSE Workshop: Reproducible Research with Quarto Registration Form. A confirmation email will be sent to first registrants.

Learners: Plan to bring a laptop with a Mac, Linux or Windows operating system (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) that you have administrative privileges on. You will be asked to install a few specific software packages (instructions will be provided).

This workshop is sponsored by DataSENSE NRT at Michigan Tech.

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) is hosting a seminar presented by Michael Mills, chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Taine G. McDougal Professor of Engineering, Center for Electron Microscopy and Analysis (CEMAS), Ohio State University.

The seminar will be held tomorrow, Feb. 20, at 4 p.m. in M&M 610.

Mills’ seminar is titled “New Strengthening Mechanisms in Ni-Base Superalloys”.

From the abstract:
Polycrystalline Ni-based superalloys are vital materials for disks in the hot section of aerospace and land-based turbine engines. Improving fuel efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions compel increased performance at higher temperatures. In this presentation, two different approaches to improving high temperature strength and creep resistance are discussed. In the first approach, local ordered phases at stacking faults and micro twins can be accomplished by subtle changes to the alloy composition. Characterization that demonstrates this local phase transformation strengthening, and computational design for promoting this new mechanism will be discussed. In the second approach, oxide dispersion strengthening using a novel approach for introducing the oxide reinforcements has been demonstrated recently in work at NASA Glenn Research Center. The understanding of these benefits based on advanced characterization of the as-built and post-deformed substructures will also be presented. Pursuing possible synergies between these two approaches will also be discussed.

Mills earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University in 1985. Following research appointments at the EPFL and Sandia National Laboratories, he joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Ohio State University in 1994, becoming a full professor in 2000, McDougal Professor of Engineering in 2004, and serving as department chair since 2019. Mills’ research explores the mechanical behavior of metals — including nickel-based superalloys, titanium, zirconium, aluminum and high entropy alloys — with a focus on advanced electron microscopy investigations that elucidate deformation mechanisms. This understanding forms the foundation for fundamental models of behavior and is relevant to the industrial application of these materials. A Fellow of TMS and ASM, Mills has received numerous honors, including the Oleg D. Sherby Award from TMS, the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award, the Heyn Medal of Honor from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde, and an honorary doctorate from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany.

John Oakey will present as part of the Department of Chemical Engineering (ChE) Research Series tomorrow, Feb. 20, at 10 a.m. in person in the Library East Reading Room or virtually via Zoom.

Join the ChE Research Seminar on Zoom.

Oakey will present “Programming Living Materials: Defining Cellular Architecture at the Mesoscale”.

Read Oakey’s abstract and bio on the University Events Calendar.

Oakey is a professor at the University of Wyoming.

Phys.org and 33 national outlets picked up a story from Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) that quoted Raymond Shaw (Physics) and Michigan Tech alum Fan Yang ’17 (Ph.D. Atmospheric Sciences) about BNL’s new convection cloud chamber, a customizable “cloud in a box” designed to study cloud formation and aerosol interactions under controlled laboratory conditions.

The Clare County Cleaver mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about Clare County Road Commission projects, noting the commission was featured in a scrap tire magazine for its Tobacco Road tire-filled basket project completed in partnership with MTU.

The Keweenaw Report mentioned the Mushing Club at Michigan Tech in a story about volunteer training for the upcoming Copper Dog sled dog race, noting club members will assist with dog-handling instruction during a training session tomorrow, Feb. 20, in Calumet.

Defense and Munitions mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about Georgia Southern University joining the Metallurgical Engineering Trades Apprenticeship & Learning (METAL) program, a national workforce development initiative that includes MTU among its network of university partners advancing metalworking and manufacturing education.

Michigan.org mentioned Michigan Tech in a travel feature on the growing “townsizing” trend, highlighting Houghton as a cozy Upper Peninsula college town where visitors can enjoy winter recreation, local dining, and small-town charm.

The Daily Mining Gazette mentioned Michigan Tech men’s basketball guard Marcus Tomashek in a story about his inclusion on the Bevo Francis Top 50 Watch List, which recognizes the top player in small college basketball across multiple divisions.

WZMQ 19 News mentioned Michigan Tech hockey defenseman Jack Anderson in a story about earning his third straight CCHA Defenseman of the Week honor.

CTL Accessible Tech Challenge Holding Working Session on Tables

Join the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) for an Accessible Tech Challenge Working Session on Wednesday, Feb. 25, from 2-3 p.m. in Library 243.

