June 27, 2024

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Jorma “Joe” Kalliokoski, a professor emeritus and former head of the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences (GMES) at Michigan Tech. He passed away June 3 at the age of 100.

Kalliokoski received his B.S. degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1947 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University in 1951. He was a faculty member at Princeton from 1956 to 1968, when he came to Michigan Tech to become the department head. He served in that capacity for 13 years (1968-81) and retired in 1988.

During his tenure as head, the department expanded, the geophysics program joined our department, and the commitment to research and the graduate program was greatly strengthened. Kalliokoski made significant contributions in the fields of economic geology, Precambrian geology, and mineral deposit research, on which he published multiple papers and reports. He was the business editor of Economic Geology Publishing Company from 1971-77.

Kalliokoski was inducted into the Academy of GMES in 1995.

Read Kalliokoski's full obituary and leave a memory if you wish. A memorial service will be held at Portage Lake United Church on Saturday, June 29, at 11 a.m. Burial will be in Forest Hill Cemetery of Houghton.

The Office of Naval Research has recently approved Michigan Tech’s Fiscal Year 2025 Fringe Benefit rates, effective July 1, 2024. The rate agreement can be found at the Research Facts and Figures page.

Beginning July 1, these rates will be applied to all funds, including active sponsored projects. For proposals due on July 1 or later, please use these rates for Sponsored Programs proposal budgeting.

In accordance with the fiscal year 2025 approved fringe benefit rate agreement, the rates effective July 1 are as follows:

• Regular Non-Student Employee Rate — 38.4%
• Summer/Additional Comp Rate — 20.2%
• Graduate Student Rate — 13.3%
• Temporary Employee Rate — 9.8%
• Undergraduate Student Rate — 0%

If you have any questions regarding proposals, budgeting and charging of sponsored projects, please contact Kelly Kallio at 906-487-2226 or kmkallio@mtu.edu. For questions regarding charging of non-sponsored funds, please contact Sue Laajala at 906-487-2121 or slaajala@mtu.edu.

The Office of Naval Research has issued a Predetermined Facilities and Administrative (F&A) rate agreement for Michigan Tech, effective July 1, 2024. The rate agreement can be found on the Research Facts and Figures page.

The rates that have been in effect since July 1, 2021, will remain unchanged through June 30, 2025.

Financial Services and Operations (FSO) will periodically be sharing information regarding a specific topic to increase awareness and knowledge in an “FSO — Did You Know?” article. If there is an FSO topic that you’d like to learn more about, please email fso@mtu.edu.

A127C Personal Expense
Expense code A127C is specifically designated for personal expenses charged on a Purchasing Card (PCard). It is crucial to emphasize that personal charges are strictly prohibited and should be avoided. A127C should only be used in cases of error. The cardholder will receive an invoice for the amount charged. Upon receipt of the invoice, please proceed to the Cashier’s Office for check or cash payment (no deposit slip required), or utilize the online nonstudent payment portal for credit card or electronic check payments.

The PCard is a privilege granted by the University. If not used responsibly, your PCard privileges will be reviewed and may be terminated.

For any inquiries about your University PCard, feel free to reach out to pcard@mtu.edu for prompt assistance.

The Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering (CEGE) held our annual Departmental Awards Ceremony on April 11. Great job and congratulations to the award winners!

• Department Scholar: Parker Lyden
• Nicole Bloom Award for Environmental Sustainability: Cailin Bishop
• Undergraduate Department Service Award: Teddy Ellis, Ruth Kirby, Dylan Lane, and Jonathan Wright
• Danielle Ladwig Award for Graduate Excellence: Libia Hazra and Miamiao Li
• Wilbur Haas Graduate Research Excellence Award: Peifeng Su and Miraj Bhakta Kayastha
• GTA of the Year: Molly Greene
• Faculty of the Year: Kris Mattila and Jennifer Becker
• Department Citizen Award: David Watkins

Read about our outstanding awardees on the Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering News blog.

Job Postings for Thursday, June 27, 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.

Senior Office Assistant (12 months/ 40 hours/ first shift) #24187, Financial Services and Operations (UAW posting dates June 27 to July 3, 2024 — external applicants are encouraged to apply; however, internal UAW applicants are given first consideration if they apply during the internal UAW posting dates). Apply online.

Administrative Aide (12 months/ 40 hours/ first shift) #24188, Graduate School (UAW posting dates June 27 to July 3, 2024 — external applicants are encouraged to apply; however, internal UAW applicants are given first consideration if they apply during the internal UAW posting dates). Apply online.

Office Assistant (12 months/ 40 hours/ first shift) #24189, Chemistry (UAW posting dates June 27 to July 3, 2024 — external applicants are encouraged to apply; however, internal UAW applicants are given first consideration if they apply during the internal UAW 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.

