|
|
1. Siren Test Tuesday |
What: Test of the Siren and Public Address/Emergency Notification System
When: Tuesday, April 22, 10:30 a.m.
Where: Michigan Tech campus
For the past several months, Michigan Tech has planned to test its new siren and public address/emergency notification system; the date has been set for Tuesday, April 22, at 10:30 a.m.
The note left in the ROTC building recently underscores the importance of emergency communication; this is an excellent opportunity to test another tool for providing information to the campus community.
If you are on or near campus, you should hear the siren for 30 seconds, a short message on the public address system, and then another siren test for 30 seconds.
This is ONLY A TEST to determine the reach and sound of the siren and PA system. This first test is to determine the extent of the sound, and staff will be posted throughout campus to report on its range and loudness.
In a real emergency, the siren is a signal to seek shelter, and it may be used in cases of immediate danger to the community, for example, to announce tornado warnings. Other than for tests, the system will only be used in emergencies. |
|
|
2. Update from President Mroz on Threatening Note in ROTC Building |
As we indicated Wednesday evening, a threatening note was found in the restroom in the ROTC building on the Michigan Tech campus.
The area was secured by Public Safety officers and US Army and Air Force Officers who occupy the building. The area has been processed for evidence and this has been sent to the State Police Crime Laboratory.
The building has been locked down for the semester, and only students and employees with regular access will be able to enter.
We increased our police patrols last night and all local and state police authorities have been notified. We will continue increased patrols for the remainder of the semester.
You may also want to check out the Safety First website at http://www.mtu.edu/safety/ for additional information. If you have any information regarding this incident please contact Public Safety at 906-487-2216 or by dialing 911.
We will send additional information as it becomes available.
Thank you,
Glenn Mroz |
|
|
3. Seniors Make a Splash at Undergrad Expo |
Anyone looking for a reason to believe that the world is not teetering on the edge of calamity would have found comfort at the 2008 Undergraduate Expo.
Dozens of seniors packed the Memorial Union Ballroom, all of them eager to show off projects they had been struggling with for months, if not years. They ranged from a study of ancient trees emerging from a Lake Superior beach, to a redesigned stationary bike for "large-framed" riders, to a "nostalgic" steel beer can.
Winrobo II team leader Mark Cihlar demonstrated their window-washing robot, which scooted easily up a double-hung window, carefully sliding a pair of sponges across the glass. Their design was good enough to win the regional American Society of Mechanical Engineers student design competition, held recently at Missouri University, in Columbia, Mo. Next fall, they take their robot, Frank Jr., to the nationals in Boston.
Next to the Winrobo II team was Noah Schuster, of the Winrobo I team, which worked on a different design (called the Viper, for "Vindow Viper"). Unfortunately, their components didn't arrive in time to compete in Missouri. That didn't keep Schuster or the rest of the team from learning more than they ever thought possible about the pitfalls of product development and the perils of the supply chain.
Senior Design Team 146 worked with Anchor Coupling to develop a machine that could make an assembly line worker's job more efficient and more ergonomic. Originally, they wanted to fully mechanize what looked like a simple task: putting colored tape around hydraulic hoses of various dimensions to indicate where clamps should go, and what type they should be. "The problem was easy, the solution was not," team member Michael Lennon noted wryly. They did prevail. "It turned out real well," said Joshua Ehlers. "We just got it working last Monday."
In particular, a piston-driven clamp that applies uniform pressure to hoses of any diameter was key to project's design. It's been so successful that Anchor Coupling plans to try it out in their Illinois and Japan facilities.
Biomedical engineering student Stephanie Tuttle couldn't say enough about her team's International Business Ventures Enterprise project, developing a low-cost ventilator that could be used by hospitals to treat seriously ill patients during a flu pandemic. Ventilators usually cost about $30,000, and they aim to build one for about $1,000 or less. "We have all different majors," she says, working software, engineering, marketing, and getting FDA approval. "Next fall, we'll have a prototype," she said.
Yet another reason to breathe easier. |
|
|
4. Rube Goldberg Machine Making Burgers at Spring Fling |
|
Michigan Tech's entry in the Rube Goldberg Competition, held recently at Purdue, will be making hamburgers as inefficiently as possible between Fisher Hall and Counseling Services during Spring Fling this afternoon. |
|
|
5. Office of Technology and Economic Development Closing Morning of April 25 |
|
The Technology and Economic Development office will be closed on Friday, April 25, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. for staff training and will resume offices hours at 1:30 p.m. |
|
|
6. April 2008 Vice President for Research Newsletter Available Online |
The April 2008 issue of the Vice President for Research Newsletter is available at www.admin.mtu.edu/research/vpr/rsp.html#newsletter .