The challenge is a practical, hands-on opportunity to strengthen the accessibility of your digital course materials. Each session focuses on one key skill area, explains why it matters for students, and gives you dedicated time to work on your own content and get real-time guidance from campus digital accessibility experts.

Topic for Feb. 25: Tables
Well-structured tables help students grasp relationships in your content and ensure that assistive technology can interpret the information accurately. In this session, you’ll learn how to create accessible tables by adding captions, headers and scope attributes that support learning for all your students.

Register for the Feb. 25 Accessible Tech Challenge Working Session.

Register today to reserve your spot! Bring your laptop to work on content you'd like to improve.

Accommodation requests can be made on the registration screen, by emailing ctl@mtu.edu or by calling 906-487-3000.

Event Details:

• What: CTL Accessible Tech Challenge Working Session: Tables
• When: Wednesday, Feb. 25, from 2-3 p.m.
• Where: Library 243

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Physics Colloquium with Guy Consolmagno

Guy Consolmagno from Vatican Observatory will present at this week's Physics Colloquium. Consolmagno’s presentation is titled “What’s Surfacing About Bennu?”.

The seminar will be presented at 4 p.m. today, Feb. 19, in Fisher 139. The coffee hour will be held at 3:30 p.m. in the Fisher Lobby.

Read Consolmagno’s abstract and bio at the University Events Calendar.

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KIP and BioSci Seminar Series Speakers: Hunter Roose and Elizabeth Jahn

Ph.D. candidate Hunter Roose and Ph.D. student Elizabeth Jahn, both advised by Jill Olin in the Department of Biological Sciences, will present as part of the Departments of Kinesiology and Integrated Physiology (KIP) and Biological Sciences (BioSci) Seminar Series. The seminar will take place in GLRC 202 from 2-3 p.m. tomorrow, Feb. 19.

Presentation 1
Roose will present “Interspecific Interactions Constrain Niche Expansion: Insights from Keystone Niche Individuals”.

From the abstract:
... Recently, the concept of a keystone niche individual has been proposed to describe individuals whose resource use exerts a disproportionate effect on a population’s TNW [total niche width] and identifies those exploiting resources beyond the population’s typical niche space. Yet it remains unclear whether keystone niche individuals consistently emerge under competitive conditions, or whether negative interactions instead constrain individual niche divergence, limiting the expression of distinct trophic niches. Here, we explore the keystone niche individual framework in a comparative field study contrasting individual niche contributions in a sympatric population of native brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and non-native rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) with an allopatric brook trout population. We use fatty acid profiles of blood from repeatedly sampled brook trout to quantify individual trophic niches and evaluate the presence and characteristics of keystone niche individuals. We found that interspecific interactions constrained individual niche divergence, such that disproportionate individual contributions to TNW were absent in our sympatric population. By comparing individual niche contributions under contrasting competitive scenarios, we find that keystone foraging phenotypes may be diminished or absent under competitive conditions, potentially homogenizing resource use within populations.

Presentation 2
Jahn will present “Does a Dominant Prey Resource Lead to Food Web Stability?”

From the abstract:
... In wasp-waist ecosystems, one or a few pelagic forage species dominate biomass and control energy flow within an ecosystem by exerting top-down control on zooplankton and bottom-up control on both meso-predators and higher-order predators. With decreased complexity in intermediate trophic levels, wasp-waist systems are characterized by low ecosystem stability, as interactions across trophic levels are limited to a few strong interactions across critical prey species. We hypothesize that the migratory shark assemblage in the NYB [New York Bight] will rely heavily on abundant pelagic forage prey species during the summer to fall months, which may imply wasp-waist dynamics are occurring during this time. Here, we present a conceptual model to quantify interaction strengths between migratory shark species and their prey resources. This framework will enable us to characterize food web structure, evaluate the potential for wasp-waist dynamics, and ultimately infer the stability of the food web during the summer months. To quantify interaction strength, we will use a combination of data streams: Bayesian stable isotope mixing models using carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur values from ten migratory shark species will be used to estimate their resource use, and biomass data from nearshore trawls will measure available prey biomass. Initial model outputs indicate a strong reliance on pelagic forage-dominant resources across shark species, indicating the abundance of forage species is critical for maintaining predator biomass in this seasonally dynamic system. Quantifying interaction strengths and characterizing food web structure will improve our understanding of system stability and help assess its resilience to perturbations under ongoing environmental change, including rising sea surface temperatures and shifting species distributions.

