September 20, 2023

The 2023 Upper Peninsula Medical Conference (UPMedCon) brings together medical practitioners, researchers and students for a weekend of learning about health issues impacting rural communities.

Hosted by the Michigan Technological University Health Research Institute (HRI), UPMedCon takes place Oct. 27-28 at the Memorial Union Building. Health practitioners from around the Upper Peninsula and northern Great Lakes are invited to attend.

Read the press release at Michigan Tech News. For more information and to register, visit the Upper Peninsula Medical Conference website.

Our Next Energy (ONE), an energy storage company focused on battery technologies, will present demonstrations of their technology today (Sept. 20) at 10 a.m. and noon at Michigan Tech's Great Lakes Research Center in GLRC 202. All students are invited. Refreshments will be served.

ONE is a Michigander EV & Mobility Scholars program core employer. Through a series of seminars, networking events, company tours and more, Michigander Scholars build professional connections with Michigan companies that develop electric vehicles (EVs), battery tech and semiconductors. These connections may lead to internships, jobs and even careers. Successful Scholars may qualify for up to $10,000 in scholarship dollars.

Read more on the Computing News Blog.

The College of Computing is hosting an info session about programming competitions today (Sept. 20) from 5-6 p.m. in Rekhi 101.

Programming competitions are team events testing your skills at answering programming questions, correctly and quickly. Top teams at the various events can go on to compete against top teams in the world.

Learn more about programming competitions on the College of Computing Advising blog.

Ever considered transportation/mobility as potential research area? Or looked for a team to join and use your expertise for the topic areas?

If either of these questions piqued your curiosity, join the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute (MTTI) for a general members and friends luncheon next Thursday (Sept. 28) from 12-1:30 p.m. in the Ballroom B2/B3 of the Memorial Union. 

The luncheon is open to all researchers on campus.

After lunch, we will briefly introduce the Institute and its services, and then discuss three upcoming transportation research opportunities:

• The upcoming federal ARPA-Infrastructure (ARPA-I) program,
• MDOT's request for research ideas toward future funding cycles, and
• Michigan Tech's participation in the development of the largest surface transportation center by ENSCO and Federal Transportation Administrations in Pueblo, Colorado.

Luncheon Schedule:

• 12:00-12:30 p.m. — Lunch
• 12:30-12:45 p.m. — Brief MTTI Update
• 12:45-1:30 p.m. — Transportation funding opportunities: ARPA-I, MDOT, TTC Pueblo/ENSCO 

Please complete the MTTI General Membership Meeting form by Friday (Sept. 22) to confirm your participation, so we can get a proper luncheon count.

Join us in person or via Zoom.

We are seeking people to participate in an automated driving paid research study. Participants will complete three simulated semi-autonomous driving tasks in the driving simulator in addition to surveys about their driving experiences. The experiment session will take approximately 90 minutes, and participants will receive $20 for their time.

Additionally, participants must meet the following requirements:

• They must be between the ages of 18-30 years.
• They must have a valid U.S. driver’s license with at least two years of
• driving experience in the U.S.
• They must not wear glasses and must have normal or correct-to-normal vision with contact lenses.

If you are interested in participating in this study, sign up on Calendly.

For more information, please contact mtustarlab@gmail.com.

Faculty, staff and graduate students can have a complimentary professional portrait taken by University Marketing and Communications (UMC) this week during one of our fall semester portrait sessions.

• Wednesday, Sept. 20 — 10 a.m. to noon
• Thursday, Sept. 21 — 10 a.m. to noon
• Friday, Sept. 22 — 10 a.m. to noon

Portraits will be taken in the UMC Studio, located on the ground floor of the Administration Building (Admin G37). An appointment is required.

Schedule an appointment through our online calendar. You must use your mtu.edu account to schedule an appointment.

• Sign in to the calendar with your mtu.edu account
• Find the portrait session date you want — Sept. 20, 21 or 22
• Click the appointment time you want between 10 a.m. and noon
• Click Save
• Smile!

Portraits will be emailed directly to you three to four weeks after your session.

For the next two weeks, Residence Education and Housing Services (REHS) is hosting an Identity Campaign. Take a look at our social media to reflect on what identities you hold and how they interact with others.

As part of the campaign, we are hosting an Identity Carnival next Thursday (Sept. 28) at 3 p.m. on Walker Lawn. There will be outdoor games, carnival snacks and conversations about what identities we hold. Consider stopping by to participate in this great event!

The Department of Mathematical Sciences (Math) will be holding the first seminar of this year's series on Friday (Sept. 22) from 1-2 p.m. in Fisher 327B.

Our guest speaker will be Juntao Huang, assistant professor at Texas Tech University.

Huang's presentation is titled "Structure-Preserving Moment Models for the Radiative Transport and Free Surface Flows."

