|
|
1. Four Michigan Tech Engineering Graduate Programs Rank in Top 50 Nationwide |
by Jennifer Donovan, director of public relations
Graduate school rankings released by US News and World Report today rank four of Michigan Tech graduate engineering programs in the top 50 nationwide. The annual rankings evaluated graduate programs in 192 schools of engineering.
Michigan Tech's ranked engineering programs included:
• Environmental engineering--28th
• Mechanical engineering--48th
• Materials science and engineering--48th
• Civil engineering--49th
Tech's College of Engineering overall ranked in the top 100, at 86th.
For the first time this year, US News and World Report also ranked biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, earth sciences, mathematics and physics. Earth sciences at Michigan Tech ranked in the top 100, at 81st. Physics ranked 122nd, and biological sciences, 207th.
"This year's rankings really show that competition for the 'top 50' is increasing. We are neck-and-neck with some very strong programs" said Jackie Huntoon, dean of the Graduate School.
Each year, US News and World Report ranks graduate schools of engineering, business, the sciences, the humanities and social sciences, medicine and other health specialties, law and education. They base these rankings on two types of data: expert opinions by the programs' peers and statistical indicators of program quality. The data come from surveys conducted in the fall of 2009 of more than 12,400 academics and professionals and more than 1,200 graduate programs.
Engineering specialties are ranked solely on the basis of assessments by department chairs in each specialty. The American Society for Engineering Education recommends the department chairs to be surveyed.
The rankings will be featured in the May 2010 issue of US News and World Report, scheduled to be on the newsstands on April 27. A guidebook called "America's Best Graduate Schools" will be available for purchase on April 20.
Information is also available online at www.usnews.com/grad . |
|
|
2. Ash Cloud Wreaks Havoc with Airspace, and It Could be Worse |
by Dennis Walikainen, senior editor
The recent Icelandic volcano eruption that closed down airports across United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Belgium, and northern Germany, has affected air traffic all over Europe and transatlantic flights from the US. One Michigan Tech professor says it's important to track the cloud not only to monitor its impact on aviation but also for the gases within.
Simon A. Carn, assistant professor in geological and mining engineering and sciences department who hails from the UK, is monitoring the cloud from the eruption via satellite and focuses on the ash and the sulfur dioxide (SO2) it contains.
Other possible impacts of the eruption depend on sulfur dioxide emissions, which can become sulfuric acid, reflecting sunlight and causing cooling. So far the SO2 emissions detected in the eruption cloud are relatively minor, but if the ash falls on the ground, it can also be an environmental and health hazard, he says.
"This is a pretty significant event," Carn says. "They can smell the sulfur in Scotland and Norway, and the ash cloud is moving north of the UK over Norway. Closure of airspace in Europe can have global repercussions."
Ash, which is made up of pulverized rock, can be melted in airplanes' jet engines, he says, causing them to fail. Ash also erodes the exterior of aircraft, including the windshield, affecting visibility. "And there have been incidents of this occurring in the past."
Carn uses data from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on a NASA satellite called Aura to track volcanic eruption clouds, including an Aerosol Index, which portrays the volcanic ash cloud and measurements that reveal SO2 concentrations.
Tracking the cloud via satellite means getting data approximately every 15 minutes from some sensors, and Carn seeks to discover how much SO2 is in the cloud to look at the aforementioned effects on climate and health. And these events can be long term.
"You never know," he says, "these Icelandic eruptions can go on for months or even years, or they can just shut down."
Also of concern, in addition to the gases that could be toxic and dangerous to breathe, is the ash falling into water supplies, such as a reservoir, or affecting livestock and crops. "This is mainly an issue closer to the eruption site in Iceland," Carn says. "Icelandic eruptions have the potential to produce significant quantities of hydrogen fluoride (HF), which is highly toxic, but we can't measure this using satellite data."
