December 6, 2023

As a reminder, the 2024 Benefits Open Enrollment ends Friday (Dec. 8) at 5 p.m.

Open Enrollment is your opportunity to assess your individual and family needs and to elect the benefits package that is right for you. If you were unable to attend the Open Enrollment informational forums in person, the Benefits website has a link to the 2024 Open Enrollment Forum recording.

Passive Enrollment Option:
Open Enrollment for 2024 is not mandatory. It is a passive enrollment, meaning that employees can roll over most of their benefits from the previous year without making updates in the system.

Please note, however, that flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health savings accounts (HSAs) and accident coverage will not automatically roll over. It’s important if you would like to elect these to do so during Open Enrollment.

While Open Enrollment is optional, it is recommended that all employees complete Open Enrollment, regardless of whether you are making changes to your benefit elections or not.

You can confirm that you successfully completed Open Enrollment by noting the “Reopen Open Enrollment” button on the lower left of the main Open Enrollment page. This indicates that your choices for 2024 Open Enrollment have been submitted.

To find more information on Open Enrollment, please visit our Open Enrollment website to get the most up-to-date details on benefits for 2024.

The Wahtera Center for Student Success has opened the application process for our Orientation Executive Staff (OES).

Are you looking for something to do this summer? Do you want to stay in the Houghton area to enjoy the Keweenaw's summer beauty? Would you like experience planning and executing a large program like Orientation? Are you thinking that you really should be doing an internship this summer, but don't know what to do or where to go? The experiences that you will have planning OTL Training Week and O-Week will let you do all of these things. It is a great opportunity to have one of the largest student-planned and student-run programs on campus under your belt. We are looking for students who are hardworking, creative and self-motivated, and who are excited to bring our newest Huskies to campus! Applications will close Dec. 15.

If you have something lined up for this summer, but you can be back for Fall Training starting Aug. 10, apply to be an Orientation Team Leader (OTL). We are looking for students from all areas to help lead our incoming class of Huskies! You will need to be on campus Aug. 10-16 for training, Aug. 16-18 to help with Move-In, and Aug. 18-24 for O-Week. We will also have one more meet-and-greet with students in September. Applications will close Jan. 22.

If being part of Orientation is not something you can swing this summer, that is OK — we are looking for individuals who are motivated and organized and have a commitment to help other Huskies find their path to success. We have positions for success coaches, ExSEL peer mentors and success course peer assistants open as well. Applications will close Jan. 22.

All the job descriptions are listed on the Wahtera website. Applications are open through Handshake. Please email success@mtu.edu if you have any questions.

The Van Pelt and Opie Library’s free trial of Covidence, a production tool for systematic reviews, ends Dec. 31, and we want to know what you think! User feedback is very important in our decision-making processes. Please take a few minutes to let us know what you think of Covidence.

Covidence is a tool used for title/abstract screening, full-text screening, data abstraction and quality assessment in literature reviews. Designed to make conducting reviews more efficient and easily tracked, Covidence can be used for any kind of literature review that requires reproducible and reportable reviewing and screening.

It’s not too late to register for your free trial. To create an MTU trial Covidence account, follow these steps:

1. Sign up for Covidence if you do not already have an account at another institution.
2. Send an email to library@mtu.edu requesting an invitation to the library trial.
3. Check your email for the invitation and accept.

Please contact library@mtu.edu with any questions or issues you encounter.

Nominations are now open for the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) Excellence in Teaching Awards. Michigan Tech may nominate one student at the M.S. and Ph.D. level. Each graduate program may nominate one student at the M.S. and Ph.D. level. Nominations are due to the Graduate School no later than 4 p.m. next Wednesday (Dec. 13).

Eligible students:

• Will have been enrolled at Michigan Tech during the 2023 calendar year and have a teaching appointment.
• Will have earned the Michigan Tech Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award.
• Will have an excellent teaching portfolio and student evaluations.

See the application page for complete details on what is required for a nomination.

ChemStores will be closed from Dec. 25 until Jan. 3. If you have any critical needs (such as liquid nitrogen) during this closure, please contact us at chemstores@mtu.edu as early as possible and we'll work to accommodate your request.

Please try to submit order requests by Dec. 19 to allow for processing and transit times. Orders submitted after this date may be placed on hold until we reopen.

