December 14, 2023

The MiCUP Scholars Program and McNair Scholars Program are currently seeking faculty to serve as mentors during summer 2024. Faculty mentors in the program will assist students with research projects in their field of study, including engineering, technology, business, computer science, health science and more.

All faculty interested in facilitating undergraduate research with the MiCUP or McNair program participants should complete the Summer 2024 Research Mentor Information Request form.

For questions about MiCUP or McNair, contact micup@mtu.edu or mcnair@mtu.edu.

The Student Development Complex (SDC) will observe reduced building hours over the winter break, beginning tomorrow (Dec. 15) through Jan. 7.

Please Note: The SDC will be closed on the following dates:

• Saturday, Dec. 16 (Midyear Commencement)
• Sunday, Dec. 24, and Monday, Dec. 25 (Christmas Eve and Christmas Day)
• Sunday, Dec. 31, and Monday, Jan. 1 (New Year's Eve and New Year's Day)

Spring semester hours will begin on Jan. 8.

View the SDC Winter Break Schedule PDF.

Thank you,

Michigan Tech Athletics & Recreation

The Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering (CEGE) is pleased to invite the University community to attend the Fall 2023 Senior Design team presentations tomorrow (Dec. 15) from 8-11 a.m. in M&M U113 and U115.

This semester, students have undertaken a wide range of projects to fulfill the department’s Senior Design requirement.

View the Senior Design Colloquium poster at the CEGE Undergraduate Advising Blog.

Presentations in M&M U113:

Run of the River Dam Demolition and Rebuild
Advisor: Andrea Andres
Join the presentations via Zoom.

• Water Resources Design
  AJMK Consulting — Matthew Bacon, Kavan Withrow, Ashton Ordway, John Weirauch
• Structural Design
  Wordstructures Inc — Matthew Paavo, Samara Schlauderaff, Tai Coveyou, Tyler Hintsala
• Geotechnical Design
  WAJJ Consulting — James Domitrovich, Alyssa Hill, Jake Roberts, Wyatt Iseler
• Transportation/Site Design
  CAAG Engineering – Corey Haskins, Alli Spierling, Alexander Lehnert, Grant Manion
• Construction Management
  JIBB Construction – Jonathon LaFave, Ian Dougherty, Ben Rathnaw, Brendan LeClare

Presentations in M&M U115:

Eagle Mine LLC/Humboldt Mill Improvements
Advisor: Eric Seagren
Join the presentations via Zoom.

• Humboldt Mill Tailings Disposal Facility and Water Treatment Plant
  • Nickelfish Environmental — Wynter King, Seamus Lux, Sophia Schroeder, Ciara Urbanek
  • Headwaters Design — Jackie Schulte, Nolan Eisenlohr, Kiersen Korienek
• Alternative Transportation Route from the Eagle Mine to the Humboldt Mill
  • Eagle Road Group — Jackson Arens, Wyatt Lampel, Hayden Mann, Alex Thrasher, Case Vander Heide
  • Very Good Eagle Consultants — Caleb Novitch, Lucas Betzoldt, Garrett Impola, Jake Irwin
  • ELMS Engineering — Marc Sippel, Lexi Gross, Elizabeth Miller, Sydney Wittla-Sprague

Michigan Tech volleyball's Kaycee Meiners and Lindy Oujiri have been named to the 2023 Academic All-District Volleyball teams.

Academic All-District honorees are selected by College Sports Communicators and recognized as the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom.

Middle blocker Kaycee Meiners was named to the All-GLIAC First Team and holds a 3.77 GPA in exercise science. She led the GLIAC in blocks per set (1.42) in conference matches and ranked second in hitting percentage (.334). Meiners was third on the team in kills per set (2.07) and had nine matches with double-digit kills. She tallied 240 kills, 146 blocks, 55 digs, 17 assists, and 11 aces. Her 146 blocks rank fifth in program history for a single season.