In the future, Carn would love to discover just how much ash is dangerous, first to the jet engines, as there is not enough data to discern that just yet. "We are getting better at quantifying the amounts of SO2 and ash in volcanic clouds using satellite data, but we still don't know the critical concentration of ash that is an aviation hazard," he says. "Airlines are very cautious about flying anywhere that volcanic ash might be present and engine manufacturers are not very forthcoming with any data they might have." |
|
|
3. Undergraduate Expo: Two Student Teams Work on Shotgun Shooting Sports |
by John Gagnon, promotional writer
At the behest of Professor Chris Passerello (ME-EM), a member of the Portage Lake Sportsmen's Club, two senior design teams, all mechanical engineers, have tackled the sport that involves a shooter, a shotgun, and a saucer-sized clay pigeon that looks like a Frisbee. One student group has fashioned a biodegradable pigeon to replace the clay; another has made a portable pigeon launcher. Both came up with something unique and are investigating patents.
The biodegradable pigeon
Four students have their sights set on replacing the clay pigeons that are routinely used for the sport. Clay pigeons are made of tar, pitch, and limestone, they are not biodegradable, and their containers have a label that says they are harmful, for instance, if ingested by hogs. The students have devised a pigeon that is made of three corn-based ingredients and is biodegradable. The makeup of the material is secret, but the results are evident.
"Our pigeon is better and safer than the clays that are out there now," says Tyler Hendrickson, one of the team.
The students started on the project in the fall of 2009 with theoretical calculations and computer modeling. They investigated a wide array of materials, mixtures, concentrations, and processes. Once they determined their material, they experimented with compressing it, baking it, microwaving it--"any way to make materials solid."
It involved a lot of testing, for "each temperature gives different physical properties." All in all, the approach involved "trial and error, stop and start."
Once they devised their ingredients and mixture, the procedure proved to be simple and involves a non-stick pot, a hot plate, a candy thermometer, a stirrer, a molten mixture heated to 300 degrees F, and a precisely calculated aluminum mold. The product, which cools in mere seconds, ended up the consistency of Elmer's glue while molten. It solidifies to the consistency of peanut brittle. One pot of material makes eight pigeons. All totaled, they have made 150 for testing.
They had to meet standards and dimensions set forth by a national skeet shooting association. The product is suitable for both competition on the range and recreation in the backyard. "They fly nicely," another student, Simon Dezelski, says.
Besides being toxic, there is another drawback of the traditional clay pigeon: the shot sometimes goes through it without breaking the pigeon. A mere one or two pellets break this new version. It's a balancing act. "It has to break, but you have to make sure it doesn't break when it's launched," Hendrickson says.
The process lends itself to high production and large volumes--and it is affordable. Competition clay pigeons cost $10 for 90; this new pigeon cost $12 or $13 for 90.
Hendrickson says of the endeavor, "It has taken us long and far. The numbers told us it would work, but having it actually work is pretty cool."
The other members of the team are Robert Gisch and Graig Vansickle. Their advisor is Charles Margraves, also of ME-EM.
All of the ingredients for their pigeon can be found in a grocery store. There's a good dose of something sweet. Biodegradable? Get this--you can eat these pigeons, and, believe me, they taste good.
The portable pigeon thrower
A pigeon must be propelled by a hurling device. Five students have designed and made a portable thrower--a project ambitious from the outset. Kevin Moran says, "Our idea was, 'go big or go home.' We wanted to wow everybody with the world's coolest thrower."
It was, in a sense, a long shot. "We had high expectations and wanted to live up to that," Moran says.
The thrower weighs 150 pounds and can be carted around in a pickup truck; it fits, waist-high, on a four-by-four-foot pallet; it can be loaded with 180 pigeons; it fires every three seconds; it will sling a pigeon 60 yards at 60 miles per hour. "It's rugged," Sam Szpara says. "It belongs on a battleship. It'll outlive a person."
It’s an electro-mechanical device; not driven by computer. Made of stainless steel, aluminum, and brass--with motor and electronics waterproofed--it can sit outside year-round. "You could put it in the lake for a year and pull it out and it would still be shiny and work," says Szpara.
The students didn't copy any other design. Except for bolts and nuts and springs and motors, they designed and machined every part. Moran, for instance, "reverse engineered" the throwing arm based on the design of the hurling "basket" used in jai alai.