Let us know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you.

The November newsletter of the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute (MTTI) is now available on our website.

The newsletter provides updates on MTTI current events and highlights two sponsored research projects:

• Kuilin Zhang’s (CEGE) ARPA-E project, titled “A Decarbonized and Resilient Intermodal Freight Transportation (DRIFT) Modeling Platform for Intermodal Logistical Decisions under Uncertainty.”

• Pasi Lautala’s (CEGE/RTP) project, “An Integrated Automated Decision Support System for Ground Hazard Risk Mitigation for Railway using Remote Sensing and Traditional Condition Monitoring Data” funded by the Federal Railroad Administration.

The College of Sciences and Arts (CSA) Dean Search Committee will be meeting next Wednesday (Dec. 13) at noon in AOB 201.

The committee will be discussing the process for candidate review. The meeting is open to the public.

The Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) is hosting a going-away celebration to honor Gabriel Jesus Escobedo and the work he has done for Michigan Tech. He will be transitioning from his current role as director of the CDI to his new role at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law as their assistant dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

With Gabe’s departure, Christopher Sanders, assistant director in CDI, has been named the interim director. Sanders brings three years of experience at CDI and is well-respected by MTU students.

Please join us as we celebrate Gabe’s accomplishments and wish him well in the next step of his journey. Light refreshments and warm beverages will be served.

Event Details:

• What: Farewell Celebration for Gabriel Escobedo
• When: Friday, Dec. 8, from noon to 2 p.m.
• Where: The Center for Diversity and Inclusion

Enjoy some winter fun ice skating with Graduate Student Government (GSG)! Join GSG for one of two one-hour graduate student open skate blocks at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena in the SDC​.

​The open skate blocks are S​unday (Dec. 10) from 4-5 p.m. and 5-6 p.m.

Rental skates and head protection are available, but must be reserved on sign-up due to limited availability. Admission is free to all students.

Sign up for the open skate!

We hope to see you there!

Collaborators: MTU Athletics and Recreation

Menu for Thursday (Dec. 7):

• Herb Crusted Chicken Breast
• Tortellini Primavera
• Caesar Salad (Contains Egg, Dairy, Wheat, Fish, Soy)
• Parmesan Polenta (Contains Dairy)
• Chef Vegetables
• Breadsticks (Contains Dairy, Egg, Wheat)

Join Carved and Crafted Catering for this week's C3 Luncheon. The luncheon is held each week on 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, or C-Cubed, 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).

There will be no C3 Luncheons hosted over the holiday break. The next C3 event is scheduled for Jan. 11.

Michigan Tech Art’s Studio Here Now is hosting an artist talk this evening (Dec. 3). Join Anne Beffel, professor of art, as they project recent works of art and explore how seeing is a creative act.

Event Details:

• What: Seeing As Creative Act: An Artist Talk
• When: Wednesday, Dec. 3, from 6-7 p.m.
• Where: Wadsworth Hall Studio, Wads G04W
• Who: The studio talk is free and open to the public, faculty, staff and students.

What to Expect:
Enjoy refreshments. See spectacular art. Hear an inspiring talk from Anne Beffel.

About the Speaker:
As an artist, Michigan Tech Professor Anne Beffel hopes to raise questions about social justice as she offers opportunities to experience empathy and inclusiveness among those who encounter her work.

About Studio Here Now:
Michigan Tech Art is the home of the professional research lab and art studio for resident artists and Professor Anne Beffel. The studio invites artists to give talks, hosts creative groups to gather and share work, offers weekly open studio hours, gives critiques and serves as an alternative learning space for special projects by selected classes.

Save the Date: The Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) will be hosting a technical workshop on Canvas grading and gradebook practices Jan. 11 from 1-2 p.m.

Do you have questions about how the Canvas gradebook works? Do you need help grading assignments in SpeedGrader and posting them in the gradebook? Making sure your students have accurate and updated grades in Canvas is important. We’ll cover some of the common pinch points that instructors encounter, including the use of assignment groups for grade weighting, setting up a grading scheme that matches your syllabus, using grade posting policies and attaching grading rubrics to your assignments.

Register to attend the CTL Technical Workshop: Canvas Grading and Gradebook at 1 p.m. on Jan. 11. The workshop location will be announced closer to the event date.

