September 21, 2023

The Graduate School is pleased to announce the appointment of two new associate deans over the summer.

Debra Charlesworth has been with the Graduate School since 2007 and began her new role as associate dean in July 2023. In her role, she will supervise the student services staff and postdoctoral affairs office, along with continuing her work with orientation and dissertation review. Her immediate focus will be on improving the graduate student experience and streamlining degree completion processes.

Melissa Baird assumed her new role as associate dean of STEM equity in July 2023. She is collaborating with the dean on research and development and aligning these efforts with the national STEMM equity strategy. Additionally, she is working on advancement initiatives focused on student support.

Yesterday (Sept. 20), University leadership recognized our faculty's outstanding scholarship and teaching at the 2023 Faculty Awards Ceremony and Reception.

Thank you to all who attended and congratulations again to the following award recipients. Michigan Tech is greatly appreciative of their commitment to service and their dedication to the University.

University Professor
Raymond Shaw (Physics)

Distinguished Professors
Jaroslaw “Jarek” Drelich (MSE)
Nancy Langston (SS)
David Watkins (CEGE)

Michigan Tech Research Award
Petra Huentemeyer (Physics)

Diversity Award
Brigitte Morin (BioSci)

Faculty Distinguished Service Award
Mike Mullins (ChE)

Bhakta Rath Research Award
Kathryn Perrine (Chem) and Adambarage Chathura de Alwis ’20 ’22

2023 Distinguished Teaching Award
Amy Marcarelli (BioSci)
Kyle Griffin (ChE)

2023 University's MASU Distinguished Professor of the Year Nominee
Amy Marcarelli (BioSci)

Michigan Tech's Society of Women Engineers (SWE) section is proud to announce that senior Aerith Cruz (management information systems), former section president, has been recognized by the Society of Women Engineers for her impact on the Society and our section and community with the Outstanding Collegiate Member Award.

Cruz will be accepting the award at the SWE Societal Conference, WE23, being held Oct. 26-28 in Los Angeles, California.

The Outstanding Collegiate Member Award is presented to “a SWE collegiate member with SWE collegiate involvement who has made an outstanding contribution to SWE, other engineering organizations (including but not limited to SWE’s partner organizations), their community and campus.”

Cruz is the second SWE section member at Michigan Tech to receive this award since the founding of the section in 1976.

Cruz, section members and SWE advisor Gretchen Hein will be attending WE23. Hein is honored to have completed Cruz’s nomination and is looking forward to attending the awards ceremony with her. After the conference, we will be publishing an in-depth article about Cruz, her award and accomplishments.

The next Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar will take place at 3 p.m. on Monday (Sept. 25) in GLRC 202.

Longhuan Zhu, research scientist III, School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering, University of New Hampshire, will present "Accelerated Coastal Erosion in Lake Michigan under Wave Climate Change: Nature-based Solutions with Aquaculture Structures."

Read the abstract on the University Events Calendar.

Michigan Tech football is taking to the road once again, traveling to face Great Lakes Valley Conference foes Upper Iowa on Saturday (Sept. 23).

The Huskies will face the Peacocks at the Harms-Eischeid Stadium, with kickoff slated for 2 p.m. EST. The game is the first meeting for the two teams.

Fans can tune in on Mix 93.5 WKMJ-FM or Pasty.net, and the contest will be livestreamed on the GLVC Network.

Read the preview at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Tickets for the 57th Great Lakes Invitational (GLI) go on sale tomorrow (Sept. 22) at 10 a.m., online at Ticketmaster and in Grand Rapids at the Van Andel Arena, DeVos Place and DeVos Performance Hall Box Office.

Michigan Tech is hosting the 2023 GLI at Van Andel Arena on Dec. 28-29. Michigan State, Ferris State and Alaska Fairbanks will join the Huskies in the competition for the MacInnes Cup.

The 57th GLI starts Dec. 28 with a matchup between MTU and Alaska Fairbanks at 3:30 p.m., followed by Michigan State against Ferris State at 7 p.m. It concludes Dec. 29 with the GLI championship game at 7 p.m. and the third-place game at 3:30 p.m.

Read more about the 2023 Great Lakes Invitational at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Roman Sidortsov (SS) was quoted in a BBC story exploring companies’ reasons for continuing to operate in Russia, despite its invasion of Ukraine.

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Jared Wolfe (CFRES) was quoted in a U.S. Forest Service press release about a recently published study investigating the scheduling of prescribed burns according to the life cycles of culturally significant birds in the Klamath Siskiyou bioregion of northern California and southern Oregon. Wolfe co-authored the study, which was published by Ecosphere. The USFS press release was picked up by Oregon’s Klamath Falls News.

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The Detroit Free Press, Bridge Michigan and the ’Gander mentioned Michigan Tech in stories about the new Michigan Assured Admission Pact between 10 of the state’s public universities. Per the pact, members will guarantee admission to recent high school grads with a GPA of 3.0 or higher starting in fall 2024. Michigan Tech is one of five universities not participating in the pact at this time. The Free Press story was picked up by five other outlets downstate.

