Sue McDaniel, Tech Topics, editorial assistant, 906-487-2343

You can reach us via e-mail at ttopics@mtu.edu The deadline for submitting information for Tech Topics is 5:00 p.m. the Friday before anticipated publication.

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TSAI NAMED ACTING DIRECTOR OF PLANT BIOTECH CENTER

Chung-Rui Tsai (pronounced Chung-Ray T'sigh) has been named the acting director of Michigan Tech's Plant Biotechnology Research Center, Dean of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Glenn Mroz has announced.

Tsai, an associate professor, fills the post previously held by Professor Vincent Chiang, who recently left MTU to accept a position at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

Tsai is noted for her work in molecular physiology, functional genomics, metabolic profiling and lignin biosynthesis. Lignin must be removed from wood as part of the paper-making process. Tsai has worked to develop low-lignin trees, which would be less expensive to pulp and would also reduce the pollution associated with the pulp and paper industry.

She has been a principal investigator or co-principal investigator on 10 grants totalling $3.15 million, including a $2 million award from the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor Fund.

She has recently been invited to be a member of the International Poplar Genome Steering Committee, a group that assists in coordinating the Department of Energy's poplar genome sequencing effort with research worldwide. She has published widely, including six book chapters, and is co-inventor on three patents. She teaches courses and supervises graduate students in the area of plant biotechnology.

Tsai earned BS and MS degrees in Agriculture from National Taiwan University before coming to Michigan Tech for her PhD in Forest Science. In 1991 she became a research associate and held several research and faculty positions until her appointment as an associate professor in 2002.

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RUSSIAN SCIENTIST TO TALK ON RUSSIA'S SPACE PROGRAM

The Soviets surprised and shocked America when they launched Sputnik, the first satellite, but they never did put a man on the moon. A former scientist with the Russian Space Agency will shed light on the secrets and contradictions of the Russian space program on Tuesday, Jan. 14, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on the Michigan Tech campus.

Sergey Tverdokhlebov will give the seminar "Overview: Russia in Space Past, Present, and Future" in MEEM 112. His presentation is free and open to the public. A reception will follow.

Tverdokhlebov will reveal some of the untold lessons of Russian space history, including why he believes the Soviet Moon Program failed. He will also talk about the Moscow-based crew of the Lunokhod, a lunar robot that was designed to last 90 days and instead spent 11 months touring the Moon.

Other topics include the Mir Space Station, which spent 15 years orbiting the Earth before being brought down into the Pacific Ocean in 2002, and how ballistic missiles are used for peaceful space projects.

Tverdokhlebov, a member of the Russian Academy of Science, was a senior staff scientist in the Russian space program specializing in electric propulsion and applied plasmadynamics. After nine years with the program, he was among the first wave of entrepreneurs to emerge after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He is now executive director of a Russian company that manufactures Hall thrusters, the high-tech, ion-propulsion engines used to keep satellites in orbit.

Tverdokhlebov is being hosted by the mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics department as part of the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Seminar Series. His travel to MTU is funded through the U.S. Department of Defense under the Window on Science program. For more information, contact Brad King at 487-2683 or lbking@mtu.edu.

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THE CASE OF CRUSTACEA'S CONCUSSION

by Susan McDaniel

Beth Leary has developed a novel and fun way for her students to apply what they have learned to a "real world" situation, and earn extra credit at the same time.

Leary, a PhD student in Biology, draws on the tradition of Quincy to teach her organismal biology lab (BL1010).

"The lab is designed to encourage the students to look closely at the samples and to give them a chance to think about the material in a new way," said Leary.

In the scenario, the students are accused of attempting to murder "Ima Crustacea," the woman who does their lab preparation. She was hit on the head by an unknown assailant, and the students happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The police theorize that the students somehow found out that Ima would be collecting samples for the lab practical and decided to kill her and make off with the specimens. Without the specimens, the lab instructor would not be able to set up the practical, and they wouldn't have to take it.

While the students are free on bail, they prepare their cases before going on trial.

Leary provided the students with a list of suspects and transcripts of interviews with the suspects. It was then up to the students to look at the samples and decide who actually committed the crime.

