Megan Gilge, 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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BUDGET AGREEMENT REACHED

MTU IN LINE TO RECEIVE $359,000 IN ONE-TIME FUNDING

Michigan's legislative leadership and Governor Jennifer Granholm have reached an agreement on the 2003-04 higher education budget. The accord provides an additional $359,000 for Michigan Tech.

The one-time allocation would help mitigate the 6.7-percent reduction in the state's appropriation for Michigan Tech. The additional funding is Michigan Tech's share of $5.5 million distributed among 10 state universities.

Provost Kent Wray has expressed thanks to the state house and senate conference committee members, and especially to State Rep. Rich Brown and State Senator Mike Prusi, for their efforts in gaining the additional funding for Tech.

"We are evaluating possible uses for this unexpected source of income," Wray said.

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MROZ NAMED INTERIM DEAN OF TECHNOLOGY

Glenn Mroz, dean of the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, has agreed to serve as interim dean of the School of Technology, Provost Kent Wray has announced.

"I asked Glenn to assume this post because he's an experienced dean and can provide good interim guidance to the School, without interrupting its programs," Wray said.

Mroz is stepping in following the retirement of the former dean, Tim Collins. He will continue to serve as dean of forest resources and environmental science.

A national search for a new dean of technology is under way, according to Wray, and Mroz is expected to serve in an interim capacity until the post is filled permanently.

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MUCKING AROUND IN ENGLAND

TECH RESEARCHERS STUDY ALGAE ON MUD FLATS OUTSIDE LONDON

by Jana Jones, student writer

Michael Gretz knows what it means to be stuck in the mud. The Michigan Tech professor has been working with researchers from the University of Essex to study algae growth on the Colne Estuary in England.

Financed by a grant from the National Science Foundation, the researchers are studying the slime and goo that the diatoms produce. These mucus-like excretions hold the algae together in layers, called biofilm, on the estuary mudflats. These tiny algae move with the tide, resting on the mud while the tide is low, and moving to the surface when the tide is high. The biofilm helps prevent the mud from eroding as the tide moves in and out.

Gretz has worked with diatoms in the past, studying how they attach to solid surfaces such as ships' hulls. This project has given him the chance to examine algae on a flexible surface like mud.

"I want to know how these guys move, how they do the things they do," Gretz said.

The research has given both Gretz and Michigan Tech students involved with the project the chance to travel to the United Kingdom to study the mudflats firsthand.

MTU graduate student Brent Bellinger is doing fieldwork this summer. "I feel very lucky for having this opportunity," he said.

Bellinger is taking samples at the Colne Estuary, where some analysis will be done before in-depth chemistry and analysis is applied here at Michigan Tech.

"The estuary represents a midpoint between the open ocean and the inland river systems," Bellinger said. "Estuaries provide the feeding and breeding grounds for a number of economically and biologically important creatures. The health and integrity of the estuary will be reflected in the populations of animals that use these environments and depend upon the primary production of diatoms and other algae."

The project has caught some media attention. The BBC has accompanied Bellinger and the other researchers out to the mudflats to report on their work and the implications it has for the land around the estuary.

The mudflats, however, are sometimes uncooperative.

"There are places where you can sink in the mud up to your hips and then need to be rescued," Gretz said. One time, a student sank up to her waist in mud and couldn't escape. The other researchers needed to toss a lawn chair out to the stranded student so that she could climb out of her hip waders and onto the chair.

"We had to save the person and leave the hip waders behind," Gretz laughed. "It gives a whole new meaning to mucking around."

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MAROSTE HEAD COACH FOR TEAM MICHIGAN

Submitted by Dave Fischer

Mark Maroste, assistant hockey coach, is the head coach for Team Michigan in this week's USA Hockey Boys Select 17 Festival in St. Cloud, Minn.

Maroste is heading a Team Michigan staff that includes assistant coaches Brian Renfrew and Joe Shawhan.

The USA Hockey Boys Select 17 Festival  features teams from 12 regions across the country competing against each other.

Team Michigan is currently 1-1 after a 1-0 loss to New York on July 12 and an 8-2 victory over New England.

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HOUSING LIST PROVIDED BY BENEFITS OFFICE

The Benefits Office has a listing of homes for rent and/or for sale by staff and faculty.

If you have newly hired faculty or staff arriving at the University looking for a place to live, have them stop by the Benefits Office to look at our housing book.

If you want to list your home, the Housing List Application form can be found on MTU's Web site under the Benefits page, http://www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/forms/housinglist.html . If you have questions, call the Benefits Office at 487-2517 or e-mail nabykkon@mtu.edu.

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ARCHAEOLOGISTS STUDYING HISTORIC GRIST MILL SITE

Industrial archaeologists from the Department of Social Sciences began test excavations July 11 at the historic Fallasburg Grist Mill, near Grand Rapids, in hopes of finding clues to the mill's operations on the Flat River.

The old mill is located in the village of Fallasburg, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The village is on Covered Bridge Road just north of Lowell in Vergennes Township. The dig sits on property adjoining the famous Fallasburg Covered Bridge.

In the 1830s, brothers John Wessley Fallas and Silas Fallas migrated from New York state to what is now known as Fallasburg. They soon had two mills operating on the Flat River, one for flour and one for lumber. The lumber mill also housed a chair factory and is considered to be one of the first steps in Grand Rapids' developing furniture industry.

