US Renews Support for FACE Facility

The premiere window on the future of northern forests will continue to provide new views on the effects of global climate change, thanks to renewed support from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The premiere window on the future of northern forests will continue to provide new views on the effects of global climate change, thanks to renewed support from the U.S. Department of Energy.

DOE will provide an additional $5 million for the facility, which is directed by Dave Karnosky, professor of forest resources and environmental science at Michigan Tech. For more information, see aspenface.mtu.edu

Nanotech Minor Available This Fall

Students from all majors will have the opportunity to minor in nanotechnology, beginning this fall. Students studying in the new minor will co-op with Michigan Tech faculty conducting research in the area.

Because nanotechnology has such huge potential, with applications in engineering, the sciences, social sciences and the humanities, the minor is an excellent fit for students pursuing almost any bachelor's degree. In particular, students will be introduced to nanotechnology's societal and ethical implications, an aspect of the minor that's critical in a discipline with such revolutionary promise. For more information: www.nano.mtu.edu

YES! Expo Slated for October

Michigan Tech will sponsor the second Youth in Engineering and Science (YES) Expo on October 26, 2005, at Ford Field in Detroit. The event will bring together companies and universities from throughout Michigan to encourage middle- and high-school students to pursue education and careers in science and engineering.

Last year's first-ever YES! Expo took place in conjunction with the Bash at the Big House football game. This year's event will stand alone at Ford Field.

The event is a collaboration of K-12 schools, state agencies, corporations, universities, community colleges, youth organizations, professional societies and business development organizations.

For more information, see www.mtu.edu/yes

Physicists Recognized-103 Years Later

Michigan Tech's entire physics faculty will be recognized by Guinness World Records in the next edition of its famous book, a mere 103 years after their record-shattering feat.

While researching the department's history, physics professor Bryan Suits discovered that four former faculty members, including James Fisher, Nathan Osborne, Elmer Grant and Fred McNair, had built several 4,000-plus feet (1.3 km) pendula in the old Tamarack Mine shafts near Calumet in 1901.

Impressed, Suits contacted Guinness and found that their current record pendulum was only 22.5 meters, about 75 feet. "I said, 'Maybe you'd like to hear about ours,'" Suits recalls.

"The whole reason they were doing this was to map out what was going on in the mines," Suits said. The mining company had just dug a new shaft, the No. 5-at over 4,000 feet deep, the Tamarack shafts were then the deepest in the world-and they wanted to dig a tunnel between the new shaft and a tunnel from another shaft.

Isle Royale Moose Suffer

It's been another tough year for the moose of Isle Royale National Park. Rolf Peterson, professor of wildlife ecology at Tech, has led the predator/prey study for 35 years.

Peterson says "moose numbers have been cut in half in the last three years." Factors include summer heat, thick snowcover, and a ferocious infestation of ticks. Numbers have plummeted from 1,100 in 2002-03 to 540 in 2004-05.

Meanwhile, the wolf population jumped nearly 50 percent, from 19 in 2003 to 29 in 2004, and has held steady this year at 30.

The 132,000-acre island has given scientists a rare chance to study the seesawing relationship between wolves and moose in a closed system. The study is funded by the National Park Service, the National Science Foundation and Earthwatch. You will find more information at www.isleroyalewolf.org

New Honors Institute Emphasizes Active Students

Those organizing Michigan Tech's new Honors Institute expected to attract about 20 students. They ended up cutting off membership at 74.

Rather than requiring additional courses, the Honors Institute will help students develop enrichment activities such as service learning projects or a mix of a fine arts love with a course in their major.

"The institute is more about activities to enhance member efforts in academic excellence than about specialized courses," said Mary Durfee, director of the institute.

Durfee said 95 percent of the initial members have a strong connection to fine arts and NASA seems to be a popular potential employer.

New Degrees at Michigan Tech

• BS in Theatre and Entertainment Technology
• BS in Audio Production and Technology
• BA in Theatre and Entertainment Technology
• BA in Sound Design
• BS in Cheminformatics
• BS in Pharmaceutical Chemistry

New Athletic Director Named

Athletic Director Rick Yeo '66 has accepted a new position as senior director of athletic development. Suzanne Sanregret '93, assistant athletic director for eight years, has been named as his successor.

Kevin Luke '82, who will remain head coach of the men's basketball team, will also serve as associate athletic director.

Yeo will raise funds for all sports except football. The director of athletic development, Bill Steele, will focus his efforts exclusively on football.

Sanregret joined the athletic department in 1997 as business manager. Her responsibilities have covered a variety of areas, including advising on the hiring and evaluation of coaching staff; NCAA Division I and II compliance; budgets; and booster clubs.

Cargill Licenses De-Icing Pavement Coating

Cargill, the agricultural and chemical industrial giant, has licensed a Michigan Tech technology that reduces ice build-up on pavement.

Called SafeLane, the blend of epoxy and aggregate forms a pavement coating about one-half inch thick. It was invented by Russ Alger (at right), head of the Institute for Snow Research at Tech's Keweenaw Research Center.The coating soaks up de-icing chemicals, then slowly releases the chemical, preventing ice build-up without the need for continuously spreading salt.

Cargill will market SafeLane and oversee its installation. You will find more information about the product at http://www.cargillsafelane.com/

Inaugural Preview Day Successful

More than 300 prospective students and members of their families came to campus in March for the first Preview Day. The event targets students who have been accepted at Michigan Tech but aren't sure yet where they will attend college.

The schedule included a number of information sessions, from paying for college to thriving during a Keweenaw winter.

Ambassadors a Hit at High Schools

Off to college and back to high school?

That's the idea behind Michigan Tech's ambassador program, with 60 current Tech students returning to their high schools to talk about the university.

"The goal is to get them into the classrooms," said Bill Roberts, who coordinates the program out of the admissions office. "This dovetails nicely with our admissions representatives, who typically work with the high school guidance office."

The concept? That there is nothing better than a satisfied customer.

"They tell the story of Michigan Tech, and are our best advocates," Roberts said.

Governor Appoints Two Board Members

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has reappointed Kathryn I. Clark and appointed Martha K. Richardson to the Board of Control. Both will serve terms ending Dec. 31, 2012.

Clark is president of Docere, LLC, in Ann Arbor, has been a senior scientist at NASA and continues working in the field of human exploration and development of space enterprise.

Richardson earned an MS in Business Administration from Michigan Tech and is president of Services Marketing Specialists, Inc., a Detroit-based consulting firm that specializes in marketing for professional service firms and business-to-business markets.

The Board of Control includes eight members appointed by the governor. The board normally meets six times a year.

Siler Delivers Commencement Address

George A. Siler '72 (right) was the featured speaker at the 2005 Spring Commencement April 30. The university recognized the achievements of more than 800 graduates, bestowing 13 associate degrees, 744 bachelor's degrees, 105 master's degrees and 27 PhDs.

Siler, a Keweenaw native, earned a BS in Chemical Engineering with honor and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Engineering degree. Now a certified retirement planning counselor, he is the retired vice president and general manager of Amoco Petroleum and operations manager of British Petroleum.

Corrections

The article about the civil and environmental engineering senior design program was not correct. The correct address is http://www.cee.mtu.edu/

We listed an incorrect name for a birth. We should have said that Troy '92 and Kristin Molby had a son on August 29, 2004, and named him Elliott.