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MAE Graduate Seminar Speaker: Becky Petteys

The next Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) Graduate Seminar speaker will present at 2 p.m. today, Feb. 19, in EERC 103.

Becky Petteys will present “Systems Engineering for the future, and why it needs you!”

In this talk, Petteys will go a little into the history of systems engineering as a field, but the main focus will be on what it is now and where it is going in the future. The hard engineering skills of mechanical engineers — modeling, simulation, coding, analysis — are essential to that future vision.

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Today's C-Cubed Luncheon Menu

Join Carved and Crafted Catering at Michigan Technological University for the C-Cubed Luncheon, being held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thursdays in the Memorial Union Alumni Lounge (MUB 107). All faculty and staff, along with their guests, are invited.

Menu for Thursday, Feb. 19:

• Cauliflower General Tso's (V) Contains Soy, Sesame, Gluten, Dairy, Egg
• Orange Chicken (Sesame, Dairy, Gluten, Egg, Soy)
• Basmati Rice (VG, AD, AG)
• Garden Salad (VG, AD, AG)
• Vegetable Stir Fry (VG, AD, AG)
• Vegetable Spring Rolls (V) Contains Dairy, Sesame, Gluten, Egg

The C-Cubed lunch buffet menus are created and prepared by the catering culinary team. As the name suggests, the meals are meant to foster conversation, community and collegiality. Attendees may bring their lunch instead of purchasing the buffet. Fruit-infused water, coffee, tea and desserts are available free to all attendees.

The buffet lunch is $16 per person. Cash, credit cards and gift cards are accepted. Gift cards can be purchased in the Memorial Union office (MUB 101). Meals are dine-in only and personal containers/tupperware or to-go meals are not permitted.

Submit C-Cubed Feedback.

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

Women's Rights are Human Rights: International Posters on Gender-based Inequality, Violence, and Discrimination Gallery Exhibit - Rozsa Art Galleries

Thursday, February 19, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. | Rozsa Art Galleries, Rozsa Art Galleries A-Space

MICHIGAN TECH ART SERIES EVENT Women’s Rights are Human Rights is a fitting title for an exhibition of women’s rights and advocacy posters, as it was a term used in the women’s rights movement and was the title of an important speech given by Hillary Rodham Clinton in 1995 at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. This exhibition features posters created by artsit of all genders to celebrate and acknowledge the vital role that all citizens should play in protecting and promoting human rights while challenging gender inequality and stereotypes, advancing reproductive and sexual rights, protecting women and girls against brutality, and promoting women’s empowerment and participation in society. These poster images challenge patriarchal attitudes that subordinate, stigmatize or restrict women from achieving their fullest potential. These images argue for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls enabling empowerment of women and achievement of real equality between women and men that fosters societal stability and human dignity. Learn more at womensrightsarehumanrights.org Things to know ROZSA ART GALLERIES HOURS | M-F 8 a.m.-8 p.m. and Saturdays…

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I-9 Verification at the MUB

Thursday, February 19, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. | Memorial Union Building; Room 101

Human Resources will be on-site at the MUB to verify I-9 documentation for new hires.

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Position Management - Zoom

Thursday, February 19, 10–11 a.m.

Jess Palek is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Position Management Zoom Time: Feb 19, 2026 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://michigantech.zoom.us/j/87175454468 Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 646 876 9923 or +1 646 931 3860 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 305 224 1968 or +1 309 205 3325 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 689 278 1000 or +1 719 359 4580 or +1 253 205 0468 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 360 209 5623 or +1 386 347 5053 or +1 507 473 4847 or +1 564 217 2000 or +1 669 444 9171 Meeting ID: 871 7545 4468 International numbers available: https://michigantech.zoom.us/u/ksaczsU5K

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Graduate Student Seminar - Philip Cuthbertson

Thursday, February 19, 12–1 p.m. | Fisher Hall, 326

Please join the Department of Mathematical Sciences in Fisher Hall 326 on Thursday, February 19 from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. for our Graduate Student Seminar Series featuring PhD Candidate Philip Cuthbertson. Title: Joint Distributions of Hook Lengths in Integer Partitions Abstract: The question of how many ways a natural number can be split into a sum of smaller natural numbers is a surprisingly difficult and deep question. Each way that this can be done is called an integer partition. These partitions show up in many disparate areas of mathematics and science such as number theory, complex analysis, cryptography, statistical mechanics, string theory, and computational chemistry to name just a few. We focus primarily on a geometric aspect of integer partitions called their hook lengths. Hook lengths in integer partitions have been widely studied and much work has gone into understanding how they are distributed. Inspired by an identity of Anible and Keith, we derive generating functions for some joint distributions of hook lengths and provide a conjecture for the general form that these series will take. Refreshments will be provided. Contact the Math Department Graduate Program Assistant…