"The grist mill was torn down in the 1910s," said Kerry Schubach, director of the Fallasburg Historical Society. From that time forward, the landscape and the little town remained basically unchanged.

"This pristine slice of ante-bellum history reveals many treasures to visitors, giving a link to the past and a picture of life in an 1840s settlement," Schubach said.

First, the Michigan Tech archaeology team, led by Assistant Professor Tim Scarlett and Professor Pat Martin, will map the site and examine features on the riverbank. Then, in August, they will construct a sandbag barrier around the old grist mill's foundation, pump the water out and explore its foundations.

Researchers hope to uncover secrets of how the mill worked, plus the remains of the water wheel or turbine engines. While the technology is ancient, 19th-century millwrights typically created the machinery on the site, so old mills can be very different.

"The excavations this summer should yield clues on how the miller converted water into power," Scarlett said.

Once the dig is completed, the Fallasburg Historical Society plans to move a similar historic mill onto the foundations in the Flat River, so visitors can better appreciate how the village looked more than a century ago.

If you happen to be in the Fallasburg area this weekend, you can see the archaeological dig first hand.

During a special open house, visitors can walk by the site and talk to archaeologists about their discoveries on Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For directions or more information, call the Fallasburg Historical Society at 616-897-7161 or e-mail Fallasburg@att.net.

The research has been funded by a Community Block Grant and private donations by supporters of the Fallasburg Historical Society.

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WEIGHT WATCHERS INFORMATION AVAILABLE

If you are interested in starting a summer session, or would like information about Weight Watchers, contact Nancy Bykkonen at 487-2517 or nabykkon@mtu.edu.

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MUB FOOD MALL SEEKS YOUR OPINIONS

Executive Chef David Maplethorpe asks, "What would make you want to come to the MUB to have breakfast or lunch? What would entice you to take that trip over to see us?"

If you have comments for the chef, please e-mail your responses to dlmaplet@mtu.edu.

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PROCESS TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOP PRESENTED

Michigan Tech's Chemical Engineering Technology (CMT) program hosted a week-long workshop on process technology for 10 community college faculty from across the eastern US.

The workshop featured the chemical engineering department's automated pilot plant facilities at the Process Simulation and Control Center, providing hands-on opportunities to study process technologies using advanced instrumentation and control systems. Participants also learned teaching methodologies for process technology.

This workshop was taught with support from the Department of Chemical Engineering and was sponsored by the American Chemical Society and the National Science Foundation. The presenters included John Sandell, director of the CMT program; Todd King, an assistant professor in the CMT program; and Edward Fisher, professor emeritus of chemical engineering.

"Judging by the workshop assessment materials, the program was a success and should set the stage for additional workshops in the future," Fisher said. "In addition, most of the workshop participants had not visited the Keweenaw before, so they left the area with a good feeling about this unique location."

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MICROFLUIDIC SYSTEMS SEMINAR JULY 21

Tim Ameel, associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Utah, will present a seminar, "Microscale Forced Convection Heat Transfer in the Slip Flow Regime and an NSF IGERT Program in Micro- and Nano-scale Thermal Fluid Systems Science and Engineering," on Monday, July 21, at 10 a.m. in MEEM 1021.

NEW FUNDING

Vice President for Research David Reed has received a $150,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation for his project, "Multi-University Strategy for Technology Realization--Advanced Materials and Product Performance."

Associate Professor John Gershenson (MEEM) has received a $289,439 grant for his project, "Product Modularity--The Link Between Product Architecture and Product Life-Cycle Costs."

Associate Professor John Jaszczak (Physics) has received a $99,718 grant from the NSF for his project, "Undergraduate Exploration of Nano-Science, Applications and Societal Implications at Michigan Tech."

Associate Professor Gordon Parker (MEEM) has received a $97,910 contract from the U.S. Department of Defense, Naval Surface Warfare Center, for his project, "Development of Hydraulic Pump Internal State Measurement."

Assistant Professor John King (SFRES) has received a $15,200 award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Research Station, for his project, "Foxes, Decay Rates, and Mean Residence Times of Carbon and Nutrients in Leaf Litter of Northern Forests Under Elevated CO2 and Tropospheric O3."

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IN PRINT

Assistant Professor Chandrashekhar Joshi (SFRES) published a paper, "Xylem-Specific and Tension Stress Responsive Expression of Cellulose Synthase Genes from Aspen Trees," in Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Volume 105, 2003. He also published an invited review article, "Molecular Biology of Cellulose Biosynthesis in Plants," in "Recent Research Developments in Plant Molecular Biology" Volume 1, 19-38, 2003.

Palgrave, the global arm of St. Martin's Press, plans a second printing, in hardback, of Professor Glenda E. Gill's, (Humanities) "No Surrender! No Retreat! African American Pioneer Performers of 20th Century American Theater" (2000). The initial print-run of 1,200 copies has just sold out.

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ON THE ROAD

Assistant Professor Chandrashekhar Joshi (SFRES) presented an invited talk, "Three Distinct Cellulose Synthases Help Building Xylem Secondary Walls in Aspen," at the Tree Biotechnology 2003 meeting held June 7-12 in Umea, Sweden. His coauthors included graduate students Anita Samuga, Udaya Kalluri (SFRES) and former postdoctoral associate Xiaoe Liang.

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NO NEW POSITIONS THIS WEEK

No new positions are posted this week at Michigan Tech. 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, by calling 487-2280 or online at http://www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/postings/
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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