October 18, 2024

For a limited time, the Van Pelt and Opie Library is providing access to APA PsycTests.

This American Psychological Association database contains psychological tests and measures (many unpublished), as well as descriptive information about each test and its development and administration. A wide range of instrument types, including batteries, questionnaires, rating scales and surveys, are also included. The database is updated monthly.

APA PsycTests will be available until Nov. 9. Please send any feedback to library@mtu.edu.

Michigan Sea Grant has announced that Master of Engineering Management candidate Ola Ayeni has been named a finalist for the 2025 class of the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship.

The Knauss program matches graduate students and recent graduates with host agencies in Washington, D.C., such as congressional offices, the National Marine Fisheries Service, or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For one year, fellows work on a range of policy and management projects related to ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources. Fellows can be placed in the federal, legislative or executive branches.

After spending six years as a network infrastructure engineer and another six as an environmentalist and circular economy practitioner in Nigeria, Ayeni wanted to strengthen her skills in sustainability and leadership. This led her to pursue a master’s in engineering management at Michigan Tech — a program where she could combine her technical expertise with managerial insights.

In addition to being a graduate student, Ayeni is also the founder of a social enterprise called Hopcyku, which won the Social Impact Award during the 2024 Bob Mark Pitch Competition. Hopcyku’s work focuses on waste diversion and pollution prevention through the principles of the circular economy.

Ayeni’s passion for sustainability and waste management perfectly aligns with broader environmental conservation goals, which inspired her to apply for the Knauss Sea Grant Fellowship. She is honored to join over 1,680 fellows who have, over the program's 45-year history, significantly contributed to environmental policy and management, building impactful careers in national policy making.

Ayeni is also deeply thankful to Sarah Isaacson (GS) for providing unwavering guidance and support throughout the Knauss Fellowship application process. Isaacson’s commitment ensured Ayeni had everything she needed to succeed. She would also like to express her gratitude to Robert Hutchinson (COB) for his recommendation and ongoing support throughout her time in Houghton.

Read more in the Michigan Sea Grant press release.

Ph.D. candidate Thi Mai Anh Tran (forest science) is one of 100 recipients of the 2024-25 P.E.O. Scholar Award. This competitive grant was established in 1991 to provide merit-based awards for women across the U.S. and Canada who are pursuing a doctoral-level degree at an accredited college or university.

Tran is co-advised by Val Gagnon (CFRES) and Chelsea Schelly (SS), and was nominated by Chapter DB, Michigan, of the P.E.O. Sisterhood.

The P.E.O. Sisterhood - Philanthropic Educational Organization was founded Jan. 21,1869, at Iowa Wesleyan College, Mount Pleasant, Iowa. It is a philanthropic educational organization dedicated to supporting higher education for women. There are approximately 6,000 local chapters in the United States and Canada with nearly a quarter of a million active members.

Tomorrow, Oct. 19, Chicago-Based Manual Cinema is coming to the Rozsa on their tour for “Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About A Terrible Monster.” The Emmy-winning performance collective creates movies live on stage using illustrated puppets, props, live music and voices for an immersive audience experience.

The “Leonardo!” show is based on two books by the celebrated children’s author Mo Willems. Using vintage overhead projectors, multiple screens, puppets, actors, live-feed cameras and a live music ensemble, Manual Cinema brings Willems’ stories to life.

Today, Oct. 18, over 800 K-12 students and educators will witness the magic in a Class Acts performance. Tomorrow, the public is welcome to attend the two 45-minute matinee performances at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

IncredibleBank Monster Mash Party
Saturday, Oct. 19 | 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Rozsa Lobby
Between the shows, join us for the IncredibleBank Monster Mash Party in the Rozsa Lobby! Stop by the lobby anytime between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to enjoy games, activities and more before or after attending “Leonardo!” Costumes are welcome for all heading to Treat Street in downtown Houghton after the show!

Show Details:

• What: Manual Cinema’s Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About A Terrible Monster
• When: Saturday, Oct. 19, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
• Where: Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts

Get Tickets.

An Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences Institute (EPSSI) Seminar will take place on Monday, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m. in M&M U113.

