August 7, 2023

An idea assistant professor Tara Bal (CFRES) proposed over dinner with a Canadian colleague has become a binational project exploring environmental factors that affect the northward expansion of oak wilt, a fatal tree disease spread by sap beetles.

Oak wilt, currently found in 24 states, can decimate both forest and urban plantings. The fungal disease kills otherwise healthy trees. In addition to landscape blight, it impacts wildlife habitat as well as the timber industry. The northern limit of the disease reaches the 46th parallel in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The line hasn't moved much since it was observed in the 1980s, but climate change is expected to impact the environmental conditions in years to come. Project collaborators are particularly concerned about the establishment of oak wilt along the U.S.-Canada border and into Canada.

Read about the research at Michigan Tech News.

MTU Parade of Nations, an esteemed cultural celebration event since 1989, is thrilled to announce its call for participants to join the upcoming "Fairy Tales from Around the World" Float Parade. The event will take place in Houghton and Hancock, celebrating the rich cultural diversity of the Keweenaw region. We cordially invite the entire community, including MTU students, to participate in this extravaganza of multiculturalism and ethnic diversity.

We encourage community members, students, organizations and businesses to come together and design imaginative floats that represent various fairy tales from different cultures. Whether you're a seasoned parade participant or a newcomer, this is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the Keweenaw's vibrant cultural tapestry and spread joy throughout the community.

The Parade of Nations Float Parade is not only about celebrating cultures but also about rewarding creativity. Float participants stand a chance to win a coveted cash prize for the best float. So, let your creativity run wild and be prepared to wow the spectators with your extraordinary designs!

The 2023 Parade of Nations begins at 11 a.m. on Sept. 16 at the Quincy Green in Hancock and ends at the Dee Stadium in Houghton. To register for the parade and find more information about participation guidelines, please visit the official Parade of Nations website.

There, you'll find all the necessary details to enter and participate in this unforgettable celebration of multiculturalism and ethnic diversity.

About the MTU Parade of Nations
The Parade of Nations, a cherished tradition since 1989, has been at the forefront of celebrating the rich cultural diversity in the Keweenaw region. Our mission is to unite people through a shared appreciation of diverse cultures, fostering mutual understanding and highlighting the value of multiculturalism in our society.

Join Michigan Technological University and Husky Eats for a Food Services Job Fair on Thursday (Aug. 10) from 1-8 p.m. in the Memorial Union Building ballroom on Michigan Tech's campus.

MTU is hiring for several on-campus food service positions, with full- and part-time positions available.

Find a convenient on-campus job with growth opportunities! Michigan Tech is looking to fill positions quickly, and the job fair will also offer resume assistance, a chance to meet the dining managers and on-the-spot interviews. Free event parking will be available in Lot 27, the visitors lot next to the Administration Building.

For more information, visit Michigan Tech's Employment Opportunities page.

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.

Experience the anti-diet. No points, counting calories or restrictions.

Michigan Tech is offering you a digital weight loss program where you don't have to give up the foods you love. In fact, Wondr encourages you to enjoy every single bite.

The Wondr Health digital program is based in behavioral science, and it is available at no cost to you*. Learn the science of eating the foods you love while still losing weight. Plus, you'll have more energy, sleep better and feel stronger, all while reducing your risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Space is limited. Sign-up starts next Monday (Aug. 14) and ends Aug. 27. The program begins Sept. 11.

For details, please see the Wondr Health enrollment flyer and visit Wondr Health's Michigan Tech webpage.

* Restrictions and eligibility info can be found at Wondr Health's MichiganTech webpage.

Ph.D. in Computer Science student Yifu Deng will present a doctoral dissertation proposal at 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 16. The defense will be held in person in Rekhi 101 and virtually via Zoom.

Deng's proposal is titled "Near-Memory Processing Accelerators for Approximate Nearest Neighbor Search over Large-Scale Datasets."

From the abstract:
Modern machine learning techniques can learn high-dimensional vector representations of various objects and serve as the foundation for machine learning-powered information processing systems. Important vector applications include approximate-nearest-neighbors (ANN) search objects for a given query, which provides objects similar to the query. Nonetheless, it is difficult to achieve low-latency ANN search with ever-growing datasets and vector dimensions. The execution time of the vector search phase must be sub-milliseconds or less for production systems. However, it takes > 100ms to query a vector on a billion-scale dataset using a CPU, and the query latency on a 100 million-scale dataset is reported to be approximately 5ms even when a GPU accelerator is used. To address this issue, this project aims to investigate the near-memory processing accelerators to reduce ANN query latency, by minimizing the data movement between processors and memory devices.

Michigan Tech hockey forward Kash Rasmussen has been named a Krampade All-American Scholar by the American Hockey Coaches Association for the 2022-23 academic year.

To qualify, a student-athlete must have attained a 3.75 GPA for each semester and had to appear in 40% of the team's games. Rasmussen had a 4.0 GPA in the fall and 3.78 in the spring in his first year at Tech. He is pursuing an exercise science degree.

Read about Rasmussen's 2022-23 season with the Huskies at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Mary Jennings (Rozsa) was quoted by WJMN Local 3 in coverage of the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts’ recently announced 2023-24 Presenting Series lineup, which includes a Nov. 10 show by comedian Charlie Berens.

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Adam Meckler (VPA) was mentioned by the MinnPost of Minneapolis in a story previewing arts events held Aug. 5-6.

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Dan Mettlach (ATH) was interviewed by WZMQ 19 News about Michigan Tech football’s fall training camp and upcoming season.

