January 24, 2024

The Career Closet is a giveaway of gently worn business clothing to assist students in preparing for Career Fair and other career opportunities. Last year, between the fall and spring Career Closets, we were able to give away 1,600 items to 420 students!

In order to provide as many options for students as possible, we need to secure donations of professional clothing and shoes. We will be accepting donations of gently worn, clean business clothing through Feb. 9 at noon. Donated items will be available to all Michigan Tech students at no cost.

The Career Closet will take place Feb. 9 from 1-5 p.m. in the Superior Room and Makerspace in the Memorial Union Building. Another giveaway is planned in fall 2024 on Sept. 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

If you would like to volunteer at the event, please sign up through GivePulse or email us at huskycloset@mtu.edu.

While we will accept any new or gently used professional items, we do have some high-priority items:

• Hangers
• Paper grocery bags or reusable grocery totes
• Men’s shoes
• Men’s dress shirts
• Men’s suits
• Ties
• Women’s size small tops
• Women’s size 0-6 dress pants

Donated clothing may be dropped off at any of the following locations:

• College of Business
• Dean of Students Office
• Career Services
• University Images
• Residence Education and Housing Services
• Superior National Bank
• American Forest Management

Or, boxed clothing can be mailed to:

Residence Education and Housing Services
1701 Townsend Drive
153W Wadsworth Hall
Houghton, MI 49931

Thank you to all who have supported this effort. This event is donation and volunteer based, and we could not do it without the help and support of our Husky community!

The Graduate School is proud to announce the publication of 54 new dissertations, theses and reports in Digital Commons, the University’s institutional repository. These works from our fall graduates represent the culmination of scholarly research for 32 Ph.D. students, 22 master’s students and 55 faculty advisors. We hope you take time to explore the exceptional work of Michigan Tech’s newest scholars.

This collection features the first publication from our newest interdisciplinary degree program, mechatronics. The publication, titled “Benchmarking Model Predictive Control and Reinforcement Learning for Legged Robot Locomotion,” was authored by Shivayogi Akki, who was advised by Tan Chen from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Interdisciplinary publications collections have their own home in Digital Commons, and each publication can also be found in the department or college collection associated with their primary advisor. The work above by Akki, for example, can be found in the Mechatronics Collection and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Collection.

The Graduate School and Van Pelt and Opie Library work together to ensure that these valuable works are widely accessible and discoverable.

Applications for Summer 2024 Finishing Fellowships are being accepted and are due no later than 4 p.m. on March 6 to the Graduate School. Please email applications to gradschool@mtu.edu.

Instructions on the application and evaluation process are found online. Students are eligible if all of the following criteria are met:

1. Must be a Ph.D. student.
2. Must expect to finish during the semester supported as a Finishing Fellow.
3. Must have submitted no more than one previous application for a Finishing Fellowship.
4. Must be eligible for candidacy (tuition charged at Research Mode rate) at the time of application.
5. Must not hold a final oral examination ("defense") prior to the start of the award semester.

Finishing Fellowships provide support to Ph.D. candidates who are close to completing their degrees. These fellowships are available through the generosity of alumni and friends of the University. They are intended to recognize outstanding Ph.D. candidates who are in need of financial support to finish their degrees and are also contributing to the attainment of goals outlined in the Michigan Tech Strategic Plan.

The Graduate School anticipates funding up to 10 fellowships, with support ranging from $2,000 to full support (stipend plus tuition). Students who receive full support through a Finishing Fellowship may not accept any other employment. For example, students cannot be fully supported by a Finishing Fellowship and accept support as a GTA or GRA.

The window of submission for GLRC/ICC Rapid Seedling Awards for projects to be conducted in summer 2024 is open until the March 1 deadline. The Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC) and Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC) are accepting applications for startup (seedling) projects undertaken by members of the joint institutes that aim to use the results of the research to scale into proposals to larger external funding opportunities.

The application and submission instructions can all be found on the GLRC/ICC Rapid Seedling Research Funding webpage. Questions will be addressed by emailing GLRC-ICC-ADMIN-L@mtu.edu.

This opportunity is available to members of the ICC and/or the GLRC. Those interested in joining can find resources on the ICC's Members page and/or the GLRC's Contact Information and Form page.

Career Fair will be Feb. 13 from 12-5 p.m. Career Services is actively seeking volunteers from the Tech community to contribute during this event.

We have a variety of shifts, tasks and responsibilities to fill. Your participation in this event is pivotal for the future success of many Huskies, and your assistance would be highly valued. We sincerely appreciate your willingness to help!

Visit the Spring Career Fair Volunteer Sign-up form to sign up. Thank you in advance!

The Michigan Tech community is invited to join local Finns, friends of Finns and fans of winter to celebrate Hancock's annual Heikinpäivä midwinter festival.

