February 19, 2024

Michigan Tech IT will be unable to help with non-H-STEM Complex computer or phone move requests from today (Feb. 19) to March 8 as we assist with the H-STEM Complex office and lab transition.

Remember, if you are planning an office move or campus relocation, please contact IT at least two weeks in advance of your move date, and we will arrange to transfer your phone and computer, ensuring they are connected properly in your new space.

For questions about office and equipment moves, we can help. Contact us at it-help@mtu.edu or call 906-487-1111.

The 2024 Western Upper Peninsula STEM Fair & Festival will be held on Saturday, March 16, at the Memorial Union Ballroom from 1-4 p.m. New to the event this year: participants who develop an engineering design project have the chance to advance to Invention Convention Michigan, a competition held later this year at The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan. 

Students from Houghton, Baraga, Keweenaw, Ontonagon and Gogebic Counties in grades 4-8 are invited to participate in the STEM Fair. Registration is open to individuals and teams of two to three students. Students will prepare and present on a science investigation or an engineering design project.

A Student Planning Guide, registration forms, and other important information can be found at the Western U.P. STEM Fair & Festival webpage. Registration is due by Wednesday, Feb. 28.

The public is invited to attend the STEM Festival, held simultaneously, in the commons area of the Memorial Union Building from 1-4 p.m. The festival is coordinated by the Michigan Tech Center for Science and Educational Outreach.

Approximately 50 science and engineering students and professionals from Michigan Tech, local schools, government agencies and local businesses will volunteer their time to judge the student projects. They will also provide more than 20 hands-on science and engineering activities for K-8 students and their families. 

The 2024 Western U.P. STEM Fair & Festival is a collaborative effort of the Western U.P. MiSTEM Network, MTU Center for Science and Educational Outreach, Invention Convention Michigan, and the Copper Country Intermediate School District. 

Many thanks to our current and past sponsors and volunteers. For more information, please contact Tom Oliver at 906-487-2412 or teoliver@mtu.edu, or visit the Western U.P. STEM Fair & Festival webpage.

Nominations for the 30th Annual Student Leadership Awards are now open!

On behalf of the University, Student Leadership and Involvement is seeking nominations for the President's Award for Leadership, Dean of Students Award for Possibilities, the William and Josephine Balconi Community Service Award and a variety of other awards to recognize the efforts and achievements of our amazing Michigan Tech community.

We encourage you to visit the Student Leadership Awards webpage for more information on each individual award. Click on an individual title to read more about the award and its requirements, then complete and submit the nomination form. Please take a minute to nominate a standout student, student organization or advisor today!

The recipient of each award will be honored at the 30th Annual Student Leadership Awards Ceremony at 6 p.m. April 12 in the Memorial Union Ballroom. Nominators are warmly encouraged to attend.

Nominations are due by midnight on March 10. 

Questions concerning the Student Leadership Awards can be directed to Student Leadership and Involvement at activities@mtu.edu or 7-1963.

Human Resources (HR) is updating the process for hiring all student and temporary employees. Beginning March 4, departments wishing to hire students or temporary employees must email hr-help@mtu.edu or visit hr-help.mtu.edu. New hires must provide original documentation regarding Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9. No new hires will be allowed to work without providing the required documentation.

HR is hosting a Lunch & Learn on Feb. 21 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Memorial Union Building Alumni Lounge. The event will introduce the upcoming changes in the student hiring process. It is recommended that those involved in the hiring process for departments attend. HR will provide a light lunch. Please sign up using our RSVP form.

If you have any questions, please contact us at humanresources@mtu.edu or 906-487-2280.

The Office of Research Integrity is now using Cayuse as the electronic submission system for protocol management.

Join members of the Research Integrity team via Zoom on Tuesday, Feb. 20, from 11a.m. to noon for an informative training session on using Cayuse for IACUC and IBC submissions.

Please address any questions to rd-l@mtu.edu

Midterm grades submission will open at noon today (Feb. 19) and will close at noon on Monday, March 4.

Midterm grades must be submitted for all first-year students and transfer students with fewer than 30 credits. The Waino Wahtera Center for Student Success coordinates outreach to these students based on the midterm grades submitted. This supports timely intervention for students who may be experiencing academic and/or other difficulties.