All five students pitched in with everything: thinking, modeling and machining; building and assembly; paperwork and organization. The latter was largely the purview of Sam Handschke. "Without Sam, we'd still be lost in the machine shop," Szpara says.
The Department of Engineering-Engineering Mechanics funded the project, which began in September, with a $3,000 grant. The team stayed under budget, but, counting donated materials and shop time (Moran worked in his father's fabrication shop), they figure the device has cost $24,000.
Moran says he is "no big fan of math and theory" and likes to get his hands dirty. He has put in 340 hours over seven months on the project. "I’ve had no life," he says. He logged 96 hours of milling in his father's shop alone over spring break. "Instead of being on a warm beach," he says, "I was in a dark machine shop. Stay up late. Get up early."
The endeavor is down to "little adjustments."
"We all cared about the project. That’s why it came out well," Handschke says.
All the team members are seniors. Moran has had so much fun he is going to be "bummed" when he graduates. He says, "I should flunk my art class so I can't leave."
He has found purpose. "Take the initiative to go above what you think you can do. It can happen. Our generation has this notion of 'I'’s who you know.' I want to become someone to know."
Two other members of the trap thrower team are seniors Tim Olson and Ryan Ward. All of the students were resolute. "Failure was not an option," Moran says. |
|
|
4. Michigan Space Grant Consortium Funds 27 Projects at Michigan Tech |
by Jillian Schwab, student intern
The Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC), sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has awarded approximately $375,000 to nine Michigan universities with aerospace, engineering and space- science-related programs. Michigan Tech submitted 40 proposals, and 27 received funding totaling $105,000.
Of that, $20,000 supports undergraduate fellowships, $30,000 is for graduate research fellowships, $30,000 provides seed grants for faculty, and $25,000 is designated for outreach, including K-12 and teacher training programs.
Undergraduate students receiving $2,500 research fellowships include Andrew Ramsey (ME-EM), Phil Hohnstadt (ME-EM), Peter Solfest (Physics), Stephen Schweitzer (Biomedical Engineering), John Visser (ME-EM), Samantha Wojda (Biomedical Engineering), Patrick Bowen (MSE), William Grant (Chemical Engineering) and Ben Gerhardt (ME-EM).
Graduate students receiving $5,000 fellowships include Christopher Schwartz (Biological Sciences), Elisabet Head (Geology), Jarod Maggio (Environmental Engineering), Adam Abraham (ME-EM), Matthew Barron (Biomedical Engineering), Megan Killian (Biomedical Engineering) and Amalia Anderson (Physics).
Faculty members receiving $5,000 seed grants included Shiyan Hu, Jason Carter, Audrey Mayer, Qingli Dai, Ashok Goel and Claudio Mazzoleni. Faculty and staff members receiving $5,000 for outreach, precollege and teacher training programs include Douglas Oppliger, Shawn Oppliger, Joan Chadde and Kristi Isaacson.
One student receiving an undergraduate fellowship is Samantha Wojda. She plans to use her grant to study how hibernation affects the bones of marmots. Disuse osteoporosis is a common problem faced by astronauts in microgravity. Hibernating mammals are also at high risk for the condition, and many have developed adaptive ways of dealing with it. Wojda plans to study hibernating marmots to see how they are affected by or protected from disuse osteoporosis. What she learns may help researchers find ways to prevent human astronauts and others who are immobilized for long periods of time from developing the debilitating condition.
NASA implemented the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program in 1989 to provide funding for research, education and public outreach in space-related science and technology. The program has 52 university-based consortia in the United States and Puerto Rico. As part of the Michigan Consortium, Michigan Tech has been an active participant in MSGC for over fifteen years.
"The MSGC offers faculty, staff and especially students opportunities to develop ideas and submit competitive proposals," said Chris Anderson, special assistant to the President for institutional diversity and the University's MSGC liaison. "For undergraduates, the process of developing a proposal and then doing the research allows them to apply what they're learning in the classroom, get hands-on experience and work closely with faculty." She added, "The Consortium allows us to do more of this, as well provide graduate fellowships, seed grants and program support." |
|
|
5. Aflac Representatives to Visit Campus |
The Benefits office has made arrangements with Aflac to offer their cash indemnity plans through the convenience of a direct bank draft and still receive the group (premium) discount. Payroll deduction is not an option with this plan.