Finally, the students turned in their assessment of who did it and, most importantly, how the physical evidence proved their own innocence.

"The students were helping each other, looking for clues and working things out without being asked," said Leary. "Many of them discovered that they noticed more and could reason things out better when they worked together."

After turning in their assessments, they watched the video of the follow-up interviews with two of the suspects, including the confession of the person who actually committed the crime. There was a lot of discussion among the students as they watched the video and the identity of the assailant was finally revealed.

"We weren't sure about doing it at first," said students Lacey Sirdenis and Natalie Gravier. "But it was something different to do and helped us to identify things for our practical."

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FACULTY RECEIVE FUNDING

Assistant Research Professor Scott Harding (SFRES) has received $63,000 from the Consortium for Plant Biotechnology for his project, "Designing Promoters for Precision of Gene Expression."

Professor Rolf Peterson (SFRES) has received $36,000 from the National Park Service for his project, "Wolf-Moose Monitoring, Isle Royale National Park, 2003."

Assistant Professor Xin-Lin Gao (MEEM) has received $43,000 from Ohio University for his project, "Science and Engineering of Carbon Foams."

FOURTH THURSDAY IN HISTORY SERIES BEGINS JAN. 23

submitted by Erik Nordberg

The Fourth Thursday in History series will begin on Thursday, Jan. 23, with some "Isle Royale Fish Tales." Liz Valencia, branch chief for cultural resources at Isle Royale National Park, will share stories of commercial fishing on Isle Royale. Her presentation will include excerpts from the recently published diaries of Elling Seglem, a fisherman who spent summers on Isle Royale between 1917 and 1932. The event will take place at Hesterberg Hall in the Noblet Building.

The February event will offer teams from local high schools bragging rights on who knows the most about the history of Houghton, Keweenaw, Baraga and Ontonagon counties. The first-ever "High School Local History Smackdown" will take place at the Little Gem Theater in Lake Linden on Thursday, Feb. 27. Dick Storm will preside over the competition--kind of a cross between "Jeopardy" and "Survivor" with Copper Country history and local high school students.

March will continue last year's "Preserving Family History" series. Jo Urion, oral historian with Keweenaw National Historical Park, will provide an introduction in the use of audio and video recordings to capture the reminiscences and life experiences of your family. Using examples from the park's oral history project, the mini-workshop will help folks get started and provide plenty of hands-on interviewing tips. This event will take place at the park's administrative headquarters in Calumet on Thursday, March 27.

The April event will look at preserving time and place through building time capsules. Abby Sue Fisher, chief of museum, archives and historical services at Keweenaw National Historical Park, will describe how to make a variety of time capsules--some built to last the ravages of the centuries and others simple enough for a family to keep in their home. The April 24 event will be held at the Calumet Public Library in the Calumet High School.

The spring series will end in Painesdale on Thursday, May 22. MTU professor Kim Hoagland will present "The Seeberville Murders: Death and Life in the Copper Country in 1913." Hoagland will detail a tragic and extraordinary strike-related incident in which sheriff's deputies shot a volley of bullets into a small boardinghouse near Painesdale. She will examine what this event can tell us about everyday life in a company town, and particularly in this one Croatian household. The presentation will take place in the auditorium at Jeffers High School in Painesdale.

Presentations begin at 7 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Additional detailed information will be issued concerning each event. For further information, contact Keweenaw National Historical Park at 337-3168 or the MTU Archives at 487-2505.

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WARM UP YOUR WINTER

Warm up your winter by learning some hot Latin dances, including merengue, salsa, rumba and chacha. These weekly dance lessons, offered by the Recreation Department, will be held on Thursdays from 7 to 9 p.m. at the SDC Dance Room (207). The session runs for seven weeks, Jan. 16 through Feb. 27. The cost is $58 for a nonstudent couple or $44 for a student couple.

You can sign up at the SDC Central Ticket Office. Class size is limited. For more information, call the instructor, Cari Raboin, at 482-8322.

