October 25, 2023

Visiting Fulbright Scholar Neetu Goel (Physics) came to Houghton to expand her horizons.

“The day I arrived at Michigan Tech, I experienced my first culture shock,” said Goal. “Living in a town of less than 8,000 people was a huge change for a person who lived her whole life in Punjab, a state in India with a population of more than 30 million. While I was awestruck by the serenity and the quiet of this place, I was wondering what it would hold for a gregarious person like me.”

Read about the educator and researcher’s experience thus far at Stories from Husky Nation.

Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech, the University’s open access (OA) institutional repository, offers worldwide access to research, scholarship, campus publications and other creative works by the Michigan Tech community. The Van Pelt and Opie Library works continuously to gather citations for as much Michigan Tech authored work as possible and includes the full text of the content when it’s available OA.

All Michigan Tech authors are welcome to assist with this endeavor by reaching out to the library to deposit their citations and OA content. Depositing works may be especially helpful for researchers who are required to make their research data or publications openly accessible by a funding agency or publisher. Simply email library@mtu.edu to get started!

Adding work to Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech means users may find it easier online, even through searches in Google and Google Scholar. As our dashboard of usage metrics shows, readers worldwide are accessing content on the repository. An additional benefit to participating authors is a similar personalized and shareable author dashboard that displays the impact of your research.

When a work is published with a Creative Commons license, it means users are also able to get the full text of the work directly from the repository. Tomorrow (Oct. 26), we’ll discuss how Creative Commons licenses empower authors to share their work OA and how the rest of the Michigan Tech community can use them.

The Michigan Tech Alumni Board of Directors is excited to announce that nominations for the 2024 Alumni Awards are now open!

Since the establishment of the first alumni award in 1969, a very important role for our Alumni Board of Directors is recognizing our extraordinary alumni through the alumni awards program. You can help identify outstanding alumni and friends for the five distinct awards that will be celebrated during the Awards Ceremony over Reunion Weekend in August 2024. Nominations will be accepted until Dec. 31.

Check out each award's unique webpage to review award definitions and their respective nomination forms. The winners will receive their awards on campus on Aug. 2, 2024.

The Commencement Team is seeking volunteers for the 2023 Midyear Commencement ceremony.

Midyear Commencement will be held Dec. 16 at 10:30 a.m. in the SDC Varsity Gym. We need volunteers to help with pre-ceremony setup, serve as greeters and ushers, coordinate graduate check-in, and assist guests with special seating accommodations. There are also opportunities to volunteer Dec. 14 during setup and Dec. 15 during rehearsal if that works better for your schedule. More information regarding the ceremony can be found on the Commencement website.

Please sign up by Dec. 6 if you would like to volunteer. Contact Anna McClatchy at ajmcclat@mtu.edu if you have any questions.

This special event cannot happen without the help of our amazing Michigan Tech community!

The Form I-9 document for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is used by an employer to verify an employee’s identity and employment eligibility in the United States. As mentioned Aug. 9 in Tech Today, the new edition of Form I-9 becomes mandatory for all employers effective next Wednesday (Nov. 1).

Authorized representatives who fill out Form I-9, including reviewing the employee’s completed Section Number 1, must use the new edition.

USCIS offers free employer training to explain and demonstrate how to complete Form I-9 employment eligibility verification.

Questions can be sent to hr-help@mtu.edu or via the HR Support Center ticketing portal.

The Michigan Tech Archives, along with the Friends of the Michigan Tech Library and the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw, present the 2023 Travel Grant Speaker Series.

Gabe Logan will join us tonight (Oct. 25) at 6 p.m. to share his research related to the sport of soccer in the Upper Peninsula. He will emphasize how early U.P. soccer is part of a larger Cornish sporting diaspora and explain the league in context of early U.S. soccer. It will provide brief biographical sketches of some players, organizers and teams. It will also situate the league's collapse in relation to the 1913-14 Copper Strike and generalized Cornish Yoopers' views of the strike.

Logan is a professor in Northern Michigan University's History Department. His teaching and research focuses on U.S. sport history, U.S. immigration history and labor history.

Event Details:

• What: 2023 Travel Grant Speaker Series Presentation by Gabe Logan
• When: Wednesday, Oct. 25, at 6 p.m.
• Where: Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw, Community Room (basement level), 105 Huron Street, Houghton

This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. Parking is available next to the museum or across the street in the church parking lot. 

Questions? Contact Lindsay Hiltunen at 906-487-3209 or Elise Nelson at 906-482-7140.

Paul van Susante (ME-EM) recently accepted an endowed appointment as the Lou and Herbert Wacker Professor in Mechanical Engineering. Not only does van Susante meet or exceed all the criteria for this professorship, he has a vested interest in teaching, having served as a lecturer (a role now called assistant teaching professor) before accepting an appointment as an assistant professor.