Jennifer McConnell will present as part of the Department of Chemical Engineering (ChE) Seminar Series on Friday (Sept. 22) at 10 a.m. in person in Chem Sci 102 and virtually via Zoom.

McConnell will present "Using Machine Vision to Drive Nanoscale Discoveries That Solve Real-World Problems."

Read the abstract on the University Events Calendar.

McConnell is the senior manager of marketing and product management at Protochips.

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) is hosting a seminar presented by M.S. candidate Sophie Mehl tomorrow (Sept. 21) from 1-1:20 p.m. in M&M 610.

Mehl will present "Hybrid Structured Nickel Superalloys to Address Price Volatility and Weld Repair Issues."

From the abstract:
With the goal to improve sustainability, power plants have increased efficiency by operating at higher temperatures of up to 760 °C. To meet these high operation temperatures while maintaining quality material performance, power plants are using nickel superalloys on certain components, specifically steam turbines and boilers. The issues with current nickel superalloys are that they are expensive and not very weldable. To increase material weldability, it is hypothesized that increasing the amount of the η phase will slow formation kinetics and allow for stress relaxation prior to material strengthening and thus strain age cracking will be reduced. To test this hypothesis, multi-objective Bayesian optimization (MOBO) was used to determine material compositions which will increase material weldability and decrease cost without significantly affecting other material properties such as strength. An optimized composition was then selected, cast, and processed. Material properties and microstructure were analyzed and compared to Nimonic 263, a commercial nickel superalloy. Moving forward, the weldability of this alloy will be tested to analyze solidification and strain age cracking. Two other small-scale compositions will also be created, processed, and tested, and their structure and properties will be compared to the previously optimized alloy and Nimonic 263.

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) is hosting a seminar presented by Ph.D. student Austin DePottey tomorrow (Sept. 21) from 1:25-1:45 p.m. in M&M 610.

DePottey will present "Effect of Scandium on Precipitation in Al-Cu Alloys."

From the abstract:
Aluminum-copper-scandium alloys have recently garnered interest due to their potential as lightweight, high strength alloys that maintain significant strength at elevated temperatures (T>250°C). Previous work in this system primarily focuses on the effect that Al3Sc dispersoids have on θ′ precipitation only. This work aims to examine the effects of scandium in solution on the complex precipitation sequence in aluminum-copper alloys. It was found that the scandium-containing alloy had both θ′′ and θ′ stabilized to higher temperatures than the scandium-free alloy. These findings are crucial to the design of heat treatment processes in prospective aluminum-copper-scandium alloys.

The Michigan Tech hockey team was the top pick to win the MacNaughton Cup in both the coaches' and media's CCHA Preseason Poll for 2023-24.

The MacNaughton Cup is awarded to the CCHA regular season champion.

In the coaches' poll, Tech tallied 67 points out of a possible 70, including a league-high four first-place votes. Northern Michigan was one point behind Tech in second. Bowling Green (55) and Bemidji State (49) rounded out the top four.

In the media's poll, the Huskies picked up 152 points with 11 first-place votes. Northern Michigan collected 133 points and was tied with third-place Bowling Green (124) with two first-place votes apiece. Minnesota State was fourth with 114 points (one first-place vote).

Additionally, MTU goaltender Blake Pietila was named the Co-Preseason Player of the Year on the coaches' ballot and was joined by forward Kyle Kukkonen and defenseman Jed Pietila on the Preseason All-CCHA Team selected by the media.

Read more about the polls at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Wednesday (Sept. 20)
• Valorant vs. Wayne State, 7 p.m. NACE Varsity Premier

Thursday (Sept. 21)
• Super Smash Bros: Ultimate vs. Wayne State, 7 p.m. NACE Varsity Premier.

Friday (Sept. 22)
• Counter-Strike: GO vs. Oklahoma Christian, 7 p.m. NACE Varsity Premier. 

Saturday (Sept. 23)
• Overwatch 2 vs. Texas - Arlington, 2 p.m. & 3:30 p.m. Activision Blizzard Collegiate.

Times are subject to change. Check Twitter @MTUEsports for updates.

*****

Esports News
Read more in the MTU Esports weekly update.

Watch MTU Esports on Twitch.

Machel Borsum (IPS), Ph.D. student Suresh Pokharel (computer science), master’s students Tosin Ayo (integrated geospatial technology) and Omowunmi Aworinde (chemistry), and undergrad Caleb Briggs (robotics engineering) were quoted by the Mining Journal in a story about the 2023 Parade of Nations on Saturday (Sept. 16). The story was picked up from the Daily Mining Gazette.

*****

Jenna Lane (Career Services) was quoted by Radio Results Network in a story about Michigan Tech’s 2023 fall Career Fair, held yesterday (Sept. 19) at the Student Development Complex.