Contact the CTL at elearning@mtu.edu for more information.

The next guest speaker in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BioMed) Seminar Series will present Friday (Dec. 8) at 4 p.m. in person in M&M 610 and virtually via Zoom.

Jinxing Li from Michigan State University will present "Soft Materials as Neural Interfaces: Brain, Gut, Skin, and Beyond."

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

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) is hosting a seminar presented by Sriram Vijayan tomorrow (Dec. 7) at 1 p.m. in M&M 610.

The seminar is titled "In situ TEM observations of thermally activated phenomena in materials under ‘far-from-equilibrium’ conditions."

From the abstract:
Materials fabricated using fusion based additive manufacturing (AM) processes experience spatially varying temporal and thermal transients due to the localized high energy density delivered by the heat source. Similarly, components used in critical engineering applications experience varying thermal transients when ‘in service’, e.g. in next generation nuclear reactor cores, gas turbine engines, re-entry space vehicles and solder joints in micro-electronic packages. These varying thermal transients (a combination of extreme thermal gradients (104 - 106 K/m) and/or rapid thermal cycling (102- 103 K/s)) result in metastable microstructures, which can significantly impact part performance. In order to improve the performance of a part in the ‘as fabricated’ condition or prevent the deterioration of a part ‘in service’, the dynamic processes facilitating the microstructural evolution in the solid state, under such extreme thermal conditions need to be understood. Currently, this information can only be obtained through post-mortem characterization of the sample obtained from the part, in the electron microscope (EM). Previously, micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) based in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) heating stages have been used for the study of thermally activated phenomena at high spatial resolution, under isothermal conditions. However, to observe these dynamic processes under ‘far from equilibrium’ conditions at high spatial resolution, the development of new MEMS-based in situ TEM heating stages that mimic processing and/or ‘in service’ conditions are needed. My current research is focused at utilizing MEMS-based in situ heating devices to replicate extreme thermal conditions of AM inside the TEM. This was achieved by modifying a commercially available MEMS micro heater device using a focused ion beam scanning electron microscope. This simple modification enabled us to generate extreme thermal gradients across a TEM lamella. To validate these thermal gradients, infra-red thermography and ‘Ag nanocube sublimation’ techniques were used to measure temperature distribution across this modified device and the FIB cut lamella respectively. The ex situ and in situ temperature measurements confirmed that a large thermal gradient (~106 K/m) could be generated across a lamella inside the TEM. Additionally, the MEMS micro heaters allow for rapid heating and cooling rates of ~ 103 K/s, by combining these capabilities, the modified MEMS device is used to mimic processing and/or ‘in service’ like conditions inside the TEM. In this presentation, the results from in situ TEM experiments that mimic metal AM process conditions in ‘previously melted’ layers of electron beam melted Ti-6Al-4V using the modified MEMS device will be presented, and the dynamic processes responsible for the solid-state transformations in Ti-6Al-4V will be discussed. Furthermore, the challenges associated with MEMS-based in situ heating experiments and other potential applications of this modified MEMS device will be critically analyzed.

The next Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics (ME-EM) Graduate Seminar speaker will present virtually at 4 p.m. tomorrow (Dec. 7). This will be an online seminar only. Attendance is invited via Zoom.

Thomas Seel will present “The Evolution of Engineering: An Automotive Perspective Looking Forward.”

Seel is an ’85 BSME graduate from MTU and a retired automotive executive with over 35 years of experience. Most recently, he was chief vehicle engineer RWD SUV programs at Stellantis, engineering for the fifth-generation Grand Cherokee L, Grand Cherokee and Grand Cherokee PHEV.

Wednesday (Dec. 6)
• Call of Duty vs. Southeastern Illinois College, 7 p.m. NACE Varsity Plus East 4 Conference Championship

Thursday (Dec. 7)
• Super Smash Bros: Ultimate B vs. Michigan State University, 7 p.m. NACE Varsity Plus East 5 Conference Championship 

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

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Esports News
Read more in the MTU Esports weekly update.

Watch MTU Esports on Twitch.

Job Postings for Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023

Staff and faculty job descriptions are available on the Human Resources website. For more information regarding staff positions, call 906-487-2280 or email humanresources@mtu.edu. For more information regarding faculty positions, contact the academic department in which the position is posted.

