May 15, 2023

The U.S. Department of Transportation has appointed Wayne Gersie, vice president for diversity and inclusion at Michigan Tech, as a representative member on the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) Advisory Council. The appointment went into effect May 3 for a term of two years.

On the advisory council, Gersie will represent the viewpoints of Michigan Tech in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion and sense of belonging (DEIS). In this role, he will provide valuable insights and perspectives to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to help further the USMMA’s mission.

“I am honored to be called to serve by the secretary to provide insight on the positive educational and innovation impacts of diversity, equity, inclusion and sense of belonging initiatives,” said Gersie. “This appointment is recognition of the DEIS work we’re doing here at Michigan Tech.”

Read more on the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Newsblog.

The cashier's office within the Student Financial Services Center will be closed Wednesday (May 17) from 8 a.m. to noon for a departmental retreat. The office will open at noon.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Please join us in GLRC 202 on May 30 from 3-4 p.m. for an invited campus talk by Ben Kopec titled “Tracing the roles of sea ice in the Arctic water cycle.”

From the abstract:
A fundamental change in the Arctic has been the amplification of its water cycle. This amplification is driven by new ocean‐atmosphere interactions resulting from sea ice loss and the opening of Arctic ocean waters. The impacts of this amplified water cycle are widespread across the Arctic’s terrestrial and marine systems, and it is thus critical to understand the spatial and temporal variations in these ice‐ocean‐atmosphere interactions. One particularly valuable method to assess processes associated with the Arctic’s water cycle is through major advances in tracing the components of the hydrologic cycle with water isotope measurements (δ18O, δD, deuterium excess). In this presentation, I will share isotopic observations from a suite of Arctic cruises to 1) trace changing ocean‐atmosphere interactions and subsequent increases in evaporation (atmospheric freshening), and 2) identify the sources and impacts of increased freshwater influxes to the Arctic seas (ocean freshening). I will show how these measurements directly above and below the ocean surface offer a unique opportunity to constrain changes within Arctic systems, and explore how these approaches can be used to examine components of the water cycle around the globe.

Paul Sanders (MSE/IMP) is the principal investigator (PI) on a project that has received a $749,980 research and development grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The project is titled "Aluminum Critical Mineral Production via Landfill Mining: Environmental, community, and technical feasibility for integrated multi-material resource recovery."

Jonathan Robins (SS/IMP) and Timothy Eisele and Robert Handler (ChE/IMP) are co-PIs on this project.

Zhanping You (CEGE) was quoted by Saginaw’s WNEM TV5 in a story about two downstate road projects that will incorporate rubberized asphalt using material from recycled tires. You is the lead researcher on the projects, which are located in Bay and Saginaw counties and received grant funding from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.

*****

WWJ Newsradio 950 mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about the start of the Great Lakes cruise season in the Upper Peninsula. The University’s Lakeshore Center was mentioned in a description of Houghton’s new pier.

Virtual Interest Session: Online MS in Civil Engineering

Tess Ahlborn (CEGE) and Vice President for Global Campus and Continuing Education David Lawrence will be hosting a 45-minute virtual interest session on Michigan Tech’s online M.S. in Civil Engineering, with a focus on structural engineering.

Save the date: This session will run tomorrow (May 16) from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. ET via Zoom.

Ahlborn will be providing details about this innovative program, such as how students can combine stackable certificates to customize their degrees. Members of the Global Campus team will also be present to answer questions about the benefits of advanced degrees, accelerated options and the admissions process.

Register for this interest session.

Everyone is welcome!

If you have any questions about this event or the online M.S. in Civil Engineering, please contact Amanda Irwin at globalcampus@mtu.edu or 906-487-1000.

*****

Dow Elevator Construction

With summer courses in session, we wanted to remind campus that construction of the Dow Elevator Addition will begin in full swing today (May 15) and will continue throughout the summer.

While this work is being completed, we will do our best to minimize loud noises, but you may experience more noise than normal in the Dow Environmental Sciences and Engineering Building. We apologize in advance for this inconvenience and thank you for your patience, understanding and cooperation during this important construction project.

As always, we remind you to keep alert while in and around construction zones and to follow all posted directions. if you have any questions, please contact facilities@mtu.edu.

*****

CEO Operations Moving to Wadsworth Hall for SYP

The Center for Educational Outreach (CEO) will soon be making our annual transition to Wadsworth Hall in preparation for Summer Youth Programs (SYP).

Today (May 15), the department will be moving to offices located on the fourth floor of Wadsworth Hall. If you need to contact the department during this time, please do so via email, and we thank you in advance for your patience. Normal operations should resume tomorrow (May 16).

We are looking forward to our 50th summer of high-impact summer programming for pre-college students.

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

Summer WonderHack Competition for K-12 Students

May 15, all day

Michigan Tech is pleased to announce the launch of Summer WonderHack 2023, a new capture-the-flag (CTF) cybersecurity competition designed for K-12 participants. The event is...