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1. Students Test Employment Prospects at Career Fair |
by John Gagnon, promotional writer
If the economy were as good as the buzz at the Multipurpose Gym Tuesday, job prospects for students would be great.
As it is, the all-day Career Fair attracted 126 companies, fewer than last year but better than expected, according to Jim Turnquist, director of the Career Center.
Some companies were just testing the waters, most were hiring only co-ops and interns, and a few had full-time positions.
Tim Doubleday, a fourth-year student in chemical engineering from Battle Creek, was looking for an internship. "I'd like to get experience and a job," he said, "but there's not a whole lot out there."
There were some opportunities, though.
Jim Huyser, chief operating officer of Triangle Associates, a general contractor in Grand Rapids, was looking for a new product engineer for school construction.
Huyser is a 1973 graduate in civil engineering at Tech and says the firm's management likes Tech graduates for their "technological capabilities and analytical skills." A Tech education, he says, "makes for great people and thinkers."
Meanwhile, John Wenzel, of Tyco in Marinette, Wis., isn't hiring at the moment but he wants to keep the company on the students' radar. "We want to be in a position to pull the trigger when the economy recovers," he said. "Things change in a hurry, and we want to be ready."
And then there was Angela Corbine, a recruiter from Bucyrus in Milwaukee, who was looking to fill three cooperative education slots, one in mechanical engineering and two in electrical engineering.
The global firm manufactures large mining equipment, including a beast, the largest piece of equipment in the world, that makes a Jumbo jet and the Statue of Liberty look like pipsqueaks. The firm has doubled its workforce in the last two years and has spent $200 million on renovations in Milwaukee alone.
Corbine was accompanied by Michael Onsager, director of advanced technology, who is a Tech grad from 1976. Tech students have a reputation with the firm of having "real-world experiences," Onsager said.
Wendy Sersha, a recruiter from Minnesota Power, a utility that serves the northeast quadrant of the state, wasn't hiring but wants to stay in touch with students. The firm likes to recruit at Tech because of its power engineering program, a specialty that's hard to find, she says.
And then there was a standout: Jennifer Thompson, a recruiter from n-space, a video game developer in Orlando, Fla., which has partnered with such luminaries as Lucas Arts, Disney and Activision. The firm has increased its staff from 70 to 125 in just the past two years.
Thompson said the firm will continue to grow, but not at the recent rate. She likes bucking the economic trend. "It makes students feel good when they get here and see that we are hiring," she said. The reason they made this first trip to the Career Fair: Four Tech grads now work at the firm, and the late cofounder, Erick Dyke, was president of the 14-year-old company.
Matt Poppe, a fourth-year student in mechanical engineering from Bryon Center, was looking for an internship. He talked to several companies. "I anxiously anticipate a phone call," he said. "It'd be nice to make a little money."
Aaron Ritthaler, a senior in chemical engineering from Algonac, was upbeat. He just finished up a year of work for Peninsula Copper Industries in Hubbell. He was just poking around, looking for other opportunities, for he has an internship at PCI next summer. Next fall, he predicted, "will be serious, serious--there'll be more at stake."
There was at least one interloper at the Career Fair. A woman from Tufts University was visiting her boyfriend at Tech and was going to talk to one of the companies. |
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2. Speaker Addresses Global Society and Global People |
Sharnnia Artis, a motivational speaker, author and engineer from Dayton, Ohio, will address the challenges of a global society at Michigan Tech Friday.
Her presentation will be on the globalization of engineering education, research and practice, as well as self-globalization--an individual expression of a global mindset and cultural competence in an increasingly complex society.
The presentation, sponsored by Tech's National Society of Leadership and Success, will be at 3 p.m., Friday, in MEEM 111.
Artis has bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in industrial and systems engineering from Virginia Tech. She is a human factors engineer in Dayton and is the author of "Moving from Ordinary to Extraordinary: The Teen's Guide to High School Success."
Besides this presentation, Artis will host the "Open Mic" session of Black History Month from 8-11 p.m., Saturday, in Wadsworth Hall G 17-19. |
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3. Mineral Museum Visitor Record Blasted During Winter Carnival |
by Ted Bornhorst, director, A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum
Winter Carnival 2009 brought with it an unofficial single-day attendance record for the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum. Over 900 visitors perused the museum between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7.
Darlene Comfort, museum manager, called the record-setting day "crazy" and "amazing." Susan Robinson, wife of George Robinson, set the scene, "People are getting off the elevators today in groups of 10 or more, and the place is full." It took nearly an hour after closing time for the last visitors to leave the museum. George Robinson, museum curator, said, "Darlene deserves a medal for providing such great service to so many visitors at once."
With so many visitors, the Robinsons were kept busy, continually answering questions and identifying specimens that visitors had brought with them. While the museum put in a special exhibit on meteorites fitting in with the Winter Carnival theme, "A Frigid Place Gets a Blast From Space," and advertised some on the radio, it was our signs in the snow banks that ultimately guided the visitors to one of North America's great mineral museums. We are especially pleased that so many visitors were able to experience the "gem of Michigan Tech." |
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4. Order Your Free Apparel Program Vest at the Bookstore and Get a Coupon for 25 Percent Off |
submitted by the Campus Bookstore
Come to the Campus Bookstore and order your free Michigan Tech fleece vest, available through the employee apparel program, and you will receive a coupon for 25 percent off bookstore apparel, good through Feb. 28. The last day to order vests is Wednesday, Feb. 25.