*****

CBS Detroit, MLive and Lansing’s WLNS 6 News mentioned Michigan Tech in stories about 2024 college rankings released by U.S. News & World Report. MTU ranked at No. 151 nationally and No. 3 in the state.

*****

The Keweenaw Report published a photo gallery covering the 2023 Parade of Nations and Multicultural Festival, held Saturday (Sept. 16).

*****

The Daily Mining Gazette covered MTU soccer’s Seulgi Lee and MTU football’s Brenden Lach being named GLIAC Players of the Week.

*****

Michigan Tech hockey being predicted to top the CCHA 2023-24 regular season standings was covered by WJMN Local 3, WLUC TV6, the Keweenaw Report, BVM Sports, USCHO.com and the Rink Live. Also mentioned were goalie Blake Pietila, forward Kyle Kukkonen and defenseman Jed Pietila, who were all selected for preseason honors.

Ruth Archer Representing Michigan Tech at Lean Solutions Global Summit

Ruth Archer, director of continuous improvement at Michigan Tech, will be presenting at the 2023 Lean Solutions Global Summit, which will be held Oct. 2-4 in Muskegon, Michigan.

Learn more about Archer, her extensive Lean credentials and this upcoming event at Michigan Tech Global Campus News.

*****

Become Mental Health First Aid Certified

The next opportunity for staff to become Mental Health First Aid Certified is Oct. 19. This seven-hour training assists individuals with recognizing signs and symptoms of someone experiencing a mental health crisis and understanding how to respond and/or get them connected to appropriate resources.

There are two hours of pre-work through online modules that are required ahead of the in-person training date. The deadline to sign up is Oct. 6 and the session is limited to 15 participants. Sign up using the Mental Health First Aid registration form.

Please direct any questions to Sarah Dowd at sedowd@mtu.edu.

*****

'Language and Power' Presentation with Talia Bugel

The Department of Humanities (HU) and the Visiting Professor Program invite you to Talia Bugel's presentation today (Sept. 20) in GLRC 201 at 5 p.m.

The presentation is titled "Language and Power: a sociolinguistics-based analysis of the ways public policy and language attitudes shape which languages we speak and how we speak them."

Bugel is a professor of Spanish linguistics at Purdue University, Fort Wayne, Indiana. This last year she was a Fulbright Scholar working in Senegal, Africa. Her areas of expertise include language attitudes, language and public policy, and language education. The majority of her research is based on the languages spoken in South America; her presentation will make use of examples from South America and West Africa.

Sociolinguistics is a broad field of study but research on language attitudes includes evidence that our views of different accents, whether in English, Spanish, or French, influence how we evaluate the speakers; that these attitudes have been shown to shape funding that supports which languages and which dialects are taught in public schools around the world; and that people tend to correct their use of their native language because of attitudes determined by views of class and hierarchy.

All are welcome to this presentation. Snacks and beverages will be available.

This program/lecture is partially funded/sponsored by the Visiting Professor Program, which is funded by a grant to the Office of the Provost from the State of Michigan's King-Chávez-Parks Initiative.

*****

Join the Advocates and Allies Program

ADVANCE is seeking interested faculty and staff to join Advocates and Allies, a program that consists of two groups:

• Advocates Team — A group of faculty and staff men who work to improve the campus culture and work environment at MTU for women and underrepresented groups. The group meets about once a month and members take on projects and/or tasks they are interested in based on their available time.

• Advocates & Allies Advisory Board (A3B) — A group of underrepresented individuals on the basis of gender, ethnicity, race, disability status, sexuality, etc., who work with the ADVANCE team to guide and advise the Advocates Team.

When advocating for policies and practices, the goal is that the A3B and Advocates will work closely together with the belief that well-intentioned ideas translate into policies and practices that most effectively achieve the goals of equity.

More details on the goals of the Advocates and Allies program are available with the A3B and Advocates Team Interest Form.

The application deadline is tomorrow (Sept. 21).

*****

CTL Book Club Opportunity Coming in October

The Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) will be hosting a book club this fall focused on digital accessibility. You’re invited to join with your faculty colleagues as we read about the importance of addressing digital accessibility in your classes to ensure they are inclusive for all your students. We’ll review related policies, laws and best practices for addressing digital accessibility issues in your course materials, and identify opportunities for additional professional development.

What's the Book?
The book is "Guide to Digital Accessibility: Policies, Practices, and Professional Development," edited by Rae Mancilla and Barbara A. Frey. The book will be provided to all participants.

When are the Meetings?
The CTL Book Club will meet weekly (for six weeks) beginning the week of Oct. 2 through the week of Nov. 13 (no meeting during the Oct. 19 recess week). Specific dates/times will be determined based on feedback from participants. A minimum of five people are required for the book club to proceed, with a maximum capacity of 12 participants. To join, please submit the CTL Book Club Registration form no later than Sept. 30.