Electronic Grade Submission
Instructors have two options for electronic grade submission. They may submit grades via Banner Self-Service by going directly into Banweb, entering grades and clicking submit. Those with larger class sizes where grades have already been totaled in Canvas may submit grades via Canvas by going to CourseTools and using the Grade Wizard to first extract the grades from Canvas and then submit them to Banner.

If grades are submitted using Banner Self-Service, only the students who require a midterm grade will appear. For those who submit their grades via Canvas, a first-year student column has been added to identify these students in your course grade book.

Satisfactory grades (A-C) should be entered as “SA” and Unsatisfactory grades (CD-F) as “UN.”

Midterm grades are for full-semester courses only. Grades not turned in by the deadline will have an M (missing) grade assigned.

Registration is open for spring 2024 sports camps and clinics, but time is running out!

• Little Huskies Football Camp (grades 1-6) — Registration closes March 9 at 11:59 p.m.
• High School Volleyball Skill Academies (grades 9-12)
  • Registration for Libero School and Setter Academy closes April 5 at 11:59 p.m.
  • Registration for Attacker School closes April 12 at 11:59 p.m.
• Little Huskies Girls' Basketball Camp (grades 2-5) — Registration closes April 1 at 11:59 p.m.
• Little Huskies Boys' Basketball Camp (grades 2-5) — Registration closes April 8 at 11:59 p.m.

Registration is available online, in person at the SDC Ticket Office or by calling the SDC Ticket Office at 906-487-2073.

For more information, visit Michigan Tech Recreation's Spring Sports Camps and Clinics page. Sign up today!

Menu for Thursday (Feb. 22):

Vegetable Egg Scramble (Vegetarian, Egg, AD, AG)
Country Fried Steak (Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Soy)
Eggs (Vegetarian, Egg, AD, AG)
Hash Browns (Vegan, Gluten, AD)
Sausage (Soy, AD)
Country Gravy (Dairy, Gluten)
Biscuits (Vegetarian, Gluten, Dairy, Soy)

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 (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).

Department of Physics graduate students will be presenting their research progress at this week's Physics Colloquium:

• Seth Nelson (advised by Miguel Levy)
• Jester Itliong (advised by Issei Nakamura)
• Ogetay Kayali (advised by Robert Nemiroff)

This will be an in-person event — the students will give their talks at 4 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 22) in Fisher 139.

Event details, including the students' presentation titles and abstracts, are available on the University Events Calendar.

The Michigan Tech football team has unveiled their 2024 schedule, which showcases six home games to be played at Kearly Stadium.

The 2024 regular season features four nonconference games and seven GLIAC matchups. The Huskies open their 102nd season of football Aug. 29, traveling to NSIC foe Bemidji State.

Ticket information and game times will be released at a later date.

See the schedule at Michigan Tech Athletics.

Alexandra Glover (MSE/IMP) is the principal investigator (PI) on a project that has received a $20,000 research and development contract from Triad National Security LLC.

The project is titled "Optimization of Metal Manufacturing."

Joshua Mueller (MSE/IMP) is a co-PI on this potential four-year project.

Michigan Tech’s Mind Trekkers were mentioned by Green Bay’s Fox11 News in a story about a  hands-on, interactive learning event being hosted by Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. The story was picked up by six outlets in the Green Bay region. 

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The Iron County Reporter mentioned Michigan Tech’s Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra (KSO) in a story previewing the upcoming season of arts events at the Crystal Theater in Crystal Falls. The KSO will open the season with a performance on April 4, its first stop on a concert tour to Chicago.

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Bridge Michigan mentioned Michigan Tech in a story examining the use of smart buoys on Lake Erie to communicate data on water conditions, contaminants and nutrients to researchers and anglers. The buoy network was created by Freeboard Technology, a collaborator of Michigan Tech on other network-involved water studies.

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Michigan Tech was mentioned by Science News Explores in a story about a recent discovery of anemones that burrow into the underside of Antarctic ice shelves. The story said Trista Vick-Majors (BioSci) estimates that “roughly 56,000 tons of organic materials flow from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet into the ocean each year,” with lesser amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and iron also leaking out from under the ice sheet.

