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March 25, 2005

News
Entertainment and Enrichment

13. Pride Week Schedule Announced: Drag Show April 1

14. Forestry Film April 6, 7

15. Ms.Films Thursday


16. Diversity Expert to Speak at MTU April 4

Seminars and Workshops

17. MEEM Seminar Thursday

18. MEEM Graduate Seminar Thursday

19. Physics Colloquium March 31

20. Computer Science Seminar Friday

Regular Features

21. Notable

22. New Funding

23. New Staff

24. Calendar

25. Job Posting

26. Tech Fund Job Posting




Marcia Goodrich, Tech Topics editor, 906-487-2343

Anna Schultz, Tech Topics editorial assistant, 906-487-2343

You can reach us via e-mail here. The deadline for submitting information for Tech Topics is 5 p.m. the Friday before anticipated publication.

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1. ENERGY DEPARTMENT RENEWS SUPPORT FOR ASPEN FACE "WINDOW ON THE FUTURE"

The premiere window on the future of northern forests will continue to provide new views on the effects of global climate change, thanks to renewed support from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Aspen FACE (Free-Air CO2 Enrichment) is the world's largest, open-air climate change research facility, and the only FACE site where scientists can study the impact of carbon dioxide and ground-level ozone on forest ecosystems.

Since its formation in 1997, more than 75 scientists from nine countries have conducted research at the U.S. Forest Service site near Rhinelander, Wis., to predict how the seemingly inexorable rise in the concentration of greenhouse gases will affect northern forests.

"There's no debate about the fact that the composition of the earth's atmosphere is changing," said Professor Kurt Pregitzer (SFRES), who has led a number of studies at the FACE site. "Carbon dioxide and tropospheric ozone are increasing globally, and they affect plant growth in diametrically opposite ways," he said. "Carbon dioxide enhances growth, while tropospheric ozone--the major component of smog--reduces plant production."

"One of the only places you can study this is the FACE site in Rhinelander," said Pregitzer. "The experiment has become a real magnet for understanding how forests of the future will grow and function."

"Our Aspen FACE studies on young aspen and birch forests have given us insights into how future northern forests will be impacted by atmospheric change. However, it is critically important to see if these early trends continue as these stands begin to mature," said David Karnosky, the Aspen FACE director and a professor at Michigan Tech. "A truly unique component of our Aspen FACE study is that we are able to look at the long-term effects of these greenhouse gases from cradle to grave."

The three-year, $5.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy is expected to fund Aspen FACE research through 2008. FACE research completed over the last seven years at this site suggests the following:

• Moderate levels of ozone will offset the positive elevated carbon dioxide responses projected for 2050.

• Carbon sequestration under elevated carbon dioxide is being overestimated by modellers who do not consider increases in ozone.

• Rising carbon dioxide protects trees from more severe ozone damage.

• Birch may become more competitive than aspen in future atmospheric conditions.

• Effects seen on the three major tree species in the experiment (sugar maple, trembling aspen and paper birch) have cascaded through the ecosystem, even to soil microorganisms.

Reliable, scientific studies on climate change are more critical than ever, said Neil Nelson, the USDA Forest Service's project leader of the physiology research unit collaborating on Aspen FACE.

"Carbon dioxide and ozone are increasing by roughly 2 percent a year, and the more we theorize about possible effects, the more controversy ensues," Nelson said. "It's important to know what those effects will be on agricultural and forestry communities, because that will drive decision-making on regulatory and energy policy, as well as forest management. Controlling greenhouse gases has huge financial impacts for the automobile and energy production industries."

"Global change is one of the key environmental issues of this century," said Kevin Percy, a Canadian Forest Service investigator at Aspen FACE. "For the first time, we are able to examine long-term, community-level responses which give us a better idea how our northern forests may change. This experiment has tremendous relevance to this region."

"Aspen FACE and its sister DOE-sponsored FACE facilities across the U.S. are providing invaluable information about future ecosystem structure and function," said George Hendrey, Queens College professor, who led the Brookhaven National Laboratory team that designed the Aspen FACE facility.

Aspen FACE is funded jointly by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research; the National Science Foundation; Global Change Program, USDA Forest Service; North Central Research Station, USDA Forest Service; Michigan Technological University; the USDA National Research Initiative Program; Brookhaven National Laboratory; and Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service-Atlantic Forestry Centre.

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2. YAP’S NANOTUBES: TEENY, TINY TOTALLY TUBULAR TOOLS OF TOMORROW... TODAY

Yoke Khin Yap dreams of sensors that could detect any known toxin and fit in a soldier's shirt pocket. Of a supercomputer the size of your TechExpress card. Of a cable that's long, strong and light enough to lasso the moon.

To build them, he says, you have to start small. And in his lab, Yap, an assistant professor of physics, is doing just that.

Atom by atom, Yap and his research team are constructing nanotubes as small as a billionth of a meter across and a few hundred micrometers long. It's not as easy as it sounds. Inside a small, airtight chamber, a special laser blasts the raw material (carbon and, more recently, a mix of boron and nitrogen) and blows it through a plasma cloud. It crystallizes on a silicon substrate, atom by atom, ring upon ring, forming impossibly tiny, infinitely perfect tubes.

What these tubes may be capable of is anybody's guess. As the carbon in a No. 2 pencil is not the same as the carbon in the Hope diamond, so the properties of carbon nanotubes are vastly different from those of naturally occurring forms of the element.

"The bonding in the tubes is as strong as the bond inside a diamond," Yap said. "With this, you could make a cable five times lighter and five times stronger than steel.