Van Susante has been recognized in the Dean’s Teaching Showcase and as one of the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics’ (ME-EM’s) Teacher of the Year finalists four times. He is also the faculty advisor for the Multiplanetary Innovation Enterprise (MINE) team, solving challenges in the mining industry.

Involving students in his research is vital to van Susante. In addition to obtaining over $3 million in funding as a principal investigator, he has led Michigan Tech’s Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab (PSTDL) team, which includes several students, to the final round of NASA’s Watts on the Moon Challenge in both 2022 and 2023. With this success, researchers from NASA and other robotics companies travel to Michigan Tech to meet with van Susante and his team.

The success in his research has led van Susante to publish 82 papers while at Michigan Tech and give 37 invited talks. He is currently an associate editor for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Journal of Aerospace Engineering.

We are pleased to announce that Jaroslaw (Jarek) Drelich, a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), recently accepted an endowed appointment as the Richard Witte Professor. This follows recommendations received from the department (committee and chair) and Audra Morse, dean of the College of Engineering.

“Dr. Drelich has accomplished a distinguished 26-year career at Michigan Tech,” noted Morse in her recommendation.

During his tenure at Michigan Tech, Drelich has refereed approximately 170 publications and five books. He was also awarded the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Publishing Best Paper Award in 2018 and 2020. Drelich has also served as editor-in-chief of the journal Surface Innovations since 2012 and has served on editorial boards for four additional journals in his field.

Over the years, Drelich has secured research funding from both government agencies and industry that total approximately $4 million, with a recent award from the National Institutes of Health in the amount of $1 million. With this support, he has supported and advised numerous graduate students and produced eight patents.

Endowed positions are typically held for five years, with the potential of renewal for one or more additional five-year terms. Following a review in the department, recommendations through all supervisory channels and concluding with the president, we congratulate the following faculty who were recently reappointed to an endowed position.

• Yun Hang Yu (MSE) — Charles and Carroll McArthur Professor
• Timothy Havens (CS) — William and Gloria Jackson Professor
• Paul Sanders (MSE) — Patrick S. Horvath Professor

If you are interested in learning more about the research supported by these endowed positions, feel free to view the respective annual reports linked to each faculty member’s endowed appointment.

Three Michigan Tech students have been selected as finalists in the 2023 Audio Engineering Society (AES) Student Recording Competition. They will present their recordings tomorrow (Oct. 26) at the AES NY 2023 International Convention in New York City.

Congratulations to our finalists!

• Spencer Beasley (audio production and technology) was selected as a finalist in the Modern Studio Recording & Electronic Music category for his recording "Glass Air."

• Matthew Fisher (sound design) was selected as a finalist in the Sound for Visual Media category for his recording "Alarm."

• Rowdy Vyverberg (sound design) was selected as a finalist in the Sound for Visual Media category for his recording "RPG Audio Implementation."

Finalists in the music mixing competition include students from major international universities, including the Peabody Institute (Johns Hopkins), University of Toronto, Hochschule Düsseldorf, McGill University, Indiana University and Arizona State University.

Michigan Tech is the only school with three student finalists in the competition.

Rene Lopez from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will be presenting at this week's Physics Colloquium. The seminar will be presented in person at 4 p.m. tomorrow (Oct. 26) in Fisher 139.

Read the abstract and speaker bio at the University Events Calendar.

Attention instructors: Let's talk AI in the classroom!

Do you have insights or questions about the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in education? Are you curious about how your colleagues are integrating AI into their teaching? Join us for an engaging coffee chat next Thursday (Nov. 2) at 3:30 p.m. hosted by the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), the Van Pelt and Opie Library and the Office of Academic and Community Conduct.

What We'll Discuss:

• Course Policies: Do you have an official policy on the use of AI tools in your classes?
• Student Engagement: How are you encouraging or discouraging students to utilize AI in their coursework?
• Instructor Use: How much are you using AI tools in your teaching?
• Workforce Preparedness: What skills do your students need to effectively use AI tools in their future careers?

Why You Should Attend:

• Share Best Practices: Learn from your peers and share your own experiences.
• Influence Policy: Your input may help shape institutional guidelines on AI use.
• Network: Connect with other forward-thinking educators on campus.

Coffee Chat Details:

• Topic: Navigating the AI Landscape in Teaching and Learning
• When: Thursday, Nov. 2, at 3:30 p.m.
• Where: Library East Reading Room
• Registration: Register to attend the coffee chat

Register, and make plans to be part of this conversation about the role of AI in education. Refreshments will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there!

The next Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics (ME-EM) Graduate Seminar speaker will present at 4 p.m. tomorrow (Oct. 26) in MEEM 112.

Andy Morello will present “LANL Test Engineering’s Structural Dynamics Research and Development Efforts.”

Morello has been a staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for over 10 years. He received his B.S. (2009) and M.S. (2011) in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University with a focus in experimental structural dynamics.

Matt Jennings (ATH) was interviewed by the Daily Mining Gazette for a feature story highlighting his 200th win as coach of the Michigan Tech volleyball team.