Curriculum Services Analyst, Registrar's Office. Apply online.
Contact: Theresa Jacques

Building Mechanic III (12 months/ 40 hours / first shift) #23321, Facilities Management (AFSCME posting dates Dec. 6 to Dec. 12, 2023 — external applicants are encouraged to apply; however, internal AFSCME applicants are given first consideration if they apply during the internal AFSCME posting dates). Apply online.

Custodian (12 months/ 40 hours/ second shift) #23322, Facilities Management (AFSCME posting dates Dec. 6 to Dec. 12, 2023 — external applicants are encouraged to apply; however, internal AFSCME applicants are given first consideration if they apply during the internal AFSCME posting dates). Apply online.

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.

Accommodations are available. If you require any auxiliary aids, services, or other accommodations to apply for employment, or for an interview, at Michigan Technological University, please notify the Human Resources office at 906-487-2280 or humanresources@mtu.edu.

Tim Colling (CEGE/CTT) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $48,209 other sponsored activities co-op joint agreement from the University of New Mexico - Southwest Environmental Finance Center.

The project is titled "Training and Technical Assistance for Rural, Small and Tribal Municipalities and Wastewater Treatment System Priority Area 1."

This is a potential one-year project.

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James Baker (VPR) is the PI on a project that has received a $400,000 other sponsored activities grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration.

The project is titled "MTU Foundry Fund Formation, An Early-Stage VC Fund Focused on Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Startups."

This is a potential three-year project.

Research Scientist Sushil Dwivedi (Chem); graduate students Dilka Liyana Arachchige, Mohamed Mahmoud and Adenike Mary Olowolagba; undergraduate students May Waters, Sophia Jaeger, Daniel Tucker and Micaela Geborkoff; Professor Thomas Werner (BioSci); and Associate Professor Rudy Luck and Professor Haiying Liu (both Chem) are the authors of a paper published in Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical.

The paper is titled "Near-infrared Absorption and Emission Probes with Optimal Connection Bridges for Live Monitoring of NAD(P)H Dynamics in Living Systems."

The research is supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health, under award numbers 2R15GM114751 and R15GM114751 for H.Y. Liu, and R15 GM146206-01 for H.Y. Liu and R. L. Luck.

Research was also partially supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health, under award number 1R15GM152969-01 to R. L. Luck, H. Liu and T. Werner.

Liu, as a co-PI, expressed his gratitude to the National Science Foundation for award number 2117318 for a new NMR spectrometer.

Dennis Livesay (CC) was quoted in a WLUC TV6 story about a recent grant awarded to Michigan Tech to expand semiconductor education and training programs across the Upper Peninsula and respond to Michigan’s increased demand for skilled technicians and engineering professionals in the semiconductor industry. The $838,000 grant was announced last week in a Michigan Economic Development Corporation press release. 

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ClickOnDetroit mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about three Michigan cities recently ranked by FamilyDestinationsGuide.com as among the most underrated winter travel destinations in the country. Mont Ripley Ski Area and Winter Carnival helped Houghton earn a spot on the list at number 43.

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The Daily Mining Gazette covered Michigan Tech football’s Samuel Kinne being named the 2023 recipient of the GLIAC’s Jack H. McAvoy Award. According to the story, the annual McAvoy Award is presented to a GLIAC football player who “best combines outstanding character and leadership on the field, in the classroom and the community.”

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The Daily Mining Gazette and The Rink Live covered Michigan Tech hockey’s Blake Pietila being named the CCHA Goaltender of the Week.

Nominations Now Open for 2024 Alumni Awards

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

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Zoom Presentation: BCBS-MI Foundation Student Award Program

Graduate students conducting applied research in the health and medical fields are invited to attend a Zoom presentation tomorrow (Dec. 7) at 10 a.m. regarding the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBS-MI) Foundation’s annual Student Award Program. The presentation will be given by Myra Tetteh, senior program officer at the BCBS-MI Foundation.

The Student Award Program supports the next generation of applied researchers in health and medical care. Awarded projects focus on health, health services, public health and policy research. The program offers a grant of up to $3,000 to fund doctoral-level research. All doctoral students enrolled at Michigan universities are eligible. Funding will not be awarded to drug trials or research involving nonhuman subjects.