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Graduate Student Seminar Series

Thursday, February 19, 12–1 p.m. | Fisher Hall, 326

Please join the Department of Mathematical Sciences in Fisher Hall 326 on Thursdays from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. for our Graduate Student Seminar Series. This seminar series will be held each Thursday from January 22, 2026 through April 2, 2026. Graduate students will share current research and research-related topics. Refreshments will be provided. Contact the Math Department Graduate Program Assistant, Andi Schoch, via email (ajschoch@mtu.edu) or in person (Fisher Hall 318) with any questions.

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VPR Research Series: Early Career Award Opportunities

Thursday, February 19, 12–1 p.m.

Join VPR Faculty Fellow for Research Development Dr. C.K. Choi on a virtual deep dive into the broader landscape of early-career awards. While Michigan Tech has strong, well-established support for those preparing submissions for the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER), many early-career faculty may be less aware of funding opportunities beyond NSF. To help address this, we have created a concise, deadline-based overview of early-career funding opportunities from both federal agencies and private foundations, along with brief highlights of each program’s focus and eligibility requirements. The goal of this presentation is to increase awareness of the wider range of opportunities available to researchers and equip faculty with the tools to plan strategically for the programs they'd like to target during the earlier stages of their career.

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KIP and BioSci Seminar Series - Interspecific Interactions Constrain Niche Expansion: Insights from Keystone Niche Individuals - Does a Dominant Prey Resource Lead to Food Web Stability?

Thursday, February 19, 2–3 p.m. | Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), 202

Hunter Roose, PhD Candidate and Elizabeth Jahn, PhD Student Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological Universty Roose's Abstract: Individuals within populations can differ markedly in their use of resources, generating variation in trophic niches that influence population-level niche structure. Interspecific competition is often thought to reduce a population’s total niche width (TNW), yet individuals may broaden their resource use to buffer against resource limitation. However not all individuals respond to competition in the same way; some increase their trophic niche breadth in response to resource scarcity, whereas others maintain narrow trophic niches or overlap extensively with competitors. Such variation in individual responses generates measurable differences in niche position and raises questions about which individuals occupy positions outside the population’s core realized niche. Recently, the concept of a keystone niche individual has been proposed to describe individuals whose resource use exerts a disproportionate effect on a population’s TNW and identifies those exploiting resources beyond the population’s typical niche space. Yet it remains unclear…

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Systems Engineering for the Future, and Why It Needs You!

Thursday, February 19, 2 p.m. | Electrical Energy Resources Center (EERC), 103

MAE Graduate Seminar Speaker Series proudly presents Becky Petteys Systems Engineering Segment Manager MathWorks Abstract Systems engineering is a field that engineers often come to from other disciplines, like mechanical engineering. But recently, there has been a push to make the field into a hard science and, in doing so, bring to bear approaches rooted in science and mathematics to solving system problems. In this talk, Becky will go a little into the history of systems engineering as a field, but the main focus will be on what it is now and where it is going in the future. The hard engineering skills of mechanical engineers - modeling, simulation, coding, analysis – are essential to that future vision. Bio Becky Petteys is the Systems Engineering Segment Manager at MathWorks. She joined MathWorks in 2005 as an application engineer and then began leading a team of engineers working closely with aerospace and defense companies doing systems engineering and certification workflows. She moved over to become the primary technical point of contact for System Composer, MathWorks’ MBSE platform, and helped to build the team that supports systems engineering today. She received…

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Physics Colloquium with Guy Consolmagno

Thursday, February 19, 3:30–5:00 p.m. | Fisher Hall, 139

Guy Consolmagno from Vatican Observatory will present at this week's Physics Colloquium. Br.Guy Consolmagno's presentation is titled "What’s Surfacing About Bennu?". The seminar will be presented at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday (Feb.19) in Fisher 139. The coffee hour will be held at 3:30 in the Fisher Hall Lobby. Abstract The recent NASA sample-return mission to asteroid Bennu, OSIRIS-REx, discovered a surface that, at first glance, didn't make sense: it appeared to be covered with boulders, but it absorbed heat like a powder. Now that we have samples, can we explain this? What’s going on and how did it get that way? Our measurements of the most likely analog meteorite type, CI and CM carbonaceous chondrites, suggests a surprising answer. Bio Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ is Director Emeritus of the Vatican Observatory. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he earned undergraduate and masters' degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Ph. D. in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard and MIT, served in the US Peace Corps (Kenya), and taught physics at Lafayette College before entering the Jesuits in 1989. At the Vatican…