The newsletter contains the following:
•Research Award Deadline
•Research Excellence Fund Update
•New Employees
•Special Fees and Use Charge
•Review of Property Procedures
•Workshop Announcements
The Vice President for Research Newsletter is published quarterly and is posted on the web. Mailing of paper copies to departments is being restricted. Please print copies from the above link. |
|
|
7. Campus Bookstore, University Images Spring Fling Sale Today |
|
The Campus Bookstore and University Images will offer 50 percent off selected clothing and gift items at Spring Fling today, Friday, April 18. Gear up for spring now with specials on sunglasses regularly $9.99 now $4.99, flip flops regularly $6 now $2.99, selected glassware, decals, pennants and men's and women's Michigan Tech T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats and much more. Sale merchandise will be available outside the Memorial Union and at University Images. |
|
|
8. Volunteers Needed for Spring Fling Recycling Activity |
submitted by the Inter-Residence Hall Council
The Inter-Residence Hall Council will again be offering its Spring Fling stress-relieving opportunity today, Friday, April 18, allowing people to vent frustration by ripping covers off hardcover books left over from the library book sale, as well as dive into dumpsters to retrieve recyclable materials. The purpose of this activity is to raise awareness about how much recyclable material is thrown away in a campus setting.
Grounds staff will move a dumpster from Douglass Houghton Hall to an area by Fisher Hall mid-afternoon, around 1 or 2 p.m. Volunteers can then dive in and sort stuff into recyclable material, trash and compost piles, bag it up and, if they wish, transport it to Waste Management.
If you are interested, contact Jake Emerick, jpemeric@mtu.edu . |
|
|
9. Funeral for Former Faculty Member Lloyal Bacon Saturday |
Lloyal O. Bacon, a former faculty member in the physics department and what is now the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences, passed away Tuesday.
A funeral Service will be held at Good Shepherd Saturday, April 19, at 2 p.m.
Additional information will follow. |
|
|
10. University Women's Connection Spring Luncheon Location Changed |
Due to the overwhelming response to the University Women Connection Spring Event, we must move to a different location to accommodate all those attending.
The culinary herb demonstration and lunch will be held Saturday, April 19, in the Memorial Union Alumni Lounge. The time remains the same, 10 a.m.–noon. For more information, contact Jen O'Connell, jaoconne@mtu.edu , 487-1963. |
|
|
11. Leading Physicist to Talk on Molecular Nanomagnets |
The former president of the American Physical Society will be at Michigan Tech Tuesday, April 22, to give a colloquium, "Molecular Nanomagnets." Her talk begins at 11 a.m. in Fisher 138.
Myriam P. Sarachik is a distinguished professor of physics at the City College of the City University of New York and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Molecular magnets are organic crystals containing a very large number of magnetic molecules. Their behavior straddles the border between classical and quantum magnetism. Interest in these materials has grown dramatically in the last several years owing to their potential use for high-density information storage; they could also provide the qubits needed for quantum computation.
Sarachik received the 2005 Oliver E. Buckley Prize in Condensed Matter Physics and was chosen for the 2005 L'Oreal/UNESCO Award "For Women in Science" for North America. She serves on the Governing Council of the National Academy of Sciences and the Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
For more information, contact Miguel Levy, mlevey@mtu.edu , 487-2084. |
|
|
12. Lecture on Industrial Heritage in Sweden April 24, Student Forum April 25 |
Anna Storm from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm will give a lecture sponsored by the Department of Social Sciences, “Industrial Heritage and the Heritage Industry: Some Experiences in Sweden,” Thursday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m. in Fisher 138.
Storm earned a BA in History at Stockholm University in 2002, and she defended her dissertation in March. Her study, "Hope and Rust: Reinterpreting the Industrial Place in the Late 20th Century," examines three case studies of redevelopment, economic growth and heritage tourism in former industrial areas: Koppardalen in Avesta, Sweden; the Ironbridge Gorge Museum in Britain; and Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord in the Ruhr district of Germany.
Storm has explored the role of industrial heritage in municipal planning and renewal for a research project at the Royal Institute of Technology, “The Transformation of Industrial Society: Industrial Growth and Change in Company Development and Municipal Planning.” Storm's expertise and topic would be of special interest to those concerned about the preservation and interpretation of this area’s extensive industrial heritage and interested in heritage tourism, possibilities of economic development and the re-use of historical industrial structures.
The department also will host an open forum with Storm, co-sponsored by the Society of Women Engineers and the Graduate Student Council, Friday, April 25, 3 p.m. in the Peninsula Room of the Memorial Union. All students are invited to join the informal conversation with Storm, who will discuss pursuing an academic career and the general situation for women in European academia.