The month-long festival will close with a full day of events in Hancock on Saturday (Jan. 27), including a parade featuring the Huskies Pep Band at 11 a.m. down Quincy Street. Also, the popular Polar Plunge is back after several years' hiatus. Take the plunge at 1 p.m. at Quincy Green using a portable pool, with a $5 cost per diver. There will be a few portable saunas on-site to thaw in after completing the sisu-laden rite of passage. Appropriate footwear is strongly encouraged.

Want to support Heikinpäivä as a volunteer this upcoming weekend? Sign up to help out on GivePulse.

Heikinpäivä Events — Saturday, Jan. 27:

• Tori Markets — 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Finnish American Heritage Center and United Methodist Church
• Parade (featuring the Huskies Pep Band) — 11 a.m. on Quincy Street
• Spiral Bear Dance and Outdoor Games — After the parade at Quincy Green
• Polar Plunge — 1 p.m. at Quincy Green
  • Cost: $5 per person
• "Animal Life: Art from the Kalevala" Opening Reception — 2:30-4 p.m. at Community Arts Center
• Iltamat (Dance and Buffet) — 7-10 p.m. at the Finnish American Heritage Center
  • Cost: $15 per person
  • With music by the Back Room Boys, hors d’oeuvres and a raffle

The AggCelerate student team from the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences (GMES) has advanced to the top six nationally in Phase 2 of the SME/NSSGA Student Design Competition — an activity of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, and National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association.

The annual competition is a grueling two-phase team-based problem-solving activity involving a technical design and an oral presentation. Under the guidance of Nathan Manser, GMES professor of practice, the team has demonstrated exceptional skill and knowledge in their field.

The team members, listed in alphabetical order, are:

• Cassie Burch (junior, geological engineering)
• Aiden Harmon (junior, mining engineering)
• Lucas Maxon (second-year, mining engineering)
• Ian Repic (senior, mining engineering)
• Nathan Seidel (senior, mining engineering)
• Grady Williams (junior, mining engineering)

During spring break, the team will participate in the 2024 SME Annual Conference and Expo, competing against runner-up teams from the University of Kentucky, Virginia Tech, University of Arizona, West Virginia University and Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Please join us Tuesday (Jan. 30) for the Michigan Tech Research Forum: a time of welcoming and networking with new researchers and scholars who have joined the Michigan Tech community this academic year. At this event, new faculty, researchers and scholars will offer brief "Tech Talks"-style introductory presentations.

Presenting will be:

• Koloud Alkhamaiseh — Computer Science
• Shawn Brueshaber — Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
• Mazi Erfani — Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
• Allie Glover — Materials Science and Engineering
• Jason Harman — Cognitive and Learning Sciences
• Kaiwu Huang — Chemical Engineering
• Ishi Keenum — Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
• Timothy Keirnan — Humanities
• Josh Mueller — Materials Science and Engineering
• Quang Tran — Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
• Jennifer Nish — Humanities
• Anna Stuhlmacher — Electrical and Computer Engineering

Talks will begin Tuesday at 4:15 p.m. in the Memorial Union Building, Ballroom A. There will be time for socializing beginning at 3:45 p.m. and following the talks.

The Office of the Provost presents Michigan Tech Research Forum events in coordination with the Vice President for Research Office.

Please share this announcement widely and invite your colleagues as we welcome new faculty researchers and build upon our Tech-grown research and scholarship talents!

Are you a graduate student interested in developing skills that will assist you in facilitating difficult conversations? Please join us next Wednesday (Jan. 31) from 2-4 p.m. for a Facilitating Difficult Conversations workshop.

This in-person workshop is open to all graduate students. The workshop will provide foundational information and practice for handling uncomfortable work and/or peer situations in a respectful and professional manner.

​The number of participants is limited to facilitate discussion, so please complete the registration form to save your spot. You will receive an email reminder before the event, which will confirm the location.

For more information, contact the Graduate School at gradschool@mtu.edu.

The next guest speaker in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BioMed) Seminar Series will present Friday (Jan. 26) at 3 p.m. in person in M&M 610 and virtually via Zoom.

Ian Schneider from Iowa State University will present "Understanding and Leveraging Cell-mediated Forces during Multi-cue Directional Migration."

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

Julie Roell ’01 will present a Department of Computer Science (CS) Colloquium lecture on Friday (Jan. 26) from 3-4 p.m. in Rekhi 214 and via Zoom.

The title of Roell’s talk is “The Future of Work: How to Stay Relevant and Competitive in Your Career.” She will reflect on her career path in Dow IT and her key learnings. She will also touch on the challenges for a large organization to keep up with emerging trends and technologies.

Roell is an accomplished IT leader with a strong track record of success leading high-performing global teams in executing operational strategies to achieve business objectives. Currently serving as an IT leader at Dow Inc., a leading global materials science company, Roell is responsible for overseeing the application development lifecycle and service management for a portfolio of applications used in Dow’s manufacturing operations.

Roell holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Michigan Tech. She is passionate about diversity and inclusion, and learning, growth and professional/personal development.

Join the colloquium via Zoom.