Guest speaker Ali Hyder, a postdoctoral scholar at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will talk on "What the Giant Hides – the Fruits of an Interdisciplinary Approach to Jovian Atmospheric Modeling."

Read Hyder's abstract and bio at the EPSSI's Fall 2024 Seminar Series page.

Michigan Tech volleyball is traveling to Hammond, Indiana, to compete in the 16th annual Midwest Regional Volleyball Crossover Tournament today and tomorrow, Oct. 18 and 19.

The Huskies are the No. 4 seed from the GLIAC and open against No. 19 Quincy at 3 p.m. EDT today. Tech plays again tonight at 8 p.m. versus Tiffin. Tomorrow's matchup will depend on today's results.

Fans can watch the crossover on the JEDtv Sports Network. Tournament passes will cost $40, with each team playing three games. Single-game PPV passes will be available for $20.

Read the volleyball preview at Michigan Tech Athletics.

The Michigan Tech soccer team will meet GLIAC foes Davenport and Ferris State on the road this weekend.

The Huskies take on the Panthers today, Oct. 18, at 2 p.m. Their match against Ferris State is set for Sunday, Oct. 20, at 1 p.m.

Watch MTU soccer on FloSports (subscription required — a discount is available for students).

Read the soccer preview at Michigan Tech Athletics.

Michigan Tech's cross country squads will complete their regular season in Escanaba today, Oct. 18, at the Bay College Invite.

The Huskies will showcase four women in the 5,000-meter race, slated for a noon start, while 15 men will be competing in the 8,000-meter race at 12:45 p.m.

Results of the races will be posted online by Superior Timing.

Read the cross country preview at Michigan Tech Athletics.

Ana Dyreson (MAE) and Ph.D. student Shelbie Wickett (mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics) will present at the 2024 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington, on Sunday Oct. 20. Dyreson will also chair a session on “Modeling the Impact of Climate Change on the Electric Power Sector: Inputs, Assumptions, and Use Cases.”

The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is a coalition of industry experts and academics in the data and decision sciences. Their annual meeting brings together over 6,000 members, students and prospective employers to share “Smarter Decisions for a Better World.”

Dyreson and Wickett will be presenting their research, “Winter vulnerabilities to weather and climate in future power systems,” at the “Planning the Electric Grid for Climate Change” session at the meeting. Their research covers the ways in which an electric power system in a northern climate can be planned to accommodate winter weather needs and analyzes how snow depth affects the solar photovoltaics (PV) systems.

LongIsland.com mentioned Professor Emeritus Barry Solomon (SS) in a story about WalletHub’s 2024 ranking of the most energy-efficient states. Solomon provided insights on cost-effective energy-efficient technologies and shared tips on simple but impactful home improvements to reduce energy usage.

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PR Newswire mentioned Kevin Ballinger ’95 (B.S. Mechanical Engineering) in a story about his appointment to the Board of Directors at Bio X Cell.

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The Daily Mining Gazette mentioned Chelsea Rheault ’22 (B.S. Accounting) in a story about the Houghton County board offering her the county administrator position. Rheault, currently the county’s finance director, was praised for her strong financial management skills and her contributions over the past three years.

Nominations Open: 2025 MAGS Excellence in Teaching Awards

Nominations are still 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. on Dec. 11.

Eligible students:

• Will have been enrolled at Michigan Tech during the 2024 calendar year and have a teaching appointment.
• Will have earned the Michigan Tech Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award.
• Will exemplify excellence in the teaching and learning mission of Michigan Tech.

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

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Human Resources Office Closed Today

The Human Resources office will be closed today, Oct. 18, for its annual departmental retreat. The office will reopen on Monday, Oct. 21.

Questions during this time can be sent to hr-help@mtu.edu.

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Chemistry Seminar with H. Peter Lu

H. Peter Lu, professor from the Department of Chemistry at the Center for Photochemical Sciences, Bowling Green State University, will be presenting at this week's Chemistry Seminar.

The seminar will be held in person at 3-4 p.m. today, Oct. 18, in Chem Sci 101.

Lu’s presentation is titled “Single-Molecule Spectroscopy and Force Manipulation Studies of Protein Dynamics and Signaling.”