Outside hitter Lindy Oujiri was also named to the All-GLIAC First Team. She holds a 4.0 GPA and will graduate in the spring with a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering. She ranked sixth in the GLIAC in kills per set (3.54) and eighth in kills per set (3.43) in conference matches. Oujiri tallied 376 kills as a senior, finishing her career with 749.

Read more at Michigan Tech Athletics.

Job Postings for Thursday, Dec. 14, 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.

Custodian (12 months/ 40 hours/ first shift) #23327, Keweenaw Research Center (AFSCME posting dates Dec. 14 to Dec. 20, 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.

HVAC Technician (12 months/ 40 hours/ first shift) #23329, Facilities Management (AFSCME posting dates Dec. 14 to Dec. 20, 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.

Melissa Baird (SS/GS) attended the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) in Washington, D.C.

The council is a national organization dedicated to advancing graduate research and education, and convenes leaders in graduate education to discuss higher education policy and issues.

Michigan Tech is an institutional member of CGS.

Cassy Tefft de Muñoz (CEO) was quoted by WLUC TV6 in a story about this year’s OneUP Copper Trail Festival, held at the Student Development Complex on Tuesday (Dec. 12). The festival featured hands-on demonstrations by MTU’s Mind Trekkers traveling STEM road show and hosted hundreds of Upper Peninsula middle school students.

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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer mentioned Michigan Tech in a press release announcing a Scout Motors research and development facility coming to Novi, Michigan. MTU was listed as one of three university participants in the Michigander EV Scholars program, which offers top tech students a $10,000 scholarship incentive to find jobs in Michigan’s electric vehicle (EV) and transportation mobility sector. The announcement was picked up by Michigan Business Network.

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The Keweenaw Report covered a $5 million grant awarded to Michigan Tech by The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation for renovations to the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Building. The grant was announced by Michigan Tech News on Monday (Dec. 11).

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Mont Ripley general manager Nick Sirdenis was quoted by UPWord in a story about an ongoing fundraising campaign for improvements at the historic ski area.

UPS/FedEx Package Delivery Over Winter Break

Central Receiving will be closed during the winter break for UPS and FedEx deliveries. We are unable to accept packages for departments that are closed during this time. We recommend contacting the shipper to adjust the delivery date for when your office reopens.

The dates of our winter break closure are as follows:

• Saturday, Dec. 23, to Tuesday, Jan. 2 — Closed

We will return to regular operating hours on Jan. 3.

We would like to remind the campus community that personal packages should be specifically addressed to go directly to your department if you choose to have them shipped to campus. You can help keep our response time for delivering University packages consistent during this high-volume season and year-round by having personal packages delivered directly to your department (or your home).

To ensure timely delivery of packages directly to your department by the shipper, please ensure that you clearly provide the following information when placing an order:

• Your Complete Name
• Building Name
• Room Number
• 1400 Townsend Drive
• Houghton, MI 49931

Please contact Central Receiving at centralreceiving-l@mtu.edu should you have any questions or need assistance with special receiving or shipping needs.

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Joint ROTC Commissioning Ceremony

The Air Force and Army ROTC invite you to the Fall 2023 Commissioning Ceremony tomorrow (Dec. 15) at 7 p.m. at the Rozsa Center.

This semester, we have one Air Force cadet and eight Army cadets commissioning.

Those commissioning are from the following programs:

Accounting & Data Analytics | Chemistry | Computer Engineering | Electrical Engineering | Materials Science and Engineering | Management | Mechanical Engineering

We will also be streaming the ceremony if you prefer to watch it live on YouTube.

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MS Defense: Sophie Mehl, MSE

M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering candidate Sophie Mehl will present a master's defense today (Dec. 14) at 12:30 p.m. in person in M&M 610 and virtually via Zoom.

Mehl is advised by Paul Sanders.

The defense is titled "Nickel Superalloy Composition and Process Optimization for Weldability, Cost, and Strength."