Storm’s visit is sponsored by the Department of Social Sciences with the support of the Visiting Women and Minorities Scholars Series. For more information, contact chair Bruce Seely (Social Sciences) at 487-2113 or bseely@mtu.edu . |
|
|
13. Reminder: Post-it Note Inventor to Speak Today |
Art Fry, inventor of the Post-it note, will be speaking Friday, April 18, at 10:05 a.m. in Fisher 139. Fry will talk about how the Post-it note came to be. Don't miss this informative and interesting presentation open to everyone.
This talk is sponsored by CenTile, through the Executive in Residence program. |
|
|
14. RSI Seminar Monday |
David Harrington (University of Hawaii) will present the final Remote Sensing Institute seminar of the semester, "Astronomical Spectropolarimetry–Sensing Stellar Magnetic Fields, Circumstellar Material and Star-environment Interactions," Monday, April 21, 4-5 p.m. in M & M U113. The abstract is available at www.rsi.mtu.edu/seminar_current.html#harrington .
For more information, contact Will Cantrell at cantrell@mtu.edu . |
|
|
15. New Funding |
|
David Flaspohler, Chris Webster and Amber Roth (SFRES) have received $15,000 of a total $51,000 over three years from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for "Golden-winged Warbler Conservation Initiative." |
|
|
16. Michigan Tech Notables |
|
Archivist Erik Nordberg (Van Pelt Library) has been appointed by Governor Jennifer M. Granholm to Michigan's State Historical Records Advisory Board. The five-person board serves as a central advisory body for historical records planning and for projects funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), a division of the National Archives. The board acts as a coordinating body to facilitate cooperation and communication among historical records repositories and information agencies within the state and as a state-level review body for grant proposals that meet NHPRC grant program guidelines. Nordberg will serve a two-year term, renewable in 2011. |
|
|
17. Teaching at Tech–Encouraging Intellectual Maturation |
by Bill Kennedy, director, Center for Teaching, Learning and Faculty Development
At a recent workshop, Provost Lesley Lovett-Doust talked about reverse engineering curricula as a planning tool. She suggested that we think about working backwards from a well-defined set of educational outcomes to create and refine our curricular offerings and delivery systems so that our educational programs measurably increase the likelihood that our students will achieve those desired outcomes.
At the same time, teachers routinely fall into the trap of thinking that their primary job is to distill out a suitable subset of disciplinary understandings and then to offload that subset into the waiting brains of our students via Powerpoint-enabled lectures, podcasts or some other variation on a theme. Evidence for my claim comes from the ubiquitous use of teacherly metaphors such as "covering the material." Further evidence comes from the way that we assess our students' learning by using multiple-guess tests and targeted problem sets in order to see if they remember what we thought was important or if they can run those numbers after choosing the right formula, just like we did up at the whiteboard throughout the term.
What's wrong with this approach is that it only focuses on one dimension of what is traditionally thought of as a triad of learning, maturation and motivation that's supposed to occur when we set about to light fires rather than simply fill pails (my apologies to Yeats) in higher education. Encouraging intellectual maturation was the subject of William Perry's work at Harvard in the middle of the last century. Perry found that most students enter college looking for black and white answers to support their dualistic view of things. With these underlying beliefs, teachers know the answers, and compliant students can learn them if they are patient and dutiful. Through their college experience, Perry said, many students then come to see a more complex and ambiguous view of things and react to this uncertainty by adopting the position that because all things are relative, there's no real benefit in listening to experts. They are left in a state of drift.
Later, they may come to understand that competing and dissonant expert opinions still represent useful inputs in the ongoing process of deciding what's real and useful. Later, a subset of those students come to recognize that college is really more about learning to process evidence using a sufficiently rich set of tools and constantly seeking to refine those tools in the face of gathering evidence so that the nuance and ambiguity isn't lost and productive work can still be accomplished in the face of that mind-boggling complexity. Finally, Perry said that a few students eventually come to see that it is the pursuit of those very principles and tools that is the real stuff of coming to terms with our emerging conception of reality.
Richard Felder and Rebecca Brent, using Perry's scheme, reviewed several studies of STEM students and concluded that the largest percentage of these students enter college just as their dualism is coming into question and that fewer than one-third of them progress to the state of "believing that there are no absolute answers nor reliable authorities—where all knowledge and values are seen as contingent and contextual" by the time they graduate.* If only one-third progress to this state, that means even fewer, if any of them, come to embrace the idea that these ever-evolving and intertwined ways of seeing and knowing are the real stuff of lifelong learning.
I'm all for reverse engineering. My only concern is that we be careful to set sufficiently rich goals and outcomes to inform our ongoing continuous improvement efforts.
*The Intellectual Development of Science and Engineering Students: Part 1: Models and Challenges, Journal of Engineering Education, October 2004, pp. 269-70 |
|
|