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Zach Flener (ATH) being named assistant coach of MTU’s men’s basketball team was covered by the Daily Mining Gazette and BVM Sports. Head coach Josh Buettner (ATH) was quoted in the stories.

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The Daily Mining Gazette covered Michigan Tech’s Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday (Aug. 3), where current and retired MTU faculty spoke during the public comment period regarding leadership transitions in the College of Engineering and College of Sciences and Arts announced in June.

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The Keweenaw Report covered Michigan Tech’s HOWL for Huskies program. Helping Out With Living, or HOWL, allows both Tech employees and community members to post information about their available housing spaces. The program was announced Aug. 1 in Tech Today.

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The Daily Mining Gazette covered honors received by Michigan Tech Esports student-athletes from the National Association of Collegiate Esports and academic recognition awarded to more than 150 Huskies from the Division 2 Athletics Directors Association.

Upcoming Campus User Training: Cayuse Sponsored Projects Platform

The Sponsored Operations Office and Vice President for Research Office (VPR) invite the campus community to participate in a third session, a virtual training on the use of the new Cayuse research administration software. Specifically, research-active faculty, research scientists and research support staff are invited to attend an upcoming training on Aug. 24.

If you anticipate submitting any externally funded proposals in the next year, consider attending or viewing the online training videos on the Cayuse Training webpage.

Please register for the Zoom training by completing the Cayuse Training RSVP and Test System Access form. Registration is necessary to access the testing version of the platform you will use in training.

The virtual training will be held Aug. 24 from 1:30-3 p.m. via Zoom.

Additional information is available on our Cayuse Implementation webpage. Please reach out to Sponsored Operations at soo-l@mtu.edu with any questions.

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Huron Creek Watershed Management Plan Update

A public meeting will be held at the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw tomorrow (Aug. 8) from 7-8:30 p.m. to review updates to the Huron Creek Watershed Management Plan.

A presentation will be given to review activities and events since the management plan was approved in 2009, along with the data collected for the plan update, preliminary findings, and recommendations. A draft of the management plan document will also be made available online for a one-month comment period shortly after the meeting.

Please direct any questions to David Watkins (CEGE) at dwatkins@mtu.edu.

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Kayaking With GSG

On Friday (Aug. 11), Graduate Student Government (GSG) will be hosting a kayaking event at Prince’s Point in collaboration with the Outdoor Adventure Program. Friends and family are welcome, but be sure to register ASAP, as spots are limited!

Please contact Trevor Wavrunek at gsg-social@mtu.edu for questions or if you need to change your reservation.

Hope to see you there!

The registration form is available on our website.

The Daily Mining Gazette ran a story about Michigan Tech’s plans to build a new undergraduate residence hall on the east end of campus. The first details on the project were announced in May by Michigan Tech News. A design-build agreement for construction of the residence hall was one of many proposals mentioned in the DMG story as having been approved by the MTU Board of Trustees during their Aug. 3 meeting.

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The Keweenaw Report and the Daily Mining Gazette announced the addition of Zach Flener as an assistant head coach with MTU men’s basketball.

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The Daily Mining Gazette and BVM Sports picked up a Michigan Tech Athletics press release about MTU hockey forward Kash Rasmussen being named a Krampade All-American Scholar by the American Hockey Coaches Association. During the 2022-23 school year, Rasmussen had a 4.0 GPA and a 3.78 GPA in the fall and spring semesters, respectively.

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Scott Bradley (KRC) and Geoff Gwaltney (KRC) were quoted in a WLUC TV6 story about the 70th Anniversary celebration held at the Keweenaw Research Center on Friday, Aug. 4. 

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The Gander and The Maritime Executive mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about $500,000 in state grants awarded by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last week for projects to expand the use of electric boats on the Great Lakes. The report says MTU will receive $50,000 to “partner with local utilities and marinas to determine how far people can travel from their home docks, the optimal distance between charging stations, charging times and costs, as well as how much energy is needed to support a specific number of chargers.”

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Michigan Tech was mentioned by the Keweenaw Report in a story about a stargazing event at Mount Horace Greeley on Saturday, Aug. 12. The event will be co-hosted by the Open Skies Project and MTU’s Robert Nemiroff (Physics).

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The Indianapolis Colts mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about former Husky basketball player Jake Witt being placed on injured reserve for his rookie season in the NFL. 

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Armada International mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about contracts awarded by the U.S. Army to groups working to integrate hybrid-electric technology into tactical and combat vehicles. MTU was listed as one of two groups involved in developing such technology for the Army’s High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle.

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Carl Blair (SS) was quoted in a Daily Mining Gazette story about discoveries made during the archeology field school being held at a site near the Delaware Mine. 

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WLUC TV6 and the Daily Mining Gazette covered the reunion games played on Aug. 5 by alumni of the MTU men’s and women’s basketball programs. Many current and former players and coaches were quoted in the stories about the games, which capped off the festivities of the 2023 Alumni Reunion weekend. 

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Tara Bal (CFRES) was quoted by Australia’s National Tribune in a story about a binational project involving U.S. and Canadian researchers working to prevent the spread of oak wilt, a fatal tree disease spread by sap beetles. The article was picked up from a story in Michigan Tech News.

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PhD Defense: Anne Linja

Monday, August 7, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. | Harold Meese Center, 109

Applied Cognitive Science & Human Factors Advisor: Shane Mueller Explicit Rule Learning: A Cognitive Tutorial Method to Train Users of Artificial Intelligence/Machine...