Tan Chen (ECE/ICC) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $5,000 other sponsored activities grant from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU).

The project is titled "FractionalNets: Using Symmetric Neural Networks to Calculate Fractional-Order Derivatives."

Alex Kostinski (Physics) was mentioned by NASA’s Earthdata monthly newsletter in a story about the science of sunglints — bright spots reflected onto the Earth’s land and ocean surfaces and seen from space. The story mentioned a 2017 study co-authored by Kostinski that explains the visual phenomenon.

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Sigrid Resh (CFRES/ESC) was quoted by the Daily Mining Gazette in a story about goats visiting Calumet’s Swedetown Recreation Area forests as part of a research project studying the animals’ effectiveness in removing invasive buckthorn plants.

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The Soo Leader mentioned Michigan Tech in a press release picked up from Sen. Gary Peters about a group of senators urging the U.S. Department of Energy to promote electric vehicle battery recycling. The release mentioned more than $8 million in funding awarded to MTU and Eagle Mine in 2022 to develop technologies for reuse and recycling electric vehicle batteries. The award was the subject of a press release from Michigan Tech News.

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The Daily Mining Gazette covered Michigan Tech Nordic ski team’s Anabel Needham, Olivia Laven, Skylar Patten and Colin Freed being named to the At-Large Academic All-District Team by College Sports Communicators.

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North Dakota's Grand Forks Herald listed Michigan Tech hockey defenseman Chase Pietila and forward Isaac Gordon as third-year eligible players who could be “potential NCAA sleepers” in the 2024 NHL Draft, which begins at 6 p.m. tomorrow, June 28. The story was picked up by Yahoo! Sports.

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Wisconsin’s Stoughton Courier Hub ran a story about Michigan Tech volleyball’s starting libero Amelia Albers’ first season with the Huskies in fall 2023.

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Ohio’s Northwest Signal mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about Brendan Baxter (B.S. Scientific and Technical Communication) being named assistant vice president, private banking, at Civista Bank.

Diversity Literacy Online Workshop Registration is Now Open

Diversity Literacy Online Workshop (DLOW) training for the 2024-25 academic year is now open for registration. The workshop dates can be found on the training website. Faculty should use the online registration form and please allow 24-48 hours for processing.

This workshop is part of Michigan Tech's ongoing commitment to faculty diversity in building a supportive campus climate. Up-to-date DLOW training status is required to serve on faculty hiring and tenure and promotion committees. The workshop is organized as a three-week asynchronous online course in Canvas (with two to three hours of work per week) covering legal aspects of hiring and promotion processes, building literacy in recognizing unconscious bias, and cultivating diversity-centered practices. For those who have already taken the full three-week course, there are one-week refresher courses that engage with new research and current best practices with respect to hiring and retention of a diverse faculty. A refresher course is required once every four years to maintain a current status. Those with expired status are required to take the full course.

See the Diversity Training Status page for the current training status of all faculty (ISO sign on required).

We suggest that individuals register early for fall workshop dates if they are serving on faculty search or promotion and tenure committees in the coming year. If your certification is expiring but you don't need it for immediate service, we would appreciate it if you register for a spring workshop instead, as the fall enrollments can get high. Deans and chairs who register will be automatically enrolled in the administrators-only refresher course that runs in the fall.

DLOW training cannot be offered on demand, so we appreciate everyone's proactive attention to maintaining training status. The Office of the Provost will not grant exceptions to serve on search committees or PTR committees for faculty who are not current on their DLOW training.

The DLOW course content and format continue to be managed by faculty members in collaboration with Equal Opportunity Compliance and Title IX, distinguishing it from other training courses at Michigan Tech. Course content and format are reviewed and revised annually to continuously adapt to the landscape of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and needs at Michigan Tech with support from the Office of the Provost.

If you have any questions about the DLOW and training, contact Sarah Fayen Scarlett, DLOW administrator, at sfscarle@mtu.edu.

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

Tracks to the Future 2024 Session II

Thursday, June 27, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.

Railroad Transportation and Engineering 2024 Hybrid Delivery Program: Virtual, Hands-on, and Field Trips June 24-28, 2024 Open to high school students who will be enrolled...

FOM User Information Session

Thursday, June 27, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. | Minerals and Materials Engineering Building (M&M), 610

ACMAL is hosting an information session to introduce the new Facility Online Management (FOM) system, which will streamline the billing and usage tracking for all ACMAL...

Huskies Swim Training - Summer 2024 Session 1

Thursday, June 27, 3:30–5:00 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Join us for a summer of swimming in Huskies Swim Training! This training program provides additional attention and competitive guidance to proficient swimmers ages 6-17...