From the abstract:
Single-molecule conformational manipulation provides unique methods for studying the relationship between function and structure of biomolecules, and for exploring novel properties of biomolecules under complex local environments. Enzymatic reactions are traditionally studied at the ensemble level, despite significant static and dynamic inhomogeneities. We have developed and applied AFM/Magnetic Tweezers force manipulation combined with single-molecule spectroscopy to study the mechanisms and dynamics of enzymatic reactions involved with kinase and lysozyme proteins. Enzymatic reaction turnovers and the associated structure changes of individual protein molecules under pico-Newton force manipulations were observed simultaneously in real-time by single-molecule FRET detections. By a repetitive pulling-releasing manipulation of Cy3-Cy5 dye-labeled kinase molecules under conditions with and without enzymatic substrates, we observed and analyzed the enzymatic conformational dynamics. We demonstrated that the enzyme conformational flexibility can be regulated by enzyme-substrate interaction, experimental evidence of protein-substrate folding-binding interaction mechanism. Our new approach is applicable to a wide range of single-molecule AFM-FRET measurements for protein conformational changes under enzymatic reactions, including controls of enzymatic reactivity by mechanical force manipulating protein conformations.

Lu received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1991. He undertook postdoctoral research at Northwestern University from 1991-1995, and subsequently at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory from 1995-1996. He worked as a senior research scientist and then a chief scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory from 1996-2006. He has been an Ohio Eminent Scholar and a full professor of chemistry at Bowling Green State University in Ohio since 2006, and was elected an American Physical Society Fellow in 2014.

Lu’s research focuses on single-molecule spectroscopy studies of molecular kinetics and dynamics in condensed phases and at interfaces, involving studies of protein conformational dynamics and function rate processes. He was invited in both 1999 and 2008 to present his works at the Nobel Symposium on Single Molecules in Physics, Chemistry, and Life Science in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar with Aytug Gencoglu

The next Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar will take place at 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 21, in GLRC 202.

Aytug Gencoglu, assistant professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Tech, will present "Electrokinetics and Droplet Microfluidics: Two Subfields of Microfluidics for Biological Monitoring and Research."

Read Gencoglu’s abstract and bio on the University Events Calendar.

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

Cross Country vs Bay College Invite

Friday, October 18, 12–3 a.m. | Gladstone, Mich.

Cross Country vs Bay College Invite Gladstone, Mich.

Women's Volleyball at TBA

Friday, October 18, 12–3 a.m.

Women's Volleyball at TBA

that thing between my teeth is my foot Exhibit - Michigan Tech Art

Friday, October 18, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. | Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts, Rozsa Art Galleries A-Space

MICHIGAN TECH ART SERIES EVENT Douglas Degges is presenting two parallel artistic explorations in the Rozsa A-Space Gallery. Since the fall of 2019, Degges has been creating...

Manual Cinema's Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster - Class Acts

Friday, October 18, 9:30 a.m. | Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts, Black Performance Hall

CLASS ACTS EVENT Tickets available by request for education groups serving Pre-K and/or K-12 Leonardo is a terrible monster. He tries so hard to be scary, but he just…...

Graduating and Still Looking?

Friday, October 18, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. | Administration and Student Services Building, 220 Career Services

Are you graduating soon and need help finding a job? Come in for a coffee and chat with one of our career advisors. We can help tailor your search, review your resume, bounce...

Distinguished Lecture Series by Professor Massimo Moraldi

Friday, October 18, 1–2 p.m. | Fisher Hall, 327

The Elizabeth and Richard Henes Center for Quantum Phenomena is pleased to announce that Professor Massimo Moraldi, from the University of Florence and Michigan Tech...

Women's Soccer at Davenport

Friday, October 18, 2–5 p.m. | Grand Rapids, Mich.

Women's Soccer at Davenport Grand Rapids, Mich.

Python Workshop

Friday, October 18, 5–6 p.m. | Rekhi 113

A free, in person, python workshop for beginners!

Catan Game Night

Friday, October 18, 9:00–11:30 p.m. | Wads G11

Join Late Night Program in enjoying their Catan Game Night! Snacks will be provided while you get to trade, build, and settle in one of the worlds favorite games.