Employment of Foreign Nationals: Premium Process Fees Increase

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that the premium processing fees for certain applications will be increased starting Feb. 26. This increase applies to several eligible forms and categories. For the convenience of those who usually work with HR Immigration and Visa Services at Michigan Tech, please find the updated fees for commonly handled petitions.

• Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker (all other available Form I-129 classifications (H-1B, TN-1 and TN-2))
  Previous Fee: $2,500.
  New Fee: $2,805.

• Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (employment-based (EB) classifications EB1, EB2)
  Previous Fee: $2,500.
  New Fee: $2,805.

For more information regarding this announcement, visit the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services How Do I Request Premium Processing? page. Questions can be directed to Michigan Tech's HR Immigration and Visa Services through our HR Support Center Portal, by emailing hr-help@mtu.edu or by calling 906-487-2280.

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Summer 2024 Research Mentors Needed

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.

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Seminar: 'Indigenous Principles of Ethical Research'

The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) at Michigan Tech and the Department of Social Sciences are hosting a lunch seminar from noon to 2 p.m. today (Feb. 19) in GLRC 202. Lunch will be provided. Contact Larissa Juip at lajuip@mtu.edu for a Zoom link.

As more members of our campus community seek to engage with Indigenous peoples through research, Indigenous scholars across campus wish to share examples of how to carry out this work ethically. Join us for a discussion of what culturally competent and ethical research looks like in our communities.

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CSA Dean Semifinalist Presenting at Open Forum

The College of Sciences and Arts (CSA) Dean Search Committee has invited four semifinalist candidates to Michigan Tech for on-campus interviews.

Candidate 2 Open Forum Presentation:
Monday, Feb. 19, at 10 a.m. in the Library East Reading Room
The second candidate's interview will be held today and tomorrow (Feb. 19 and 20). The candidate will present their administrative philosophy and vision for CSA at an open forum at 10 a.m. today in the Library East Reading Room.

Information on all candidates, interview dates and open forum information can be viewed at the Academic Affairs Dean Search page. A Michigan Tech login is required to view resumes and provide comment. The open forums will be video recorded and posted to the website for viewing.

The CSA Dean Search Committee encourages the campus community to interact with each candidate during the interviews and provide feedback by completing the anonymous comment form provided at the website. Feedback forms will be available for 72 hours following the last candidate's visit.

John Jaszczak (Physics) of the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum designed and installed an educational exhibit "The Many Faces of Michigan Copper Crystals" at the 69th annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in Tucson, AZ from Feb. 8-11.

Jaszczak also presented a public lecture on the same topic during the show. The display and lecture presented some of the fundamental factors that influence the growth of copper crystals and showed illustrative examples using specimens from the museum's collections.

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

Simple Machines: Poetry, Letterpress, and the Art of the Little Magazine Presented by Michigan Tech Art

Monday, February 19, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. | Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts, Rozsa Galleries

Simple Machines is a two-edition, international, letterpress poetry magazine founded and edited by Michigan Tech’s M. Bartley Seigel, funded through a Research Excellence...

Social Sciences Brown Bag: Indigenous Principles of Ethical Research

Monday, February 19, 12–2 p.m. | Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), 202

Join members of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society at Michigan Tech and the Social Sciences Department for this Brown Bag presentation focused on Indigenous...

Recent extreme dust storms in Central Asia associated with cold air outbreak and drought

Monday, February 19, 3 p.m. | Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), 202

Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar Dr. Xin Xi, Assistant Professor, Geological and Mining Engineering Sciences, Michigan Tech Abstract: Extreme weather and climate...

NSF I-Corps Program

Monday, February 19, 4:00–6:30 p.m.

Course Description Entrepreneurially-minded graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, staff, alumni, and local community teams are invited to join the next Great Lakes...

Workshop on AI Art

Monday, February 19, 5:00–6:30 p.m. | Grover C. Dillman Hall, Computer Lab 203

Dr. Timothy Havens and Dr. Evan Lucas will present a workshop highlighting the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI). This is an interactive exploration of AI art...