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MLive mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about Smart Asset’s most recent list of “Best Value Colleges.” MTU was ranked as the second-highest best value in Michigan, behind only the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Tech’s starting salary was described as “near the top of all schools on the list.”

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Becker’s Hospital Review listed Michigan Tech as No. 12 among the nation's top 20 schools for salary impact, or how much a college boosts salaries earned by students after graduation. The ranking was based on the Wall Street Journal’s recently released Best U.S. Colleges 2024 ranking list.

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The Manistee News Advocate mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about West Shore Community College’s development of an associate in applied science degree in robotics and advanced manufacturing. MTU is partnering with WSCC on the program. The story was picked up by the Lake County Star and Big Rapids Pioneer.

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Radio Results Network mentioned Michigan Tech in a story listing Upper Peninsula projects funded by the state’s budget for fiscal year 2024. The budget allocated $870,000 for Michigan Tech to relocate and continue the Finlandia University bachelor’s program in nursing.

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MLive mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about this year’s Great Lakes Invitational hockey tournament, which will be hosted by MTU on Dec. 28-29 at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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ABC 10 covered Michigan Tech hockey being predicted to top the CCHA 2023-24 regular season standings.

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Finland’s University of Jyväskylä mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about the doctoral dissertation of Christina Kuorelahti ’12 (B.S. Exercise Science), titled “Monitoring and development of junior cross-country skiers during sports high school.”

New Ordering System for Catering

MTU Catering has a new ordering system called Catertrax to use when ordering food for your on-campus event. If you have questions on the new system or would like to see how to order step-by-step, please attend our Catertrax Training — join us at the MUB Ballroom A2 on Tuesday (Sept. 26) from 11-11:45 a.m. or you can register to join virtually (no registration is required if you prefer to attend in person).

The new system offers new menus items, upcoming special offers, and now requires five days of advance notice for orders.

A training video for the Catertrax system is also available on the Husky Eats website.

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Sponsored Programs Proposal Submission Internal Deadline Update

Sponsored Programs will expand the two-tier internal deadline structure to include all proposal submissions, including pre-proposals and letters of intent, with a due date on or after Oct. 1. The two-tier structure includes separate deadlines for the final internal and nontechnical documents and the final technical documents.

All final internal documents and nontechnical related sponsor documents are due to Sponsored Programs no later than 7 a.m. five business days prior to the sponsor deadline. If applicable, the application package must also be completed in the appropriate submission system (Research.gov, Grants.gov Workspace, NIH ASSIST, etc.) except for the budget forms, which are completed by Sponsored Programs personnel.

Internal documents include the completed and approved Cayuse proposal form, budget approved by Sponsored Programs, budget justification, and cost share approval document(s), if applicable.

Nontechnical document requirements vary by sponsor/funding opportunity and include items such as a biographical sketch or CV; current and pending support form; letters of support; cost proposal volume; data management plan; and facilities, equipment and other resources document; as well as any sponsor-specific required budget forms. The assigned analyst will assist in identifying the nontechnical-related and technical-related documents needed for each proposal submission.

For proposals that include subawards, all required subrecipient documents are due to Sponsored Programs no later than 5 p.m. 10 business days prior to the sponsor deadline to allow time for compliance review, correspondence with subrecipient personnel, and incorporation into the proposal package.

All final technical related documents are due to Sponsored Programs no later than 7 a.m. on the day of the sponsor deadline. Technical documents include items such as the project summary, project description, research strategy, technical volume, specific aims, and references cited.

Please contact Sponsored Programs at 906-487-2226 or spo-l@mtu.edu if you have any questions.

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Physics Colloquium with Armando Perez Leija

Armando Perez Leija from Central Florida University's College of Optics and Photonics will be presenting at this week's Physics Colloquium. The seminar will be presented in person at 4 p.m. today (Sept. 21) in Fisher 139.

Leija's presentation is titled "Multiphoton Quantum Phenomena in Waveguide Networks and Multimode Optical Fibers."

Read the abstract on the University Events Calendar.

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CFRES Seminar with Anthony D'Amato

The College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science (CFRES) will host a seminar at 12:30 p.m. today (Sept. 21) in Noblet G002 with speaker Anthony D'Amato, professor, director of the forestry program and director of research forests at the University of Vermont.

The title of D'Amato's talk is: "Outcomes, Barriers, and Opportunities for Adaptation Strategies in the Northern Forest."

The seminar will highlight long-term research and partnerships examining the outcomes of forest adaptation strategies designed to sustain forest ecosystems in the Upper Lake States and northeastern U.S. in the face of climate change and changing disturbance regimes. Barriers to applying adaptation at meaningful scales and synergies with other forest values and objectives will be discussed.