For more more information on the apparel program, or to see if you are an eligible employee, visit www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/ttoday/previous.php?issue=20090213#5 . |
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5. Patent Law Forum Feb. 25 |
Dan Jones, patent attorney and partner with Michael Best and Friedrich of Milwaukee, Wis., will give a presentation on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 5 p.m. in Fisher 129. Jones will discuss current legal and practical issues involving patent and IP law, his experiences in the practice of law and legal training, and opportunities for students who are interested in careers as patent engineers or patent attorneys. This forum is free and open to the public.
Jones practices exclusively in intellectual property law, with an emphasis in mechanical technologies, design patents, trademark and licensing. He also negotiates research and development agreements, material transfer agreements and license agreements involving biotechnology and a wide variety of mechanical and electrical technologies.
Jim Baker, the director of Technology and Economic Development, and the legal careers class at Tech arranged Jones's visit. If you would like further information about this event, contact Susanna Peters at speters@mtu.edu . |
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6. Music from the North Featured at the Rozsa Saturday |
"Echoes of the North," the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra's next concert, to be held Saturday, Feb. 21, in the Rozsa Center, will feature Evan Premo, the gifted composer and stringed bassist, performing his own new composition, "Fall Storm on Lake Superior," plus Finnish composer Jukka Linkola's stunning "Concerto for Stringed Bass and Orchestra."
"Fall Storm on Lake Superior" will feature narration by Earl Otchingwanigan, who composed the Ojibwe poem which is central to the work. Special effects include photography by Charles Eshbach.
The concert, programmed by Evan Premo with music of the North, in particular Finland, also showcases the string band White Water, with Laurel Premo and soprano Mary Bonhag. All performers are well known locally for their many appearances in the Pine Mountain Music Festival, where Bonhag starred in the world premiere of Evan Premo's opera, "The Diaries of Adam and Eve," in 2007.
Evan Premo’s "Fall Storm” is inspired by a chapter in Lon Emerick's book, "The Superior Peninsula: Seasons in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan," in which Emerick is awed by mighty waves crashing over a breakwater, and, in reverie, "hears the voices of the past--the sailors whose vessels were crushed by Lake Superior's might, the Ojibwe on the shores of the lake, perhaps the lake itself speaking."
In addition to the Linkola concerto and "Fall Storm," the program includes two of White Water's signature pieces, "White Squall" and "Keweenaw Light," followed by special presentations of the work of Finnish composer Toivo Karki by Duo Borealis, the duo of Evan Premo and Mary Bonhag. This portion of the program will include a Finnish tribute prepared and presented by Laurel Premo. White Water will then join the KSO in three Finnish pieces orchestrated by Evan Premo,"Villiruusu," "Maailman Matti" and "Karjalan Pojat Polka."
This is the third of four concerts in Milton Olsson's final season as music director of the KSO. The series is titled "A Season of Memories," and it celebrates Olsson's 33 years of making music with the orchestra. The final concert in the series on April 18 will feature the KSO and the Concert Choir. |
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7. MSE Seminar Feb. 23 |
Pengpeng Zhang, from the Department of Chemistry and Physics at Pennsylvania State University, will give an MSE seminar, "Surfaces and Interfaces in Nanoscale Electronic Materials: From Understanding to Engineering," Monday, Feb. 23, 4-5 p.m. in M & M 610.
For more information, contact Margaret Rothenberger at mproth@mtu.edu . |
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8. Physics Colloquium Tomorrow |
Graduate students of the Department of Physics will give a colloquium tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 19, at 4 p.m. in Fisher 139.
Partha Pratim Pal, advised by Associate Professor Ranjit Pati, will present "Understanding the Mechanism of Electron Transport in a Molecular Device."
Chee Huei Lee, advised by Associate Professor Yoke Khin Yap, will present "Synthesis of Boron Nitride Nanotube Carpet on Si Substrates and Its Superhydrophobicity."
For more information, contact Yap, ykyap@mtu.edu or 487-2900; Pati, patir@mtu.edu or 487-3193; or Claudio Mazzoleni, cmazzoleni@mtu.edu or 487-1226. |
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9. Coordinator for Student Disability Services Candidate Seminar Friday |
A candidate for the position of coordinator for student disability services will give a presentation Friday, Feb. 20, from 10:45 to 11:30 a.m. in Alumni Lounge A. This presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer period. All members of the campus community are invited.
If you would like to review the candidate's application materials, contact Wendy Davis at wmdavis@mtu.edu . |
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10. Job Posting |
Staff job descriptions are available in the Human Resources Office or at http://www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/postings . For more information regarding staff positions, call 487-2280 or email jobs@mtu.edu .
Faculty job descriptions can be found at www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/facpers/facvac.htm . For more information regarding faculty positions, contact the academic department in which the position is posted.
Faculty Position
Tenure-Track Assistant Professor
Chemical Engineering
Michigan Technological University is an equal opportunity educational institution/equal opportunity employer. |
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11. Michigan Tech Notables |
Cheryl Cloud Westlund, co-director of the Michigan Tech Tribal Technical Assistance Program, was recently appointed to the Transportation Research Board Committee on Native American Transportation Issues. Westlund's term will run through April 2012.
The Transportation Research Board is a division of the National Research Council, a private, nonprofit institution that provides expertise in science and technology to the government, the public and the scientific and engineering communities. |
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