From the abstract:
To advance sustainability efforts, electric power plants have reduced specific carbon dioxide emissions by increasing operating temperatures and pressures to improve power generation efficiency. The latest improvements are utilized in advanced ultra-supercritical power generation. To meet these operating conditions, nickel superalloys are used in the highest temperature components; however, they are expensive and present weldability challenges. This project aims to experimentally optimize a nickel superalloy to improve material weldability and decrease cost without compromising strength. Three optimized compositions were developed, and their microstructures and mechanical properties were compared to Nimonic 263, a common nickel superalloy in electric power plants. The Optimized Composition 1 alloy was scaled up to assess weld solidification cracking resistance compared to baseline nickel superalloys. It was found that the Optimized Composition 1 alloy has decreased cost, increased weldability, and comparable strength to Nimonic 263. With further testing, this alloy may be a viable replacement for some commercial nickel superalloys in advanced ultra-supercritical power generation.

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ChE Seminar Series Speaker: Alex Johnson-Buck

Alex Johnson-Buck will present as part of the Department of Chemical Engineering (ChE) Research Series today (Dec. 14) at 10 a.m. in person in Chem Sci 211 or virtually via Zoom.

Johnson-Buck will present "Exploiting Kinetics for Unparalleled Fidelity in Molecular Systems."

Read the abstract on the University Events Calendar.

Johnson-Buck is the chief scientific officer at aLight Sciences Inc.

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MS Defense: Andrew Bunge, MSE

M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering candidate Andrew Bunge will present a master's defense today (Dec. 14) at 2:30 p.m. in M&M 610.

Bunge is advised by Paul Sanders.

The defense is titled "Local Application of WAAM in Cast Steel Parts as a Means to Combat Corrosion and Fatigue."

From the abstract:
Every year, thousands of cast-steel railcar couplers suffer from corrosion-initiated fatigue cracking in similar areas of the coupler’s knuckle; between 2015 and 2018 about 90,000 knuckles were replaced, otherwise these couplers would have been at risk for unexpected failures. These types of couplers have been common in industrial use as early as 1916, hence it is desirable for a counter measure to the fatigue cracking that does not involve significantly altering the geometry or casting process. Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is a developing technology which boasts the ability to produce complex near-net-shape components; however, less attention has been paid to WAAM’s potential for local enhancements to typical failure zones. By replacing the cast steel in the region of the knuckle that contain these high-stress failure points with fatigue and corrosion resistant WAAM deposits, the whole knuckle receives a longer service life while maintaining its mechanical properties and overall geometry. The efficacy of this procedure comes down to the ability to print WAAM deposits with less defects than the base steel while introducing alloying elements (nickel, chromium, molybdenum) to prevent corrosion; this is accomplished by utilizing gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) in the WAAM process with commercially available low-alloy filler wire prior to optimization using the knuckle’s heat treat schedule then validated by fatigue testing the resulting components. Selective use of WAAM technology to aid in the high-volume production of parts through local enhancements could be a step to efficiently utilize its capabilities in industry.

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

Exploiting Kinetics for Unparalleled Fidelity in Molecular Systems

Thursday, December 14, 10 a.m. | Chemical Sciences and Engineering Building, 211

Chemical Engineering Seminar Dr. Alexander Johnson-Buck Chief Scientific Officer aLight Sciences, Inc. Abstract In contrast to the deterministic behavior typical of bulk...

Master's Defense: Sophie Mehl

Thursday, December 14, 12:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m. | Minerals and Materials Engineering Building (M&M), 610

Materials Science and Engineering Advisor: Paul Sanders Optimization of Nickel Superalloy Weldability, Cost, and Strength Through Experimentation with Composition and...

Local Application of WAAM in Cast Steel Parts as a Means to Combat Corrosion and Fatigue

Thursday, December 14, 2:30 p.m. | Minerals and Materials Engineering Building (M&M), 610

Materials Science and Engineering Seminar Andrew Bunge MS Student, Materials Science and Engineering Michigan Technological University Abstract Every year, thousands of...

Master's Defense: Andrew Bunge

Thursday, December 14, 2:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m. | Minerals and Materials Engineering Building (M&M), 610

Materials Science and Engineering Advisor: Paul Sanders Improving Cast Steel Rail Coupler Fatigue Resistance Through Local Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing