February 4, 2025

Electrical engineering senior Austin Champine has a unique commute. As a certified pilot, he flies a single-engine plane from his hometown of Midland, Michigan, up to Michigan Tech each semester.

Champine is working on his commercial flight certificate — in addition to his coursework, internship and, of course, skiing. As he prepares to graduate this spring, he looks back on how his engineering education and flight training have prepared him for new adventures — including working remotely for Cirrus Aircraft out of Duluth, Minnesota, throughout his senior year as a Husky.

“My role with Cirrus has been the perfect intersection of the engineering foundation I’ve built here at Tech and my passion for flying,” said Champine. “The hands-on, rigorous education at Michigan Tech has equipped me with the technical skills and problem-solving mindset needed to thrive in such a dynamic industry. As I continue to work remotely with Cirrus, I frequently draw on the lessons and experiences gained here.”

Read more about Champine’s experience at Stories from Husky Nation.

Michigan Tech’s Audio Engineering Society (AES) students are bringing the bass-thumping heartbeat to Winter Carnival 2025 with a 30-inch rotary subwoofer you’ll feel in your chest. The subwoofer plays sounds below 20 Hertz — that’s outside the spectrum of human hearing!

For many years, AES has provided the soundtrack for the annual All-Nighter with their snow speakers and a rotating cast of volunteer DJs. Built in the center of the action on Walker Lawn between MTU's broomball courts and Husky Plaza, these speakers spread music across campus and enliven the spirits of statue builders, volunteers and visitors.

Find out how students build their system and create the vibe that permeates our campus throughout the All-Nighter on the College of Sciences and Arts Newsblog.

The Graduate Student Government (GSG) is pleased to announce its annual Graduate Research Colloquium (GRC), which will be held on March 25 and March 26. The GRC offers a unique opportunity for graduate students to showcase their research across the campus community and work on their presentation skills for upcoming conferences. Students can give oral presentations, present posters or do both.

We hereby kindly request that interested faculty and staff volunteer to serve as judges in this year's GRC.

Oral presentations will happen on March 25 in the MUB Alumni Lounge from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., while poster presentations will occur on the same day in the Rozsa Center Lobby between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The GRC event will be capped off with the annual GRC Awards Banquet on March 26 at 5 p.m. in the Rozsa Lobby, which all participants and judges are invited to attend.

To register as a judge for GRC 2025, please use our Judge Registration form. For more information and inquiries about the event, visit the GSG website or contact gsg-research@mtu.edu.

Congratulations to the Michigan Technological University Interfraternity Council (MTU IFC) for winning a 2024 IFC Award for Outstanding Community Impact from the National Interfraternity Council.

According to NIC, the Outstanding Community Impact award recognizes interfraternity councils that participate in and provide opportunities for meaningful community outreach and service, and actively engage campus and community partners to enhance belonging and inclusion in the fraternity experience.

The MTU IFC was selected as a recipient due to its multiple philanthropic initiatives, voter registration drive and partnership with the City of Houghton, Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly and Copper Country Humane Society.

The Interfraternity Council (IFC) is the governing body of all men’s social fraternities at Michigan Tech, and includes one delegate from each of the University's 12 fraternities. These delegates work in various committees to improve the fraternity and sorority community through events sponsored by the individual organizations, as well as some Michigan Tech traditions.

The MTU IFC delegates' continued dedication to service and leadership not only enriches campus life but also serves as an inspiring model for community engagement. We look forward to seeing the positive impact of their future initiatives and celebrating more successes together.

The Waino Wahtera Center for Student Success is hiring! We are looking for creative, compassionate students who are interested in providing a great experience to our incoming Huskies!

In addition to our traditional positions of OTLs, ExSEL peer mentors, Success Coaches and Success Course TAs, we have added two new opportunities during the summer. We are looking for current Huskies who will be around the Houghton-Hancock area this summer to help with our Summer Session Ambassador positions and Summer Session RA roles.

Summer sessions will be held during a two-week period. Two sessions will be held from June 22-27, and two sessions will be held from July 13-18. We are willing to work with you if you are not able to do both weeks. Please talk with us about your availability. Visit our Hiring Information page to learn more.

If you have questions, please come see us! We will be tabling at Wads next Tuesday, Feb. 11, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on March 4 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Additionally, we will be at the Van Pelt and Opie Library on Feb. 20 from 12-3 p.m. and March 14 from 12-3 p.m. You can also email us at orientation@mtu.edu.

The Essential Education Implementation Leadership Team will be resuming office hours. The office hours will take place in Library 243 each Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

These times are an opportunity to ask questions regarding all aspects of the rollout of Essential Education at Michigan Technological University. Initiatives that are part of this rollout include Husky Folios powered by PebblePad, Michigan Tech Seminar course curriculum, activities for well-being and success, continuous improvement involving assessment, Essential Abilities, Essential Education minors, Essential Education Experiences, and other elements of the Essential Education rollout.

If you are not able to attend the office hours, please feel free to direct any questions to essential-ed-l@mtu.edu.

Thanks for your support of the rollout of this valued initiative!

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 "The Importance of Establishing a Career Ecosystem with a Focus on ROI," comes from Cody Kangas, executive director of Career Services.

The next installment will be published on March 3.

The Guardians of the North Air Force ROTC Detachment 400 is hosting our annual All You Can Eat Pancake Booth during Michigan Technological University's Winter Carnival All-Nighter!

Get hot, fresh pancakes for $7 per person or $10 per two people, starting at 6 p.m. tomorrow, Feb. 5, and continuing until 2 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6.

Come meet the Guardians of the North members and claim the title of Pancake Champion for eating the most pancakes! We will be located in the main hallway of Fisher Hall.

Thursday, Feb. 6
• Women's Basketball at Wayne State, 5:30 p.m. on Mix 93 WKMJ & FloCollege
• Men's Basketball at Wayne State, 7:30 p.m. on Mix 93 WKMJ & FloCollege

Friday, Feb. 7
• Blue Line Club Lunch, 11:45 a.m.
• Hockey vs. Bemidji State, 7:07 p.m. at MacInnes Student Ice Arena on Mix 93 WKMJ and Midco Sports Plus

Saturday, Feb. 8
• Women's Basketball at Saginaw Valley State, 1 p.m. on Mix 93 WKMJ & FloCollege
• Men's Basketball at Saginaw Valley State, 3 p.m. on Mix 93 WKMJ & FloCollege
• Hockey vs. Bemidji State, 5:07 p.m. at MacInnes Student Ice Arena on Mix 93 WKMJ and Midco Sports Plus

*****

Athletics News
Read more in the MTU Athletics weekly update.

Job Postings for Tuesday, Feb. 4, 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.

​Custodian (​nine months/ 40 hours/ first shift)​ #25030, Facilities Management (AFSCME posting dates Feb. 4 to Feb. 10, 2025 — external applicants are encouraged to apply; however, internal AFSCME applicants are given first consideration if they apply during the internal AFSCME posting dates). Apply online.

Senior Programmer/Analyst,​ Information Technology (internal applicants only — full ensured consideration date: Feb. 18, 2025). 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.

SciTechDaily mentioned Laura Bourgeau-Chavez (MTRI) in a story about NASA funding new citizen science projects. Bourgeau-Chavez is leading a project that will integrate remote sensing and citizen science to support the conservation of woodland vernal pools, aiming to better understand key habitats for amphibians and invertebrates in Michigan, Wisconsin and New York.

*****

WLUC TV6 quoted Mont Ripley general manager Chris Maxson in a story about Keweenaw ski resorts seeing improved business this year. Maxson discussed how Mont Ripley has had an excellent season with more days of operation and more season passes sold.

*****

The Daily Mining Gazette covered the 2025 Winter Carnival Royalty Coronation held Saturday, Feb. 1, at the Rozsa Center. Michigan Tech undergraduates Analise Walsh (medical laboratory science), Anna Hartz (psychology), Rowan Kuhn (civil engineering) and Kaydence Drys (electrical engineering) were mentioned. Walsh was crowned Royal Majesty, Hartz was first runner-up, Kuhn was second runner-up and Drys won the Audience Choice Award. Additionally, Blue Key President Skyler Spitzley was quoted by the Keweenaw Report in a Coronation preview story.

*****

WLUC TV6 quoted MTU undergrad Steven Luedeman-Tervo (psychology), Blue Key special events committee member, in a story about the broomball tournament held Sunday, Feb. 2, leading up to Michigan Tech’s Winter Carnival. The tournament featured 10 teams, with separate divisions for co-ed and men’s teams.

*****

The Iron Mountain Daily News mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about students transforming ice and snow into the St. Albert the Great University Parish’s ice chapel for Winter Carnival. The chapel, built each year by Michigan Tech students and community members, is a celebrated tradition, and this year’s Ice Masses will be held on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7 and 8.

*****

The Port Huron Times Herald, the Sault News and Yahoo! Life mentioned Michigan Tech’s Winter Carnival in their coverage of February festivals in Michigan.

*****

Michigan Tech was mentioned by Lansing’s WILX News 10 and the Michigan Business Network as the recipient of $650,000 in 2025 Sixty by 30 Student Success Grant funding — part of a larger $10 million state grant program aimed at improving education outcomes for Michigan students.

*****

The Daily Mining Gazette and My UP Now mentioned Michigan Tech in stories about the Pigs N Heat hockey fundraiser held at the Student Development Complex on Saturday, Feb. 1. The event raised funds for the Copper Country Police and Fire Relief Fund, which supported Michigan Tech students affected by the Jan. 10 fire at Daniell Heights.

*****

Business Insider mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about the “10 safest U.S. cities for homeowners from natural disasters.” Property data firm CoreLogic identified Houghton, Michigan, as one of the areas with the lowest risk from natural disasters.

*****

Oklahoma State University and the Oklahoma Farm Report mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about the appointment of Ali Mirchi ’09 (Ph.D. Civil Engineering) as the new associate director of the Oklahoma Water Resources Center.

Request for Proposals: Research Excellence Fund

Proposals are being solicited for the Research Excellence Fund (REF) program, an internal award of the Vice President for Research Office.

The Notice of Intent to Submit a Proposal form must be completed, and proposals must be started and routed for approval in the Sponsored Projects module in Cayuse, by the internal deadline of Feb. 27. Final proposals are due no later than 5 p.m. on March 6, and must be uploaded electronically in Cayuse. This due date will be strictly enforced based on the time stamp marked in the Cayuse system. Early submission is encouraged.

Please note that the program has changed in a number of ways in recent years. Be sure to download the current checklist and review the current guidance carefully. Recent changes implemented include submission via Cayuse, a limit of one REF Research Seed award per principal investigator during their eligibility period, expansion of Scholarship and Creativity Grant eligibility to include teaching faculty, and the addition of an optional presubmission review for compliance with REF guidelines.

For additional information and full instructions, see the Research Excellence Fund webpage. Questions can be directed to REF-l@mtu.edu.

*****

Give the Gift of Life This Valentine's Day Season: Join Our Heartfelt Blood Drive

This Valentine’s Day, trade roses for red cells and candy hearts for hemoglobin. Order of Omega and Student Leadership and Involvement invite the community to share the love by donating blood at our upcoming Heartfelt Blood Drive. Each donation helps save up to three lives, making your contribution the most heartfelt gesture of the season.

Whether you’re single, coupled or somewhere in between, you can be someone’s hero. Share the love by bringing a friend, family member or partner to donate alongside you.

Let’s make this Valentine’s Day one to remember — not just for chocolates and roses, but for the lives we save together.

Event Details:

• What: Heartfelt Blood Drive
• When: Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 11 and 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day
• Where: Memorial Union Building Ballroom

How to Sign Up
The American Red Cross recommends everyone make an appointment. Sign up today online or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

How to Prepare
Eat a healthy meal and drink plenty of water before donating. Please bring a photo ID.

*****

CS Faculty Candidate Presentation with Tiehang Duan

Please join the Department of Computer Science (CS) tomorrow, Feb. 5, at 3 p.m. in Rekhi G005 for a research presentation by tenure-track faculty candidate Tiehang Duan, following the social hour in Rekhi 218 (coffee and snacks).

The title of Duan's presentation is "Retain and Adapt: Sequential Learning with Data Distribution Shifts."

From the abstract:
Sequential learning aims to adapt to non-stationary data distributions while retaining previously acquired knowledge. Related sequential learning techniques has huge potential for applications in online brain signal decoding under subject shifts, with its challenges lying in the following aspects 1) the knowledge that model learned from previous subjects doesn’t readily fit to future subjects, and fast adaptation is needed in the proces; 2) the previous learnt knowledge could be easily erased after learning progresses on shifted data distribution. We develop bi-level optimization methods and continual learning approaches for solving this fundamental sequential learning problem, with considerations on related challenges including imbalanced data volume, subject shift detection, model generalization with limited data resource, and robustness to data variation and corruption etc. Effectiveness of the developed methods is demonstrated with both theoretical and empirical supports, and reveals its potential in real-world scenarios.

Duan has more than nine years research experience working on machine learning and its applications in brain-computer interfaces and medical informatics. He is currently a visiting research fellow at the Department of Artificial Intelligence and Informatics at Mayo Clinic, and previously worked as a research scientist at Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook) for three years. He received his Ph.D. degree in computer science and engineering at State University of New York at Buffalo and his B.S. degree in information and telecommunication engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He previously led multiple research projects on machine learning and medical informatics, and serves as a key member in numerous grants funded by NSF, NIH and Mayo Clinic. He has a proven track record of more than 20 publications in top computer science conferences and journals. His research interest is mainly on continual learning, trustworthy learning, meta learning and their applications in the medical domain.

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

Isle Royale Art Exhibition - Michigan Tech Art

Tuesday, February 4, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. | Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts, Rozsa Galleries A-Space

MICHIGAN TECH ART SERIES EVENT Enter into a world of artistic expression inspired by the wilderness of Isle Royale. The artworks showcased in this exhibition have all been...

Guiding Growth: A Workshop for Faculty Mentors

Tuesday, February 4, 12:30–2:00 p.m. | Memorial Union Building (MUB), Ballroom B1

Mentoring is an important role of any faculty member, but few faculty receive formal training for this role. Guiding Growth: A Workshop for Faculty Mentors will help faculty...

SS Department Chair Candidate Seminars with Joan Brehm

Tuesday, February 4, 12:30–1:30 p.m. | Administration and Student Services Building, 404

The Department of Social Sciences (SS) is pleased to be hosting candidates for on-campus interviews for the position of department chair. The third of five candidates, Joan...

NCSA General Meeting

Tuesday, February 4, 6–7 p.m. | Chem-Sci 102

A weekly meeting where we cover what's going on in the organization, often followed by a guest presenter, then discussion of what's going on in the world of tech.

Bible Study - John

Tuesday, February 4, 7:00–8:45 p.m. | His House Campus House

Join us as we continue to study the Gospel of John this semester! Who is Jesus? Who did he claim to be? If you are a seasoned Christian or just exploring your...

Serve The King Main Meeting

Tuesday, February 4, 7–9 p.m. | Wads G42W

Want to learn who Christ is? Why we sin? Why the world is in it's current state? Join us as we preach Christ crucified and risen, salvation to all who believe. Pizza...