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Virtual Talk: 'How Diversity Supports Innovation' with Wayne Gersie

Supporting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility leads to more innovative outcomes. Whether you're working on a school assignment, starting your first job or leading a team, helping people to feel included and willing to share their perspectives will increase the innovativeness of your team solutions.

Join Wayne Gersie as he shares insights from research and industry.

Register to attend the virtual talk.

Please join us today (Sept. 21) from 4-5 p.m. We will meet on Zoom. After registration, a Google Calendar invite with a Zoom link will be provided.

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BioSci Seminar Series Speaker: Erica Majumder

Erica L-W Majumder will present as part of the Department of Biological Sciences (BioSci) Seminar Series today (Sept. 21) from 3-4 p.m. in GLRC 202.

Majumder's presentation is titled "Microbe-Plastic Interactions: Biodegradation and Bioproduction."

Majumder is an assistant professor, Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her lab focuses on determining and utilizing metabolism of environmental microorganisms for sustainability and waste management applications.

Majumder earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Drury University. She then pursued her Ph.D. in Bioinorganic chemistry with Bob Blankenship at Washington University in St. Louis, focusing on structure and function of cyclic electron transport chain proteins in filamentous anoxygenic phototrophs. She went on to postdoctoral work, first with Judy Wall at the University of Missouri looking at the role of electron transfer and sulfate reducing bacteria in uranium bioremediation, and later with Gary Siuzdak in applying metabolomics to understand environmental microorganisms.

From the abstract:
Plastics are a ubiquitous, useful material but have also become a prevalent contaminant in air, soils and water. This talk will describe ways in which environmental microorganisms are interacting with plastics and what that implies for the surrounding system and environmental health. The second part will focus on bioprocess development to replace conventional plastics with microbially-produced bioplastics from agricultural residues.

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C3 Luncheons Are Back!

Menu for Thursday (Sept. 21):

• Butter Chicken
• Butter Chickpeas
• Basmati Rice
• Flat Bread
• Cucumber Salad
• Masala Roasted Cauliflower
• Boondi Raita

Carved and Crafted Catering at Michigan Tech is bringing back the C-Cubed Luncheon for the 2023-24 school year. C-Cubed, or C3, will be held each Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Alumni Lounge (MUB 107). All faculty and staff, along with their guests, are invited.

The C3 lunch buffet menus are created and prepared by chef Luis Delgado and his 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 cookies are available free to all attendees.

The buffet lunch is $15 per person. Cash, credit cards and gift cards are accepted. Gift cards can be purchased in the Memorial Union Office (MUB 101).

To join the C-Cubed Google Group and receive weekly menus, please complete the C-Cubed Luncheon Email List form.

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MSE Seminar with Sophie Mehl

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) is hosting a seminar presented by M.S. candidate Sophie Mehl today (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.

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MSE Seminar with Austin DePottey

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) is hosting a seminar presented by Ph.D. student Austin DePottey today (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.

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

Thursday, September 21, 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...

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

Thursday, September 21, 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...

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Biological Science Seminar Series - Erica L-W Majumder

Thursday, September 21, 3 p.m.–4 p.m. | Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), 202

Dr. Erica L-W Majumder Assistant Professor University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Bacteriology Microbe-Plastic Interactions: Biodegradation and Bioproduction ...

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Girls' Basketball Little Huskies League

Thursday, September 21, 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...

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How Diversity Supports Innovation with Dr. Wayne Gersie

Thursday, September 21, 4 p.m.–5 p.m.

Supporting Diversity Equity Inclusion and Accessibility leads to more innovative outcomes. Whether you're working on a school assignment, starting your first job, or leading...

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Husky Hour: Harm Reduction

Thursday, September 21, 4 p.m.–5 p.m. | Library East Reading Room

Husky Hour offers discussion on a series of mental health and well-being presentations given by our wonderful counselors and student team on a variety of topics such as...

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Physics Colloquium with Dr. Armando Perez Leija

Thursday, September 21, 4 p.m.–5 p.m. | Fisher Hall, 139

Armando Perez Leija from Central Florida University - College of Optics and Photonics will be presenting at this week's Physics Colloquium. The seminar will be presented in...

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Adult Huskies Swim Lessons Fall 2023 Session 1

Thursday, September 21, 5 p.m.–6 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Adult Huskies Swim Lessons provides aquatic education for the beginner to the intermediate swimmer who is looking to become more comfortable in the water and learn the...

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Adult Huskies Swim Training Fall 2023 Session 1

Thursday, September 21, 5 p.m.–6 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Adult Huskies Swim Training provides additional attention and competitive guidance to swimmers ages 18 and older who are looking to improve their swimming skills and fitness...

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IEEE Pre-Exams Pizza, Study, and Chill

Thursday, September 21, 5:30 p.m.–9:00 p.m. | EERC 5th Floor Lounge

IEEE is hosting a Free Pizza Social night! The free pizza night event to let students relax, unwind, and be social before the first big round of exams. This is a great...