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Huskies Swim Training - Session 2

Thursday, February 19, 4–5 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Huskies Swim Training is a program that provides additional attention and competitive guidance to advanced swimmers looking to focus on stroke technique and efficiency. Sessions will be designed to improve swimming through stroke drills and swimming sets focused on endurance, speed, and race strategy. Coaches will provide feedback and stroke correction in a group environment with an emphasis on promoting a love for competitive swimming and lifelong skills such as discipline, dedication, and teamwork. Come be part of the pack! Competitve swimming opportunities are now availabe to current Huskies Swim Training participants!

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Learn-to-Swim Levels 1-5 (Ages 6-17 yrs) - Session 1

Thursday, February 19, 5:10–5:50 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Come make a splash in Huskies Group Swim Lessons! American Red Cross Learn-to-Swim Levels 1-5 are being offered at the SDC Pool.

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Learn-to-Swim Levels 1-5 (Ages 6-17 yrs) - Session 2

Thursday, February 19, 5:10–5:50 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Come make a splash in Huskies Group Swim Lessons! American Red Cross Learn-to-Swim Levels 1-5 are being offered at the SDC Pool.

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Men's Basketball at Northern Michigan

Thursday, February 19, 5:30–8:30 p.m. | Marquette, Mich.

Men's Basketball at Northern Michigan Marquette, Mich.

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Enterprise Day

Thursday, February 19, 6–8 p.m. | Memorial Union Building (MUB), Ballroom

Are you interested in learning more about Enterprise at Michigan Tech? Maybe you are thinking about joining Enterprise, but are not sure which team is right for you. Learn more by talking with program staff and students from various Enterprise teams, all in one place! For more information about each team, please visit our Enterprise Day webpage. Registration is not required for interested students who would like to attend.

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Marvelous Mosaics

Thursday, February 19, 6–8 p.m. | MUB Commons

It's finally happening! Make your own coaster designs using pre-made moasaic tiles. It's free for students while supplies last, so come down to the MUB Commons on Thursday, Feburary 19th from 6-8pm.

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Pot Painting

Thursday, February 19, 6–8 p.m. | The Alley Makerspace

Come down to The Alley Makerspace(Basement of the MUB) to paint pots with Plant and Garden Club. Come and go as you please any time between 6PM-8PM. All materials are free.

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TSA February Social: Free Skate

Thursday, February 19, 6:00–7:50 p.m. | Student Development Complex

Join the Thompson Scholars Organization for free skate at the Student Development Complex! Ice skating is free with your Michigan Tech ID. If you need to rent skates, they are $5. Helmets are required, so if you have one, bring it, but if not, they are free to rent. Skating starts at 6 and goes until 7:50. Come for as long as you'd like, and bring a friend!

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WGC Friendly Pickleball Match

Thursday, February 19, 6:00–7:30 p.m. | Gates Tennis Center

Join the WGC for a fun and relaxing game of pickleball. It’s the perfect way to unwind, recharge, and connect with others—no experience required! We can’t wait to see you out on the court! We will be on Gates Court 4 Pickleball West Side

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Beading Lesson General Meeting

Thursday, February 19, 7–8 p.m. | The writing center

This is a general meeting where we will be discussing club activities and hosting a beading lesson. Anyone is welcome, and this lesson is meant to be very beginner-friendly. The focus will be on circular felt pendants.

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Sustainability Film Series: Farming While Black

Thursday, February 19, 7 p.m. | Fisher Hall, 138

The Sustainability Film Series, coordinated by the Michigan Tech Office of Sustainability and Resilience, offers thought-provoking films and engaging conversation around environmental and sustainability topics. February’s film ‘Farming While Black’ is a powerful cinematic exploration of the intersectionality of race, class, and agriculture, offering a vital lens through which one can examine historical and contemporary issues of land ownership, food sovereignty, and economic inequality. 'Farming While Black' will be shown at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 19 in Fisher Hall 138. Refreshments will be provided, and each film will be followed by a facilitated discussion. The Sustainability Film Series is free and everyone is welcome to attend. A suggested $5 donation is appreciated and helps to support the continued offering of this film series.