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1. Reminder: President's Forum Set for Today |
President Glenn Mroz will host a campus forum from 2 to 4 p.m. today in the Memorial Union Ballroom.
Release time will be provided for the hourly staff with the approval of their supervisor. Everyone is encouraged to attend.
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2. Walking a Mile in Each Other's Shoes |
by Jennifer Donovan, public relations director
What do public policymakers know about engineering? Usually not much. What do engineers know about public policy and social needs? Usually even less.
To inform each other about their worlds and their concerns--and in doing so help prepare them to do their jobs better--graduate students from Michigan Tech and Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, La., are spending time on each other's campus and working collaboratively on research projects. They're participants in a National Science Foundation-funded program called Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT), run by the Sustainable Futures Institute.
Last spring, eight Michigan Tech students spent two weeks on Southern's Baton Rouge campus.
This week (July 20-24), three students and two faculty members from Southern will join 15 IGERT trainees from Michigan Tech at the campus in Houghton to share their experiences and their research. Michigan Tech faculty who have served as IGERT advisors will also participate. They include Mary Durfee, John Gershenson, John Gierke, Jeff Naber, David Shonnard, John Sutherland, Noel Urban , Komar Kawatra, Larry Sutter, Donna Michalek and David Watkins.
The trainees will present their research and tour the Michigan Tech campus on Wednesday, July 22. Thursday evening, July 23, they will dine at the Miscowaubik Club in Keweenaw National Historic Park, before the visitors return to Baton Rouge on Friday.
"Being involved in IGERT has provided me with a multidisciplinary (some call it metadisciplinary) perspective on one of the greatest challenges we face globally--sustainability," said Margot Hutchins, an IGERT trainee and graduate student in mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics. "I think this will be useful because it allows me to better understand the assumptions and arguments of people from a variety of disciplines, communicate with them and, hopefully, bring them together to address complex problems."
Donna Michalek, assistant provost and associate professor of mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics, is an IGERT advisor. "It is very rewarding advising and working with the IGERT graduate students at both campuses," she said. "The program places many challenges before the students, and they not only meet them but also challenge the faculty by requiring us to go beyond our individual comfort zones."
This is the final year of IGERT's $3.5-million NSF grant. The program has been invited to submit a renewal proposal, said IGERT coordinator Melanie Yang. |
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3. Family Engineering Night Set |
Family Engineering Night will be at CLK Elementary in Calumet from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, July 21, in the cafeteria.
Get a preview of a new national program and enjoy an evening of fun and hands-on engineering activities.
Families will receive a $10 gift certificate to Dairy Queen or a $15 gift certificate to Calumet Pizza Works.
For more information, call Joan Chadde at 487-3341.
Schedule:
6:30 to 7 p.m.--Engineering Activity Stations (on your own)
7 to 8 p.m.--Large Group Engineering Activities
8 p.m.--Meet an Engineer
8:10 p.m.--Head for Home |
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4. The University Addresses Potential Disasters |
Michigan Tech now has a hazard mitigation plan that is intended to reduce vulnerability to natural, man-made and technological disasters.
The plan, more than two years in the making, recently was approved by state and federal agencies, and it qualifies Tech to request federal funds to reduce or eliminate risks to life, safety and property.
High on the list of potential problems that Michigan Tech might encounter are: structural fires; urban flooding; hazardous materials; sabotage/terrorism; public health; and infrastructure failure (particularly, disruption of utilities).
The overall goal: preclude disasters, reduce the risk of them and reduce their consequences.
The measures address such matters as providing fire suppression, securing telecommunication manholes and replacing storm sewers to avoid flood danger--mostly infrastructural items.
John Rovano, director of Facilities, was on the seven-member team involved with drafting the 200-page document. He said the Federal Emergency Management Agency requires that the University have such a plan in order to apply for money for disaster-related initiatives.
The cost of the project, part of the Disaster Resistant University Program, totaled $75,000 and entailed an outlay of $9,375 from both the University and the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Regional Commission (WUPPDR) and $56,250 from FEMA.
Meghan Pachmayer, a planner at WUPPDR in Houghton, wrote the plan, some of which is confidential. She said Michigan Tech is the only university in the state with a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan.
"Meghan deserves ninety percent of the credit for this effort," Rovano said. "She put the plan together and did an excellent job. It met all stages of approval."
Community members were involved in the formulation of the document. "Many disasters can indeed involve both the community and the campus," Rovano said. "We might look to them for help, and they might look to us for help." The plan for Tech dovetails with similar plans for the state, Houghton County and Baraga County.
Community members on the advisory committee were Jack Dueweke, director of the Office of Emergency Measures for Keweenaw and Houghton counties, and Jim Lightfoot, chief of the Houghton Fire Department.
Tech people involved were: Jon Ahola, formerly of Public Safety; Janet Hayden, director, Risk Management; Jim Heikkinen, assistant director of Planning and Engineering; Beth Wagner, assistant vice president of Student Life; and Rovano. |
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5. Win a Free Golf Pass: Sign Up for Athletics News |
Athletics is giving away free golf passes to the first four people who sign up to receive Athletics news via email for the coming season. To subscribe, email the word "yes" to jbhamilt@mtu.edu . The pass is good for a free 9-hole round of golf with a cart at L'Anse Golf Club and expires Friday, July 24.
If you are a winner, you will be contacted by email and will be able to pick up your pass at the main Athletics Office in the Student Development Complex. Non-winners will also receive a notice of the results. |
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6. Car Wash, Raffle Fundraiser to Benefit National Society of Black Engineers |
The Michigan Tech chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity are teaming up to hold a car wash/raffle fundraiser at Sounds and Motion Friday and Saturday, July 24-25.
Donations will go toward the NSBE chapter's trip to its Regional Leadership Conference. Individuals with gifts of $2 or more will be entered into a raffle for a chance to win prizes, valued between $10 and $100, donated by Sounds and Motion. The drawing will take place on Sunday, July 26, with the winners to be contacted.
For more information, email Kingsley Iduma at kciduma@mtu.edu or Perry Wilson at pewilson@mtu.edu . |
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7. Job Posting |
Staff job descriptions are available in Human Resources 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
Non-Tenure-Track Visiting Assistant Professor
Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Michigan Technological University is an equal opportunity educational institution/equal opportunity employer. |
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8. In the News: Vucetich |
LiveScience.com featured a profile of Assistant Professor John Vucetich (SFRES), along with a question-and-answer session, in its ScienceLives series, which "puts scientists under the microscope to find out what makes them tick."
To find out what Vucetich's best piece of advice is as a scientist and the answers to many more intriguing questions, click here. |
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