Meeting Dates and Chapter Selections (subject to change)

• Week of Oct. 2 — "Digital Accessibility in Higher Education" (historical perspective laws, standards)
• Week of Oct. 9 — "Quality Matters Standard 8" (accessibility & usability)
• Week of Oct. 23 — "Designing Inclusive and Accessible Online & Hybrid Courses" 
• Week of Oct. 30 — "Scenarios and Solutions for Accessible Courses"
• Week of Nov. 6 — "Digital Accessibility Awareness"
• Week of Nov. 13 — "Technology Tools to Support Digital Accessibility"

Contact the CTL at ctl@mtu.edu with any questions or for more information.

*****

Cliff Drive Moving Permanently to One-Way Traffic

Beginning today (Sept. 20), two permanent changes will affect Cliff Drive: The speed limit will drop to 15 mph and the majority of the road will become a one-way street.

Between Parking Lots 1 and 10, Cliff Drive traffic will shift to flow in a single lane from west to east. Two-way traffic will continue in the areas immediately adjacent to Highway 41, providing access to Lot 1 on the west end of the street and Lot 10 on the east end.

This permanent change will create approximately 70 parallel parking spaces on the south side of Cliff Drive. These metered spots (paid via ParkMobile — Zone 19027) will help reduce parking congestion in other areas of campus.

While drivers are adjusting to the new speed limit and traffic flow, please be extra careful of pedestrians, of people exiting their vehicles from parallel parking spaces, and of vehicles entering and exiting the parking lots off of Cliff Drive.

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

Layered in Between: Prints by Erin Hoffman Presented by Michigan Tech Art

Wednesday, September 20, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. | Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts, Rozsa Galleries A-Space

Erin Hoffman is an artist and printmaker from Muskegon, Michigan, who deals primarily with political and social concerns. Through the presentation of mismatched ideas and...

*****

Faculty, Staff, Graduate Student Portrait Session (by appointment)

Wednesday, September 20, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. | Administration and Student Services Building, G20

Faculty, staff, and graduate students can have a complimentary professional portrait taken by University Marketing and Communications (UMC). WHEN: September 20, 21, and...

*****

Our Next Energy (ONE) Battery Technology Demo

Wednesday, September 20, 10 a.m. | Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), 202

Our Next Energy (ONE), an energy storage company focused on battery technologies, will present demos of their technology on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at 10 a.m. and 12...

*****

Our Next Energy (ONE) Battery Technology Demo

Wednesday, September 20, 12 p.m. | Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), 202

Our Next Energy (ONE), an energy storage company focused on battery technologies, will present demos of their technology on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at 10 a.m. and 12...

*****

General Mills Digital & Technology and Manufacturing & Engineering Info Session

Wednesday, September 20, 1:00 p.m.–1:55 p.m. | Memorial Union Building (MUB), Ballroom B

Memorial Union Building (MUB) Ballroom B During the info session we will he giving away fantastic General Mills products, talk about the 4! different types of roles we will be...

*****

General Mills Digital & Technology and Manufacturing & Engineering Info Session

Wednesday, September 20, 4 p.m.–5 p.m. | Memorial Union Building (MUB), Ballroom B

Memorial Union Building (MUB) Ballroom B During the info session we will he giving away fantastic General Mills products, talk about the 4! different types of roles we will be...

*****

Girls' Basketball Little Huskies League

Wednesday, September 20, 4 p.m.–6 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Multi-Purpose Gym

Learning skills, working as a team, and having fun: that’s Michigan Tech’s Little Huskies Girls’ Basketball League. It’s a great introduction to the sport for young, budding...

*****

Info Session: Programming Competitions

Wednesday, September 20, 5 p.m.–6 p.m. | Rekhi Hall, 101

An info session about programming competitions will take place Wednesday, September 20, 2023, from 5-6 p.m. in Rekhi 101. Programming competitions are team events testing your...

*****

Race Practice

Wednesday, September 20, 5 p.m.–8 p.m. | East Houghton Waterfront Park

Race practices are pretty casual. We set a few marks in the portage and have a few races on Monday and Wednesday nights. Anyone is welcome to attend, regardless of sailing...

*****

Students For Life General Meeting

Wednesday, September 20, 5 p.m.–6 p.m. | Fisher 133

Students For Life General Meeting

*****

Visiting Professor Program Presents: Language & Power with Talia Bugel

Wednesday, September 20, 5 p.m.–7 p.m. | Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), 201

Join us for a Visitng Professor Program talk by Dr. Talia S. Bugel of Purdue University FortWayne, Language and Power: a sociolinguistics based analysis of the ways public...

*****

USG Weekly Meeting

Wednesday, September 20, 7 p.m.–9 p.m. | MUB Alumni Lounge

This meeting includes weekly updates from all representatives, liaison positions, and committees. Official business carried out by USG is conducted throughout old and new...