Aflac representatives, Deb Capello and associates, will hold informational meetings and be available for one-on-one visits (no appointment necessary) to provide you with information on plan options, benefits, affordable premiums and more.
Aflac plan options include cancer coverage (maximum difference), specified health event protection, and hospital protection.
The following informational sessions are scheduled at the Memorial Union Building, Alumni Lounge B:
Tuesday, April 20
Group presentation: noon to 12:30 p.m.
One-on-one visits: 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday, April 22
Group presentation: 11 to 11:30 a.m.
One-on-one visits: 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If you are unable to attend and want to enroll in Aflac's program, have questions or need more information, call Deb Capello at 370-2352 or capello@chartermi.net . |
|
|
6. The Kevin Locke Native Dance Ensemble Brings Indigenous Dance Theater to the Rozsa |
submitted by the Rozsa Center
The Kevin Locke Native Dance Ensemble performs at the Rozsa Center at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 20 and 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 21. The performance provides an opportunity for audiences to explore aspects of Native American culture they won't find in history books.
More than simply an excellent cultural representation of traditional dance, audiences will experience compelling dance theater at its most moving. Visually dynamic and musically powerful, this year's program, "The Drum is the Thunder, the Flute is the Wind," is a sensational journey in Native American symbolism and aesthetics. Adapted from the traditional dance to welcome the 'Return of the Thunders,' the performance embraces the Native American arts through six diverse dances, storytelling and a unique presentation of musical skill.
The earth renews itself each stormy spring, and Native music and dance celebrate this annual "Return of the Thunders" through simple and powerful instrumentation: the drum is the thunder, the rattle is the rain, the voice is the lightning and the flute is the wind.
Each dance, dramatic and inspiring, represents a philosophy or mythology of an aspect of the Native American people. The champion performers of the ensemble show how a clash of thunder keeps rhythm to the beat of the heart, and how a strike of lightning pierces the soul.
The ensemble's talents and mastery of Native American artistic traditions have been internationally recognized time and again in the group's five-year period together.
"Rhythmically entrancing, [with] visually astounding statements about the human condition..." --The Washington Post
Instantly felt by any observer, the performance is not just entertainment--it's an interactive gateway into Native American culture and beliefs portrayed through compelling dance theater.
Recent appearances by the ensemble include the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian; a follow-up performance at the NMAI in New York City; the World Culture Open at the Lincoln Center (sponsored in part by the United Nations); and a residency at the University of Arizona.
A uniquely gifted indigenous flute player, Kevin Locke, won Record of the Year for his latest album, "Earth Gift," at the 11th Annual Native American Music Awards (the Nammys) in October of 2009. This is the music industry's largest awards organization for Native American audio recordings. Locke previously won a Nammy in 2000 for Best Traditional Recording for his album, "The First Flute."
For more information on the ensemble, visit www.kevinlocke.com/nde/index.html .
This event is sponsored by the Katherine M. Bosch Endowment.
Ticket prices are $25 and $20 for the general public, $18 for students 18 and under, $20 and $15 for Tech students (ID required). To purchase tickets, contact the Rozsa Box Office at 487-3200, the Central Ticket Office at 487-2073, Tech Express at 487-3308 or go online at tickets.mtu.edu .
No refunds, exchanges or late seating. |
|
|
7. Reminder: Concert Choir Performs Sunday with High School Choirs |
The Michigan Tech Concert Choir, conducted by Susan Byykkonen, will perform its spring concert at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, April 18, in the Rozsa Center, assisted by the Houghton High School and Hancock Central High School choirs. Ann Campbell and Victoria Baltensperger direct the high school ensembles, while Susan Byykkonen conducts Michigan Tech's sixty-voice choir. Accompaniments for the concert range from strings and flute to percussion and piano.