Read more on the Computing News Blog.

The next Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics (ME-EM) Graduate Seminar speaker will present at 4 p.m. tomorrow (Jan. 25) in MEEM 112.

Kevin Howard will present “Design of Experiments and Key Considerations for Machine Learning in Highly Non-linear Problems.”

Howard currently works as the aerodynamics CFD technical expert and CFD supervisor for aero and aero-acoustics at Ford Motor Company, where he leads the development of computational tools to push the boundaries of aerodynamics and help create the most aerodynamically efficient vehicle designs possible.

The Center for Business AI is glad to announce our first seminar series presenter on Friday (Jan. 26) at 4 p.m. Jeff Voorhees from Bread Financial will be presenting the seminar virtually.

Voorhees' brief biography:
Jeff Voorhees has built a career using AI and analytics to grow companies. He has developed enterprise capabilities and patented technologies that guide operational execution and shape go-to-market strategies for several Fortune 500 companies. Currently, Voorhees is the vice president of artificial intelligence at Bread Financial, where he leads the AI Center of Excellence. A multiyear effort has culminated in an industry-defining organization that harnesses ML, DL, NLP and GenAI initiatives to drive operational efficiency, profitability and cost reduction.

Voorhees is a people-oriented leader who thrives at the intersection of business and technology. He sees data and technology not just as tools for delivery, but engines for growth.

Join the seminar via Zoom (use password Q3exLk).

Best regards and looking forward to seeing you all there!

Job Posting for Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024

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.

Instructional Designer, Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning. Apply online.
Contact: Jeff Toorongian

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.

Holly Hassel (HU) was interviewed by WLUC TV6 in a story about her Monday (Jan. 22) appearance as a “Jeopardy!” competitor. Hassel finished in second place in the episode, which was part of the show’s season 39 Champions Wildcard Tournament.

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WLUC TV6 ran a segment about a Velodrome Coffee Company location coming to Michigan Tech’s campus. The cafe will be located in the Van Pelt and Opie Library.

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WLUC TV6 mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about construction starting on the annual Our Lady of the Snows ice chapel built at St. Albert the Great University Parish. MTU and St. Al were also mentioned by Hope College’s Anchor in a story about an ice altar built on their campus.

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The Daily Mining Gazette and WJMN Local 3 covered Michigan Tech hockey’s Isaac Gordon being named CCHA Rookie of the Week.

Provost Holding Open Office Hours Today

Provost Andrew Storer will be holding open office hours from 2:30-3:30 p.m. today (Jan. 24) and again March 28 from 1-3 p.m. in the Library Cafe. Feel free to stop by; appointments are not required for open office hours.

Office hours continue to be held from 1-3 p.m. each Thursday during the 2023-24 academic year. Faculty, staff and students are welcome to schedule an appointment by emailing Amie Ledgerwood at asledger@mtu.edu.

The information provided here is also available on the Academic Affairs website. To view it, click the office hours icon in the bottom right corner of the banner image.

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

Innovation Week: Impact Investing

Wednesday, January 24, 12–1 p.m.

Impact investing is an investment strategy in which investors seek both measurable positive societal or environmental impact as well as financial return. Does your startup...

Submission and Formatting 101: Master the Dissertation, Thesis, and Report Process

Wednesday, January 24, 2:00–4:30 p.m. | Administration and Student Services Building, 404

Students who are completing a dissertation, thesis, or report are invited to join the Graduate School to learn about the resources available to them to assist in scheduling...

Bob Mark Business Model Pitch Competition

Wednesday, January 24, 5:00–7:30 p.m. | Memorial Union Building (MUB), Ballroom A

Recognizing 16 years of the Bob Mark pitch competition legacy, Husky Innovate collaborators, Pavlis Honors College, College of Business, and the Office of Innovation and...

Students For Life General Meeting

Wednesday, January 24, 5–6 p.m. | Fisher 230

Students For Life general meeting

Info Session - Waterski & Wakeboard

Wednesday, January 24, 7–8 p.m. | M&M U113

Want to learn more about waterskiing and how you can have fun on the water while also competing as a team? Join us at one of our info sessions to learn how you can get...

Triangle Fraternity Game Night

Wednesday, January 24, 7–9 p.m. | Wads Annex

Get ready for an epic night of fun and games with Triangle Fraternity! Join us for a laid-back and entertaining Game Night where you can unwind, connect with friends, and...

WBA First Meeting: Wed, Jan 24th 8pm-8:30pm

Wednesday, January 24, 8:00–8:30 p.m. | Online

Join us for our first meeting of the semester at 8pm on Wednesday, January 24th! We will be introducing ourselves and discussing our goals for the semester. The meeting will...

Middle School Volleyball Development League

January 24, all day | Student Development Complex (SDC), Multi-Purpose Gym

A four-week developmental program for middle school girls in grades 7 & 8 to learn and improve their skills in preparation for the upcoming interscholastic season. This...