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FINESST Research Grant Application Writing Support

The Graduate School is providing writing support for current and prospective graduate students who wish to apply for Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) research grants.

Participating divisions: Earth Science, Planetary Science, Astrophysics, Heliophysics, and Biological and Physical Sciences.

The proposal must present a well-defined research problem/activity and a justification of its scientific significance to NASA, as well as a detailed approach for its solution/conduct. Proposals should explain how the research is relevant to the particular Science Mission Directorate division that will review the proposal. Eligibility and evaluation criteria can be found in the solicitation.

The maximum amount of a FINESST award is $50,000 per 12 months and up to $150,000 total for a maximum period of performance of up to 36 months.

Applicants should contact Michigan Tech's Sponsored Programs Office and Sarah Isaacson as soon as they know they will apply.

Deadlines:

• All nontechnical documents due to Sponsored Programs: Tuesday, Jan. 30
• All technical documents due to Sponsored Programs: Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 7 a.m.
• Proposals due to NSPIRES: Tuesday, Feb. 6

Questions? Contact Sarah Isaacson at sisaacso@mtu.edu.

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Erased From View: Why Michigan Tech's Landscape Has Changed

Have you ever wondered what's been erased from campus in the past?

With new construction projects and an ambitious campus master plan, we all can see that campus change is coming. Students in SS3240 Reading the Landscape have created illustrated narratives about buildings and features around campus and in our community that may have been erased from the landscape but still have important stories to tell about who we are.

This week, look for QR codes around campus to view the students' story maps. Find all nine! Their projects will always be accessible in the Keweenaw Time Traveler.

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ChE Seminar Series Speaker: Maria Gencoglu

Maria Gencoglu will present as part of the Department of Chemical Engineering (ChE) Research Series tomorrow (Dec. 7) at 10 a.m. in person in Chem Sci 211 or virtually via Zoom.

Gencoglu will present "Biomaterials for in vitro disease models."

Read the abstract on the University Events Calendar.

In June 2021, Gencoglu joined the Clinical Diagnostics Group in Bio-Rad Laboratories, and since then has been developing molecular diagnostics products using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technologies.

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

An Independent Risk Analysis: Policy, Risks and Science of the Straits of Mackinac

Wednesday, December 6, 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m. | Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), 202

INSTITUTE OF ASSET MANAGEMENT Great Lakes Branch Meeting Guy A. Meadows, PhD., MTU Great Lakes Research Center ABOUT THE INSTITUTE OF ASSET MANAGEMENT • Established in 1994,...

UO Lab Wednesday Tours

Wednesday, December 6, 1 p.m.–2 p.m. | Chemical Sciences and Engineering Building, UO Lab

Have you heard or seen about the BEST Unit Operations (UO) Lab in the United States? It's here, right at Michigan Tech. If you've stopped by the window on the first floor of...

Marquette Alumni Holiday Party 2023

Wednesday, December 6, 5 p.m.–7 p.m.

Celebrate the season with us! Michigan Tech alumni & friends are invited to join host Steffanie Pepin '10 for a holiday party at Blackrocks Brewery on Wednesday, December 6,...

Students For Life General Meeting

Wednesday, December 6, 5 p.m.–6 p.m. | Fisher 133

Students For Life General Meeting

Board Game Group

Wednesday, December 6, 6 p.m.–8 p.m. | WADS Annex

Come join one of the counselors and play some board games!

Seeing as Creative Act: An Artist Talk

Wednesday, December 6, 6 p.m.–7 p.m. |

Anne Beffel, Professor of Art, will project recent works of art and explore how “seeing” is a creative act. Light refreshments provided. CONTENT GUIDANCE

West Michigan Alumni Holiday Party 2023

Wednesday, December 6, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

It's time to dust off those festive outfits because the season is here for us to come together and connect with fellow Michigan Tech alumni and friends! You're invited to a...

Michigan Tech Student Hangout

Wednesday, December 6, 7 p.m.–8 p.m.

USG Weekly Meeting

Wednesday, December 6, 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...

Michigan Tech Husky Parent and Family Panel

Wednesday, December 6, 8 p.m.–9 p.m.

Do you have questions for parents of current Huskies? A few of our current Husky parents will be there to answer any questions you may have. They'll tell you about their...