JANUARY COMPUTER CLASSES

To register for classes, send an email to the Center for Professional Development and Quality Improvement at rwchrist@mtu.edu. Include the class(es) in which you want to enroll, your phone number, and account number to which the class(es) should be charged. The charge for three-hour (half day) classes is $60 and the charge for six-hour (full day) sessions is $120. Charges will be billed to your account the month following attendance. dL Education is located in the E.L. Wright Plaza, Suite 201A at 801 N. Lincoln Drive in Hancock. The Plaza is located on Quincy Hill, just below Pat's IGA. As you enter the building, the training center is just up the stairs and to the left.

*Access level 1, Thurs., Jan. 9, 1 to 4 p.m.

*Access level 2, Thurs., Jan. 16, 1 to 4 p.m.

*Access level 3, Thurs., Jan. 23, 1 to 4 p.m.

*Excel level 1, Tues., Jan. 14, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

*Excel level 2, Tues., Jan. 14, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.

*Excel level 3, Tues., Jan. 21, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

*PowerPoint, Tues., Jan. 28, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

*Publisher, Thurs., Jan. 16, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

*Windows level 1, Thurs., Jan. 30, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

*Windows level 2, Thurs., Jan. 30, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.

*Word level 3, Tues., Jan. 21, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.

IN THE NEWS

Michigan Tech was mentioned in an article, "Michigan Broadband Authority Announces $8-Million Broadband Link to Connect Michigan's Peninsulas," on the Dec. 19 Light-Wave web site.

The article focuses on a new fiber-optic telecommunications network that will extend across the Mackinac Bridge. Construction is scheduled to begin this spring with completion by the end of 2003.

According to the article, when completed the project will provide a stable, long-term cost structure that will save Lake Superior State University, Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan University and other users millions of dollars over the next decade.

To read the entire article you can go to http://lw.pennnet.com/home.cfm

Professor Willam Rose was mentioned in an article by Peter Tyson, "Can We Predict Eruptions?" on the Nova Online web site. In the article Rose points out that though 57 people died in the Mt. St. Helen eruption in 1980, perhaps 20,000 lives were saved.

To read the entire article you can go to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vesuvius/predict.html

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MTU NOTABLES

Associate Professor Barry Solomon (Social Sciences) was elected to a two-year term as president of the U.S. Society for Ecological Economics (USSEE), an organization he helped to found in 1999-2000. This follows a two-year term as secretary-treasurer of the USSEE. Solomon is currently on sabbatical leave at the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

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IN PRINT

Associate Professor Mary Durfee (Social Sciences) published a book review of "Being Useful: Policy Relevance and International Relations Theory" by Miroslav Nincic and Joseph Lepgold, eds. in "American Political Science Review," September 2002.

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RETIREMENT

Professor of Chemical Engineering and Adjunct Professor of Chemical Engineering Technology Edward R. Fisher will retire at the end of the fall semester.

Fisher came to Michigan Tech in 1985 as head of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. When the department separated into two units he stayed on as the chair of chemical engineering until 1995 when he served as interim dean of engineering for a year. In 1996 he returned to his position as chair of the department until he stepped down and returned to the faculty in 1997.

In looking back, Fisher said the department had some early successes in fund raising that had significant effects on the quality of education. The Process System and Control Center was made possible by fund raising in the late 1980s. The first pilot plant was completed in 1991 and the second in 1995.

"These facilities are a source of pride for the department and are not duplicated at any other school," said Fisher. In the 1990s, chemical engineering became the first department at Michigan Tech to have an endowed chair, the Herbert H. Dow Chair for Chemical Process Safety. "This has again placed chemical engineering as a leader in the teaching and practice of process safety," Fisher said.

Some of Fisher's special memories of Michigan Tech come from the wonderful staff he has had the pleasure of working with over the years. "Much of what the department accomplished was due to the great staff that turned ideas into reality," he said.

Fisher's current retirement plans are uncertain except that he will teach a graduate course part-time in the spring and continue some research aimed at clarifying the chemistry used in the third PSCC pilot plant.

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ON THE ROAD

Diana Malnar '02 (Social Sciences) presented a paper, "Internationalizing America's Anti-Terror Policies," at the November meeting of the International Studies Association-Midwest in St Louis.

