November 12, 2025

Not every university has a national park in its backyard. Just a six-hour boat ride from Michigan Technological University, Isle Royale National Park is a rugged, isolated archipelago in Lake Superior. Late this summer, when a group of 10 Michigan Tech geospatial engineering students wanted to put their surveying expertise to the test at the park over Labor Day weekend, it was as simple as asking.

"I just thought if I reached out to someone from Isle Royale National Park, they might have some work for us to do," said Ruth Kirby, junior geospatial engineering student. "Land surveying is one of those things that everyone needs done."

Michigan Tech's geospatial engineering bachelor's degree program, one of only two in the state, is the only one in the Upper Peninsula. Park officials quickly took the surveyors-in-training up on their offer. The park assigned the Huskies two projects: Measure the water depth at as many of the docks as possible around the park's shoreline and locate buried electrical lines near Windigo Visitor Center and on Mott Island.

Read about the students’ hands-on experience on Isle Royale and learn how their work will benefit the park’s staff and visitors at Stories from Husky Nation.

It’s that time of year! Michigan Tech’s 2026 Benefits Open Enrollment period begins today, Nov. 12. This is an active enrollment, which means all benefits-eligible employees are required to complete Open Enrollment.

• Open Enrollment: Nov. 12 to Nov. 26, 2025
• Benefits Plan Year: Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2026

Michigan Tech will continue to use the Employee Navigator platform for the 2026 enrollment year. We encourage employees to visit Michigan Tech’s 2026 Benefits Open Enrollment website and our 2026 Benefits Guide for more information.

Be Prepared for Open Enrollment: What You Need to Know

Today, you will receive an email from "noreply@employeenavigator.com." This email will contain a link to Employee Navigator, where you will log in to begin your 2026 Benefits Open Enrollment.

1. To begin Open Enrollment, log in to Employee Navigator by entering the username and password that you created to elect benefits in the past. (To recover your username or password, select "Forgot Username?" or "Forgot Password?" and follow the prompts.)

2. Once you are logged in, select the Open Enrollment 2026 option to make your elections for the 2026 benefit year.

During Open Enrollment: You may return to your Employee Navigator account to complete your enrollment or make changes to your elections for 2026 during Open Enrollment only, starting today, Nov. 12, and ending Nov. 26.

After Open Enrollment: You may visit Employee Navigator to review your 2026 elections at any time throughout the year. However, after Open Enrollment ends on Nov. 26, you may not change your 2026 health benefit elections unless you experience a qualifying life event (see the heading What If Things Change During The Year? on our Health Plans page).

Notes:

1. Tobacco usage is a required field due to the administration of the Voluntary Critical Illness benefit option for employees, regardless of whether an employee elects the benefit or not.

2. To enhance security and protect sensitive information, a two-factor authentication (2FA) for all employee accounts registered on Employee Navigator will be used. Once you have signed into your account on Employee Navigator, a code will be sent to your registered email address. Enter that code in Employee Navigator to continue your enrollment process.

Have Questions? Questions about benefits options or Employee Navigator should be directed to MTU Benefits at hr-help@mtu.edu or 906-487-2517. The HR Team will be available for enrollment support and questions in Fisher 330 on the following dates and times:

• Monday, Nov. 17, from 12-5 p.m.
• Wednesday, Nov. 19, from 12-6 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 25, from 12-5 p.m.
• Wednesday, Nov. 26, from 12-5 p.m.

The next Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) Graduate Seminar speaker will present at 2 p.m. tomorrow, Nov. 13, in Fisher 329.

Andrew Oliva will present "Entropy-Constrained Closure for Steady, Quasi-One-Dimensional Compressible Flow of Ideal Gases."

In this talk, Oliva will go over how entropy-constrained closure is developed for steady, quasi-one-dimensional internal compressible flow of calorically perfect gases by combining the integral mass and energy balances with Gibbs' relation expressed via stagnation pressure and stagnation temperature changes.

The next guest speaker of the semester in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BioMed) Seminar Series will present Friday, Nov. 14, at 3 p.m. in Chem Sci 102 and virtually via Zoom.

Join the BioMed Seminar on Zoom.

Reza Avaz from Texas A&M University will present "Leveraging AI in pulmonary hypertension: From mechanistic insights to improved diagnosis."

Read Avaz’s abstract and bio on the University Events Calendar.

WLUC TV6 quoted Julia Keleher (SA) in a story about Michigan Tech’s CommUnity Conversation event, where veterans shared their experiences with students and community members ahead of Veterans Day.

My UP Now mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about the HuskyFAN Pantry’s “Can The Citation” campaign, which allows students to donate food items in exchange for having parking tickets forgiven through Nov. 23.

