January 17, 2025

Assistant Professor Jung Yun Bae (MAE) is looking to make floriculture harvest more sustainable for both farm economy and environment with robotic fleets. In the inaugural issue of MAE Magazine, Bae discusses her $423,000 project to develop an automated harvesting system for The Lucky Clover Farm, an English lavender farm in Gaylord, Michigan.

"Handling the diverse configurations of lavender species requires manual and laborious care," wrote farm owner Jeanne Mouch in her support for the grant application. "The project led by Michigan Tech is dedicated to revolutionizing small-scale lavender farming by integrating multiple mobile robots equipped with advanced manipulators."

Bae's team aims to develop the robots by integrating advanced technologies, including mechanical design, artificial intelligence, modern control algorithms and autonomous navigation, to address manual labor shortages and offer cost-effective solutions to farmers.

Read more about the ongoing project in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering's MAE Magazine.

Michigan Tech faculty and staff are invited to the Essential Education Symposium on April 30. A celebration of Essential Education’s upcoming launch, the all-day symposium will feature training opportunities, support and ideas for developing Essential Ed courses and using HuskyFolio, and showcases of what faculty have already done to inspire you.

All faculty and staff are invited to attend the symposium, and faculty teaching Essential Education courses are especially encouraged to attend. Specific session times and locations will be announced on a later date.

Learn more about the unique elements of Essential Education, including:

• Michigan Tech Seminar Courses
  Seminar is a first-year course designed to help students map out their path through college and develop the habits and mindsets of successful students while building a sense of community and belonging at Michigan Tech. Lessons learned from the fall 2024 soft launch will be shared.

• Activities for Well-being and Success Courses
  These courses foster opportunities for students to connect with others, be active, restore their minds and bodies, or extend/expand their learning into areas beyond typical academic pursuits and skill sets. Learn more about existing and new courses and make suggestions for future development.

• HuskyFolio Powered by PebblePad
  These tools will help students develop folio thinking, which encourages deeper thinking, self-assessment and growth by maintaining a personal collection of work, ideas and reflections. All Essential Ed courses will engage with HuskyFolio. The PebblePad ePortfolio platform is also available for use in courses and programs outside of Essential Education. Learn more about how this platform is already being used on campus.

• Essential Ed Experience (E3)
  An active, hands-on course that is expected to expand interaction with the greater society (beyond self) and allow for connections among Essential Education courses. Learn more about existing and new courses and what it takes to develop an E3 course.

• Essential Education Minor
  Specific minors are created to satisfy the spirit of Essential Education by introducing students to multiple disciplinary perspectives as a complement to their major. Get a peek at the newly approved minors and those still in development.

Thanks for your support of Essential Education’s launch and scale. If you have questions or need more information, contact essential-ed-l@mtu.edu.

College of Engineering Dean Michelle Scherer has selected Shane Oberloier, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, for this spring’s Deans’ Teaching Showcase.

Oberloier will be recognized at an end-of-term event with other spring showcase members and is a candidate for the CTL Instructional Award Series.

“Dr. Oberloier’s focus on establishing a maker culture for his students, the campus community, and beyond, has encouraged students to tinker with their ideas and create innovative solutions, making them better engineers and entrepreneurs,” said Scherer.

Oberloier is the advisor for the Open Source Hardware Enterprise, where he shares his ethos of making tools, devices and products that are easy and inexpensive for others to replicate. The enterprise specializes in building low-cost alternatives to expensive hardware and software systems, and then openly shares the designs. This open-source process is all about collaboration so improvements can more rapidly be made. Some notable successes to come out of the enterprise include prototypes for an audible bird deterrent system, which has spun off into a startup in partnership with Jared Wolfe (CFRES), and a fully functioning ATX power supply sponsored by Plexus Corp.

This maker culture extends to other classes Oberloier teaches, where he uses things he has built to demonstrate important points. For example, he brings 3D-printed test pieces to be broken in class, countless custom circuit boards both professionally and self-manufactured, and even a musical lava lamp to demonstrate sensors and measurement. In this way, he encourages his students to experiment with their own circuits to make their own creations.

All students and the campus community are able to take advantage of Oberloier’s enthusiasm for making by visiting The Alley Makerspace, where he is the director. He works to engage students on a broader scale, helping them bring their ideas from sketches to functioning prototypes. “He has a passion for innovative approaches to solving problems,” said Darnishia Morris, assistant dean of the Pavlis Honors College, “and he has made The Alley a place where everyone has the opportunity to explore, create and prototype their ideas in a collaborative working environment.”

And his work with the maker community does not stop at the campus’ boundary. He is the co-founder of Superior Fab Lab, which has put on MakerFest, an event for the local community. The objective is to inspire people to go build something, to try something new, and to ask questions and learn from the exhibitors at the festival.

“Dr. Oberloier has a remarkable ability to inspire students, especially those in the early stages of their academic journey,” said Jin Choi, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “He transforms complex concepts into exciting opportunities for discovery. He builds a strong foundation of knowledge while igniting a passion for engineering in his students.”

Please join the Graduate School in congratulating Michigan Tech's Spring 2025 Finishing Fellows. Awardees recognized today, Jan. 17, are the final members of this semester's outstanding group of fellows.

Brennan Vogl is a Ph.D. candidate in Biomedical Engineering. Vogl’s research focuses on in vitro and in silico assessments of cardiovascular fluid dynamics, with a goal of understanding how cardiovascular diseases start and progress, and how effective some therapies are from a flow dynamics perspective. Vogl has primarily examined the performance of bioprosthetic aortic valves under various blood pressure states and the effects of atrial fibrillation and its treatments on left atrial flow dynamics.

Read more about Vogl’s journey at Michigan Tech on the Graduate School Newsblog.

Please join the Graduate School in congratulating Michigan Tech's Spring 2025 Finishing Fellows. Awardees recognized today, Jan. 17, are the final members of this semester's outstanding group of fellows.

Steven Ding is a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science. Ding’s research has spanned fields including computer graphics, human perception, and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR). In particular, Ding’s dissertation focuses on developing innovative interaction techniques for AR systems, exploring the use of acoustic sensors to transform everyday surfaces into intuitive interactive interfaces. Ding’s system detects and localizes taps on surfaces through advanced signal processing and algorithms.

Read more about Ding’s journey at Michigan Tech on the Graduate School Newsblog.

Please join the Graduate School in congratulating Michigan Tech's Spring 2025 Finishing Fellows. Awardees recognized today, Jan. 17, are the final members of this semester's outstanding group of fellows.

Elizabeth Novotny is a Ph.D. candidate in the Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture program. Experiences as a graduate teaching instructor and as assistant director of MTU’s Composition program led Novotny to specialize in writing studies. Her research focuses on the needs of student writers, and her dissertation is a classroom research project that investigates how students conceptualize their agency as writers and how this impacts their writing practice.

Read more about Novotny’s journey at Michigan Tech on the Graduate School Newsblog.

Financial Services and Operations (FSO) has the following reminders on the allowability of various travel expenses, specifically expense aging.

• Travel reimbursement requests (including repayment of cash advances and business meals) submitted more than 60 days after the event/last day of business travel will be taxable income to the employee, as the reimbursement would fall outside of the conditions of an accountable plan (per IRS regulations). Amounts reimbursed under a non-accountable plan are included in the employee’s gross income on form W-2 and are subject to withholding as supplemental wages. Applicable taxes will be withheld from a future paycheck.
• Out-of-pocket travel reimbursement expenses (including business meals) submitted more than 120 days after the event/last day of business travel are unallowable and are not reimbursable.

If you have questions about the travel changes, contact FSO at 906-487-2373 or travel@mtu.edu. For additional information, please visit FSO's University Travel page.

FSO appreciates your assistance and would like to thank you for adhering to our institutional policies and guidelines.

The Student Affairs CommUNITY Education Team invites faculty and staff of our community to register for Safe Place Ally Training, being held Jan. 27 and 29 from 1-3 p.m. each day (attendance on both days is required for the training).

There are 10 more spots available!

Safe Place is about fostering an environment of inclusion for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) individuals on our campus and in the surrounding community through:

• Educating individuals on LGBTQIA+ issues relating to gender and sexuality and how one can intervene when they witness discrimination.

• Creating visibility of people who can provide resources to LGBTQIA+ community members.

• Establishing brave spaces that challenge oppression.

To register, please complete the Safe Place Training Sign Up form.

Welcome to Insights from Student Affairs , your go-to source for the latest updates and information directly from professionals within Student Affairs at Michigan Tech. We aim to keep you informed and engaged with a curated selection of information that impacts our work and student life. Each month, an office within our division will share a bit of their expertise directly related to the excellent work their staff is doing.

This month's column, titled "Supporting Our Academically Suspended Students," comes from Anna McClatchy, assistant dean of student success and director of the Waino Wahtera Center for Student Success.

The next installment will be published on Feb. 3.

Please join the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology (KIP) for a seminar on Tuesday, Jan. 21, from 2-3 p.m. in Chem Sci 104 with guest speaker John Durocher from Purdue University Northwest.

The title of the presentation is "A Snapshot of Four Areas of Scholarship: Exercise Physiology, Autonomic Regulation, Public Health, and Physiology Education."

The next guest speaker in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BioMed) Seminar Series will present today, Jan. 17, at 3 p.m. in Chem Sci 104 and virtually via Zoom.

Join the BioMed Seminar on Zoom.

Mehdi Nikkhah from Arizona State University will present "Tissue On-a-Chip Systems; Building Better Models to Study Human Disease."

Read Nikkhah's abstract and bio at the University Events Calendar.

Job Posting for Friday, Jan. 17, 2025

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.

Assistant Teaching Professor – Political Science and Policy, Social Sciences. 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.

97.9 WGRD-FM in Grand Rapids mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about the state’s top colleges and universities to work for, based on a survey conducted by Statista in partnership with Forbes. The survey results placed Michigan Tech and six other institutes among the Top 100 employers in Michigan.

ChE Seminar Series Speaker: Renita Horton

Renita Horton will present as part of the Department of Chemical Engineering (ChE) Seminar Series today, Jan. 17, at 10 a.m. in person in GLRC 202 or virtually via Zoom.

Join the ChE Seminar on Zoom.

Horton will present "Heart-on-a-Chip: Modeling Environmental Impacts on the Cardiovascular System."

Read Horton's abstract and bio on the University Events Calendar. 

Horton is an assistant professor at the University of Houston and is being hosted by Adrienne Minerick (ChE).

*****

Health Savings Account Transfer Reminder

Benefits Services would like to remind Michigan Tech employees that if they would like to transfer their health savings account (HSA) balance currently at Health Equity to their new HSA account at WEX, they will need to submit the HSA Transfer Form to Health Equity.

For the first 90 days of 2025, WEX will provide an individual $25 credit equal to Health Equity's account closure fee for each employee who transfers their balance from Health Equity, as long as the employee has a positive balance of at least $500 at the time of transfer.

The transfer form can be faxed to 801-846-2929 or mailed to the following address:

Health Equity Attn Operations
P.O. Box 14374
Lexington, KY 40512

The form can also be submitted through Health Equity's online portal:

1. Log in to your account.
2. Click "Support" in the menu bar, and select "Health Savings Account" in the pop-up.
3. From the support options, click "Fill out a Form."
4. On the Forms page, use the "Upload a secure form or document" option to submit the transfer form PDF.

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

Graduating and Still Looking

Friday, January 17, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. | Administration and Student Services Building, 220 Career Services

Are you graduating in April? Are you still looking for your first opportunity out of college? Join us Friday mornings for coffee and discuss possibilities and strategies for...

Heart-on-a-Chip: Modeling Environmental Impacts on the Cardiovascular System

Friday, January 17, 10 a.m. | Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), 202

Chemical Engineering Seminar Dr. Renita E. Horton Assistant Professor University of Houston Abstract Traditional in vitro studies poorly recapitulate properties of the...

MLK Day Reading With Children (Volunteer!)

Friday, January 17, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. | Various schools in the area: Dollar Bay, Houghton Elementary School, Hancock, and Chassel.

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a day of service, you are invited to meet and read to local school children using books that lift up Dr. King's vision for a "Beloved...

Tissue On-a-Chip Systems; Building BetterModels to Study Human Disease

Friday, January 17, 3–4 p.m. | Chemical Sciences and Engineering Building, 104

Biomedical Engineering Research Seminar Mehdi Nikkhah Arizona State University Abstract Three-dimensional (3D) organotypic tissue models are reshaping the landscape of...

"The Godfather" - Film Board Movie

Friday, January 17, 5:30–7:30 p.m. | Fisher 135

Come see "The Godfather" the epic masterpiece movie. The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son. Come...

Volleyball Middle School Development League

Friday, January 17, 6:00–7:30 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Multipurpose Room

A four-week developmental program for middle school girls in grades 6, 7, & 8 to learn and improve their skills in preparation for the upcoming interscholastic season. This...

Men's Ice Hockey at Minnesota State

Friday, January 17, 8:07–11:07 p.m. | Mankato, Minn.

Men's Ice Hockey at Minnesota State Mankato, Minn.

"The Godfather" - Film Board Movie

Friday, January 17, 8:30 p.m.–12:00 a.m. | Fisher 135

Come see "The Godfather" the epic masterpiece movie. The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son. Come...

Winter Carnival Trivia Night

Friday, January 17, 9:30–11:30 p.m. | Fisher 139

Join Student Leadership and Involvement, Quiz Bowl, and Blue Key for a fun night of winter-themed trivia questions and big prizes! The top team in each round will go home with...