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PROPOSALS IN PROGRESS

Researchers, their proposals and their potential sponsors are

*Lyon B. King (MEEM), "Optical Plasma Characterization of Next-Generation Ion Engines," NASA

*William Sproule (Civil and Environmental Engineering), "5 County Pro-TEST 2000-2001," MDOT

*John W. van de Lindt, Tess Ahlborn (Civil and Environmental Engineering), "Development of Steel Beam End Deterioration Guidelines," MDOT

*Jian Liu (Chemistry), "Novel Hybrid, Multifunctional Cyclodextrin/Metal Nanocatalysts," ACS

*Terry McNinch (Civil and Environmental Engineering), "Research Record 2003," MDOT

*John W. van de Lindt, William M Bulleit (Civil and Environmental Engineering), "Reliability of Wood Shear Walls Subjected to Combined Time Varying Loads," NSF

*John A. Vucetich, Joseph D. Kaplan (SFRES), "Common Loon Population Monitoring and Viability Assessment, Isle Royale National Park," National Park Service

*Leslie Leifer (Chemistry), "A Temperature Study of the Thermodynamics of Multicomponent Electrolyte Solutions," NSF

*Chandrashekhar P. Joshi (SFRES), "Improved Wood Properties Through Genetic Manipulation: Engineering of Syringyl Lignin in Softwood Species Through Xylem-Specific Expression of Hardwood . . . Genes," U.S. Department of Energy

*Chung-Jui Tsai, Darren H. Touchell, David F. Karnosky (SFRES), "Cryopreservation as a Tool in Forest Tree Genomics," USDA-CSREES

* William H. Cooke (Biomedical Engineering), "Integrated Orthostatic Mechanisms," National Institutes of Health

*Brian Barkdoll (Civil and Environmental Engineering), "Management of Local Scour for Stream Rehabilitation in Agricultural Watersheds," USDA-Agricultural Research Center

*John Gershenson (MEEM), "Product Modularity: The Link Between Product Architecture and Product Life-cycle Costs," NSF

*John van de Lindt (Civil and Environmental Engineering), "Performance-Based Design of Engineered Wood Shearwalls," NSF

*Lyon B. King (MEEM), Yoke Khin Yap (Physics), Burhanettin S. Altan (MEEM), "Sputter-Resistant Frontier Carbon Compounds for Long-Life Plasma Thrusters," NASA

*Ghatu Subhash, Sudhaker Pandit (MEEM), "Collaborative Research: In-situ Subsurface Damage Monitoring and Control of Grinding of Brittle Materials," NSF

*Bela Torok (Chemistry), "Development and Application of New Heterogeneous Asymmetric Hydrogenation Catalysts," American Chemical Society

CALENDAR

January

13        Monday

            Spring classes begin

14        Tuesday

            4-5:30 p.m.--Seminar, "Overview: Russia in Space Past, Present, and Future"--MEEM 112

17        Friday

            7:05 p.m.--Hockey, Colorado College at MTU--SDC

18        Saturday

            7:05 p.m.--Hockey, Colorado College at MTU--SDC

MICHIGAN TECH POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Job descriptions will be available at 1 p.m. on Friday, or by e-mail at <JOBS@MTU.EDU>.

For a complete list of open positions, see http://www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/postings/.

The following positions will be posted Friday, January 10, 2003, at 1 p.m. through noon, Friday, January 17, 2003, in the Human Resources Office.

String Teacher/Chamber Music Coordinator--Fine Arts Department (Regular, nine-month position; 30 hours/week)

Research Scientist/Engineer--Geological and Mining Engineering and Science (Regular, full-time, nine-month position)

Digital Resource Coordinator--J.R. Van Pelt Library

Library Assistant 3--J.R. Van Pelt Library (Temporary, one year, full-time position; UAW internal and external posting)

ExSEL Coordinator--Educational Opportunity

University employees are reminded to apply in writing prior to noon, Friday, January 17, 2003, to be considered as internal candidates for bargaining unit positions only. Applicants from the recall pool will be given first consideration for non-bargaining-unit positions only. Vacancy announcements are normally posted every Friday at 1 p.m. in the Human Resources Office. Complete job descriptions are available in the Human Resources Office or by calling 487-2280. More information regarding employment opportunities is available by calling the Job Line at 487-2895. Michigan Technological University is an equal opportunity educational institution/equal opportunity employer.

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