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Radio Results Network picked up a Michigan Tech News story about the University’s first gold rating for sustainability awarded by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

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The Detroit News mentioned Michigan Tech in coverage of more than $3.6 million in funding for semiconductor training at multiple state universities announced by the state on Monday (Oct. 23). According to the story, funding to expand semiconductor education and training at additional institutions — including MTU — will be announced next week.

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The Mining Journal covered Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist’s early look at Michigan Tech’s H-STEM Engineering and Health Technologies Complex during his visit to Houghton on Oct. 21. University President Rick Koubek accompanied Gilchrist on the tour. The story was picked up from the Daily Mining Gazette.

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Business Wire mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about the appointment of Julie Fream ’83 (B.S. Chemical Engineering) to the board of directors for Blue Bird, a manufacturer of electric and low-emission school buses. The story was picked up by more than 30 news outlets nationwide.

Seeking Student Nominees: P.A.W.S. Training Program for Peer Supporters

P.A.W.S. (Peer Awareness for Well-being and Support) is a new program at Michigan Tech that equips students with knowledge and tools to effectively recognize signs of a mental health crisis, give appropriate and supportive aid, and refer a peer to professional mental health resources if they're struggling. The program seeks to involve students from multiple backgrounds and experiences who are natural, key peer supporters on campus and want to help bring a higher level of mental health awareness and advocacy to the Husky community.

Promoting student mental health and well-being is a whole-campus effort, and Michigan Tech students are crucial in helping to support student mental health on campus. Research shows that students who struggle with mental health often reach out to their peers first, while a smaller percentage reach out to their on-campus counseling center.

Over six weeks of training, P.A.W.S. gives students the skills to help peers experiencing crisis or distress. Participants meet each week for one hour. The core purpose of P.A.W.S. is to increase the number of student support leaders on campus who are trained to identify peers in need of aid and confidently refer them to the appropriate professional mental health resources, and who embrace a holistic approach to well-being by expanding and enriching the network of support on campus.

Once students have completed the six-week training program, they are considered members of the P.A.W.S. network for the remainder of their time at Michigan Tech. Completing this program will open up future opportunities for participating in mental health and well-being advocacy on campus, getting involved in future continuing education or peer programs, and being a leader in promoting mental health resources on campus. With only six weeks of training, students will learn valuable skills that are useful even after their years at Michigan Tech.

Each week brings up a new topic for students to learn and discuss with other peers in their group:

• Week 1: What is Mental Health?: Acceptance and Avoidance
• Week 2: Empathy
• Week 3: Depression and Anxiety
• Week 4: Use of Alcohol and Other Substances
• Week 5: Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors
• Week 6: Stages of Change, Getting More Help

Faculty, staff and students who are passionate about mental health awareness on campus are invited to nominate a student to participate in the P.A.W.S. spring 2024 cohort. Limited spots are available. Nominees not accepted into this cohort will be waitlisted for the next academic year. Nominated students must have at least one year left in their academic program and will receive an email requesting a completed application form and their schedule availability.

To learn more, visit our table in the Van Pelt and Opie Library this week from Monday to Friday (Oct. 23-27), check out our website or email us at PAWS@mtu.edu.

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Walk a Mile in Her Shoes

Today (Oct. 25), Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® will return to Michigan Tech. Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is the International Men's March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault & Gender Violence. Students will have the opportunity to walk in women's high-heeled shoes to actively confront gender stereotypes and expectations. This event will be an opportunity to raise awareness and support for the Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter, a safe place in the Houghton community for survivors of domestic violence and their children.

Join us to support the shelter and raise awareness today at 1 p.m. outside of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI). You can support in many ways, including walking to support the cause, giving monetary or supply donations, or just stopping by to learn more!

Volunteers are also needed for this event. If you would like to volunteer, please complete the Volunteer Sign-Up.

We hope to see you there!

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, October 25, 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...

MATLAB Workshop

Wednesday, October 25, 2 p.m.–4 p.m. | Online

Free MATLAB Workshop! Women in Physics is hosting a MATLAB workshop that is available to anyone who is interested. It is a 7 week course that will begin with the basic...

Race Practice

Wednesday, October 25, 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, October 25, 5 p.m.–6 p.m. | Fisher 133

Students For Life General Meeting

WIBIT Wednesday

Wednesday, October 25, 5 p.m.–8 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

MTU Students, SDC Access Pass Holders (minimum 1-month) and WIBIT Wednesday Pass holders, come make a splash with our inflatable pool obstacle course called the WIBIT! Events...

USG Weekly Meeting

Wednesday, October 25, 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...

Winter Coat & Boot Drive

October 25, all day | Michigan Tech Campus, Various locations on campus and in the community

The Husky Closet Collective is seeking winter coat and boot donations for the Clothing Closet at Michigan Tech. To help keep our Huskies warm, we need to secure donations of...