My UP Now covered Michigan Tech volleyball first-year student-athlete Madelynn Kreider being named GLIAC Setter of the Week.

This Week's C-Cubed Luncheon Menu

Join Carved and Crafted Catering at Michigan Technological University for the C-Cubed Luncheon, being held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Alumni Lounge (MUB 107). All faculty and staff, along with their guests, are invited.

Menu for Thursday, Nov. 13:

• Fajita Style Chicken Thighs (PR)
• Steak Fajita (PR)
• Portobello Fajita (VG, CF)
• Flour Tortillas (VG)
• Tortilla Soup (V, AG, PR) 
• Sopapillas 
• Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese (V, AG), Pico de Gallo (VG, AG), Sour Cream (V, AG), Cuban Black Beans (VG), Spanish Rice (VG, AG)

The C-Cubed lunch buffet menus are created and prepared by the catering culinary team. As the name suggests, the meals are meant to foster conversation, community and collegiality. Attendees may bring their lunch instead of purchasing the buffet. Fruit-infused water, coffee, tea and desserts are available free to all attendees.

The buffet lunch is $16 per person. Cash, credit cards and gift cards are accepted. Gift cards can be purchased in the Memorial Union office (MUB 101). Meals are dine-in only and personal containers/tupperware or to-go meals are not permitted.

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Canceled — ECE Seminar Series Speaker: Henry Louie

The ECE Seminar with Henry Louie, Ph.D., originally scheduled for today, Nov. 12, at 10 a.m. in EERC 103, has been canceled due to flight delays.

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ACSHF Forum with Alexandra Watral

The Department of Psychology and Human Factors will host faculty candidate Alexandra Watral at the Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors (ACSHF) Forum today, Nov. 12 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the M&M Third Floor Coworking Space.

Watral, assistant professor of health care systems engineering and data science analyst at the Mayo Clinic, will present "Designing for Resilience: Linking the Built Environment, Human Factors, and Psychological Safety in Healthcare Systems."

From the abstract:
Resilience in healthcare systems depends on more than clinical expertise or technical processes. It also emerges from the interplay between the physical, social, and psychological environments where care is delivered. This presentation highlights three projects that illustrate the connections between the built environment, human factors, and psychological safety in healthcare. The first explores how operating room design shapes teamwork and resilience. The second examines the impact of lighting and thermal conditions on cognitive performance. The third introduces BONE Break, a peer-led debriefing tool that fosters psychological safety after adverse events. Together, these projects demonstrate how resilient healthcare systems are built through the integration of space, culture, and human experience.

To have your event automatically appear, please submit them to the University Events Calendar.

Master's Defense: Skylar Patten

Wednesday, November 12, 9–10 a.m. | Minerals and Materials Engineering Building (M&M), 610

Materials Science and Engineering Advisor: Paul Sanders Machine learning design and experimental production of recycled aluminum alloys with magnesium and iron

Snow Stoked Winter Sports Expo

Wednesday, November 12, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. | MUB Commons

Interested in getting involved in winter sports or hitting the slopes this season? Come to the Winter Sports Expo to meet snow based student organizations, Mont Ripley, and...

CITGO Petroleum Presentation

Wednesday, November 12, 5–6 p.m. | ChemSci 101

Join AIChE for a presentation from CITGO Petroleum to learn about their company, and for free pizza!

Pokeman League - Weekly Meeting

Wednesday, November 12, 5–6 p.m. | Dillman 202

Come hangout and play pokemon

SoundGirls General Meeting

Wednesday, November 12, 5–6 p.m. | Walker 210

Join SoundGirls for our weekly general meeting! We will talk about music, the audio industry, and fun events around campus.

SMLS Bi-Weekly Meeting

Wednesday, November 12, 6–7 p.m. | Fisher 328

The Society of Medical Laboratory Scientists hosts a meeting every other week to discuss topics within the major, career development opportunities, volunteer opportunities,...

Michigan Tech Husky Student Panel

Wednesday, November 12, 7–8 p.m.

Hear from current Huskies about their experiences on campus and ask questions to learn more about being a Husky!

Questions About Christianity with Rick Mattson

Wednesday, November 12, 7–8 p.m. | Wads G17/19

Join InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as we host a guest speaker: Rick Mattson. We will be hosting discussion on a variety of topics focused on general questions about...

Serve the King - Main Meeting

Wednesday, November 12, 7–9 p.m. | Wads G42W

Want to be trained in Righteouesness? Interested in developing more faithful work ethic? Building the Kingdom? Glorifying God? Come check out our main meeting where we are...