Susan Byykkonen chose themes of peace, love and harmony for this musical evening, with pieces chosen not only for their musical interest but also for inspiring words. From Vincent Persichetti's "Song of Peace" to George and Ira Gershwin's love song, "But Not For Me," classic spirituals, and the modern harmonies of John Rutter, the choirs will offer a rare opportunity to hear extraordinary choral music in live performance.
Tickets are available at the door. Cost is $10 for the general public, $5 for students 18 and under and free to Tech students with ID. |
|
|
8. Music Lessons to Be Offered This Summer |
The Community Music Lessons program initiated this semester by Visual and Performing Arts will continue during the summer with private lessons available in guitar, voice, and piano for Michigan Tech students and community members. Summer teachers will be Patrick Valencia, guitar; Lara Neves, voice; and Adrienne Shipley, piano.
Information on rates and lesson schedules is available by emailing lessons@mtu.edu . Summer lessons will be scheduled from May 17 to August 10.
Additional instruments, including percussion, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, oboe, flute, and bassoon, will be included in the program during fall semester 2010. For information on fall lessons, call Visual and Performing Arts at 487-2859 or email lessons@mtu.edu . |
|
|
9. Kathleen Conover to Judge Great Lakes Showcase |
submitted by Visual and Performing Arts
Marquette artist Kathleen Conover will be the judge for the 2010 Great Lakes Showcase, a fine arts and crafts exhibition featuring the work of 65 artists, being held April 27-May 2 in the Rozsa Center. She will designate awards for outstanding achievement in two- and three-dimensional art submitted for the show, which opens with a reception at 7 p.m., Monday, April 26. Conover will make brief remarks on the exhibit and announce the awards at that time.
Conover, an accomplished watercolor artist, has exhibited in many prestigious national exhibits including the American Watercolor Society's national show and the Audubon Artists show in New York City. She holds signature status in the National Watercolor Society and International Society of Experimental Artists, and Master Status in the Transparent Watercolor Society of America. Her work has been published in numerous books and magazine articles. She teaches workshops and judges exhibits throughout the US and owns the Studio Gallery on Presque Isle in Marquette.
A native of southern California, Conover grew up in an art-rich environment surrounded by working artists, thus was strongly influenced by the "California School" of art. She studied art at San Diego State University and the University of Washington before moving to the UP 30 years ago, earning a master of arts degree from Northern Michigan University. Although experienced in printmaking, textiles, and metalsmithing, Conover has found her life's work in the challenges of watermedia, in which her innovative approaches, most notably her Frozen Crystal series, have won her national renown.
The Great Lakes Showcase and its opening reception are free and open to the public. Hours will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., April 27-30, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., May 1-2. The exhibit closes at 5 p.m., May 2.
The showcase is administered by Visual and Performing Arts, and is directed by Professor of Art Mary Ann Beckwith. |
|
|
10. Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences Hosts Presentation |
The Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences will host Mark Neider, post-doctoral fellow at Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois, who will give a research presentation, "Studying Attention: From the Lab to the Real World and Back Again," at 10 a.m., Monday, April 19, in Rekhi G06.
Neider holds a PhD in Psychology from Stony Brook University. His expertise is in human factors, including cognition, skill acquisition and training. His research describes attempts to bridge the gap between classical empirical paradigms used to study attention and real-world behavior. The goal of the research is to understand attention in the context of real-world tasks and to apply this knowledge to augment human performance.
For more information, contact Susan Amato-Henderson at slamato@mtu.edu or Brad Baltensperger at brad@mtu.edu . |
|
|
11. Rail Transportation Webinar Today |
The Rail Transportation Program will participate in the UIUC rail seminar series at 1 p.m., today, in Dillman 315 (you can also join from your office). The campus community is welcome. Light refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact Pasi Lautala ptlautal@mtu.edu .
The speaker is John Zeman, graduate research assistant at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His presentation is "Hydraulic Mechanisms of Rail Seat Deterioration in Concrete Ties."
Below is the dial-in option to participate.
Download the power point presentation file and participate by telephone. The dial-in Telecon Number is 217-265-8030 and will be active from noon until 2:30 p.m. central time (seminar usually begins about 12:15 or so). The power point file will be available for download at: http://ict.illinois.edu/railroad/CEE/seminar.asp shortly before the seminar begins.
Please do not put your phone on hold while connected to telecom. Doing so disrupts the seminar for all the other phone-in participants and the UIUC audience. Mute is okay and encouraged when not asking the speaker a question. |
|
|
12. Giveaways |
The following furniture is available in the Academic Office Building:
* 30 teal office chairs
* 20 gray office chairs
The following furniture is available in the Chemical Science and Engineering Building:
* 31 navy blue office chairs
These chairs are in the first floor hallway outside of Chem Sci 108.
The chairs can be viewed in their respective buildings, or contact Keith Troesch at 487-1974 or ktroesch@mtu.edu .
University property may only be transferred between departments. It may not be given or sold to individuals. |
|
|
13. Teaching at Tech: Pop-Up Automaticity--Too Much of a Good Thing? |
by William Kennedy, director, Center for Teaching, Learning and Faculty Development
Cognitive psychologists say that if we routinely structure learning experiences so that students repeatedly store and retrieve salient bits of information and fundamental procedures for employing that information, those bits and procedures will become automatically retrievable.
"Automatic," in this context, refers to the fact that those bits and procedures will seem to instantly pop into our conscious awareness with no apparent effort or intentional thought on our part. If someone says "six times eight" to me in any context, for example, the number "forty-eight" pops up into my stream of conscious activity. Drilling on the times tables to the point of enabling such automaticity seems a worthwhile use of neural stores because it will allow us to quickly and efficiently perform many more advanced math operations during our lifetimes.
At first glance, it may seem like it's always a good idea to have students repeatedly storing and retrieving almost everything they learn in school to the point of automaticity. After all, wouldn't that speed things along and free up students to use their brain power to tackle new challenges?
According to Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer, the answer is no. Langer suggests that our habitual overuse of skill-and-drill type instruction, and the type of testing that inevitably comes along with it, may unintentionally create in students a habit of intellectual passivity and functional mindlessness that compromises their later capacity to engage in creative and innovative thought.
Langer, and several other neural researchers and cognitive psychologists, argue that our brains have evolved to respond to the repetitive experience of nearly identical events by storing those events as retrievable chunks of episodic memories. For example, if you drove or walked to work this morning, you probably made the journey largely on "autopilot." If nothing out of the ordinary happened, such as slamming into Bambi or being chased by a cougar, your brain racked up the "get to work" program, and freed up your brain to engage in a pleasant daydream, a musing about lunch, or any number of other more engaging activities. Only a break in the anticipated pattern would have instantly jolted you out of your effortless playback-enabled nonexperience and demanded your complete attention. Evolutionary psychologists suggest that this sort of autopilot experience conserves energy and frees up our very limited working memory processing real estate for more useful things.
Langer fears that mass-manufacturing modeled schooling, constantly encouraging students to passively record the multiple streams of words of wisdom across widely disjointed domains of inquiry, creates the kind of knowledge stores that also encourage the emergence of a false sense of the timeless and immutable value of what is being presented in class by the faultless designated expert.
This fear is interesting when coupled with the rich stream of continuing research growing out of William Perry's investigation of college students in the 1950's, which indicated that most students begin their university study hungry for black-or-white, absolute answers. Passively listening to other's ideas and then regurgitating a subset of those ideas on paper and pencil tests only increase the likelihood of the emergence of robotic mindlessness, according to Langer.
I may be the only one feeling this way, but I get the distinct impression that we are living through a period of cultural and intellectual retrenchment where simplistic definite-sounding answers are increasingly preferred over richer, more contextually derived and admittedly tentative constructions that may more accurately reflect the imprecise and incomplete present state of understanding in all the areas of inquiry proffered by the modern academy.
So, what's the fix? Langer says transformative educational practices that encourage lifelong learning should require students to develop a more mindful state of being. Such mindfulness has three key qualities, according to Professor Langer, 1) an ongoing desire to create new categories of knowing driven by a growing awareness of the contextual nature of all human inquiry, 2) openness to new ideas and other ways of looking at things, and 3) a demonstrated awareness of more than one perspective. We'll looking into these ideas next week. |
|
|