"You could make super-light, super-strong plastic for use in your car, in aircraft, in rockets. You could form a cable and build an elevator to the moon."

Yap has received a $506,000 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development grant, known commonly as a CAREER Award, to begin making designer nanotubes that might someday change the fabric of our lives. (In some respects, that's already happening: Yap himself has a pair of dirt-resistant pants, made possible by another type of nanomaterial.) The goal of the NSF project is to build nanotubes with various physical properties depending on the elements used in their construction and how those elements fit together.

Yap is just the person to do it. He is the only researcher in the world to successfully build nanotubes on silicon chips from the elements nitrogen and boron, which, compared to carbon, have been notoriously difficult to manage. "They are promising, but so difficult to make," he says. "Carbon nanotubes will grow at 600 degrees celsius, but boron nitride tubes typically need 1,200 degrees," about the temperature of molten lava. Yap has succeeded in growing them at the more-manageable 600 degrees, aligned in one direction and free of impurities.

The problem with nanotubes made with carbon is that they oxidize at high temperatures, which can limit their applications. "But the boron nitride nanotubes resist oxidation, so they wouldn't burn up as easily," Yap says.

With his CAREER Award, Yap wants to begin building nanotubes with all three elements, incorporating the benefits of each. "We want to mix them together precisely, atom by atom," he says. "That would be true nanotechnology."

Because nanotubes can behave like semiconductors, they have huge potential for use in electrical and photonic devises. With funding from the military, Yap has already been investigating the electrical properties of carbon nanotubes, which have the potential to make computers much smaller and faster, and displays that are thinner, lighter and brighter, all at much lower power consumption.

However, he is particularly intrigued by the promise of nanotubes custom-built with boron, nitrogen and carbon. "It is possible to tune the band gap of boron nitride nanotubes by substituting carbon to make boron carbon nitride nanotubes," he said. Thus, you could tailor nanotubes for high-powered electronic and photonic devices, such as lasers, that can't be made using nanotubes constructed of carbon alone.

You could also use this technology to build nanoscale sensors, each designed to detect a specific chemical or biological molecule, he adds. "The substance would bind onto a receptor molecule, which would send out a warning signal," Yap says. "It could be used on the battlefield, in airports, as a diagnostic tool . . . There are so many possibilities."

Yap is also working on a $1.6 million project funded by the Defense Advanced Research Program Agency to make molecular electronics that could make even nanotubes seem big. The aim is to design switches that will be the size of a single molecule, on the order of one-tenth of a nanometer across.

"There's a whole, big family of materials just waiting to be explored," Yap says. "It's going to be a whole new world."

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3. SUSTAINABLE FUTURES INSTITUTE CELEBRATES FIRST ANNIVERSARY
Submitted by the Sustainable Futures Institute

Society, the environment and economic/industrial development--the "triple bottom line"--are inherently interconnected, both domestically and worldwide. Without fundamental changes our future is in jeopardy. Healthy survival requires a sustainable future, one in which human and industrial systems support an enhanced quality of life by seeking to understand this interconnectivity. Change must begin in the place where most change is born--within our nation's educational institutions.

In recognition of the emerging importance of sustainability, Michigan Tech founded the Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI) in January 2004 (http://www.sfi.mtu.edu). SFI's mission is to help create and disseminate new methods and processes that generate scientific knowledge and engineering products in support of sustainability decisions and education. After just one year of existence, SFI's research portfolio now exceeds 7 million dollars. Some of SFI's education and outreach initiatives have include

• creation of a Graduate Certificate in Sustainability that formally recognizes curricular breadth in the following areas: policy, societal and economic systems; environmental systems; and industrial systems;

• development of partnerships with the U.S. Peace Corps that allow over 50 graduate students to combine their education and research with two years of service in the U.S. Peace Corps (http://www.cee.mtu.edu/peacecorps/ and http://peacecorps.mtu.edu/front.htm) where they can focus on global sustainable development issues;

• creation of a middle school curriculum for water, energy and pollution prevention/sustainability;

• development of easy-to-read design guidelines for decision makers, planners and citizens that enhance community appearance and natural resources;

• development of a template that universities can use to develop a list of sustainability indicators so the institution can measure their progress towards sustainability.

SFI has also been collaborating with the Southern University and A&M College's (Baton Rouge, La.) College of Engineering and the Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs on several education and research initiatives. Southern University and A&M College is a historically black college and university (HBCU). These recent collaborations include

• a $3.6-million National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship grant to create an interdisciplinary graduate program for students who wish to develop an integrated scientific and social basis for decision-making on sustainability issues. This includes a graduate student exchange that began spring 2005.

• a $320,000 National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates grant to provide 16 students (split between the two campuses) a 10-week summer research experience that focuses on sustainability. The overall goal of this program is to create interdisciplinary teams of students and faculty from engineering, social sciences and business/economics to research specific problems related to sustainability.

• the formation of an interdisciplinary student team of engineers and social scientists who are working together on a project related to creation of sustainable construction materials for use in the developing world. These students are entering their design in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "P3 Award: A Student Design Competition for Sustainability."

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4. YOUR SUGGESTIONS SOUGHT TO ENHANCE CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY
Submitted by Committee to Enhance Campus and Community

The newly appointed Committee to Enhance Campus and Community is soliciting campus and community enhancement ideas that will help improve Michigan Tech's student recruitment and retention efforts.

The committee, which was appointed by President Glenn Mroz in December, has developed a web site (http://www.admin.mtu.edu/pcecc/) that allows students, faculty, staff and the general public to offer suggestions and to comment on suggestions offered by others.

Preliminary ideas posted by the committee include enhancing Michigan Tech's waterfront property, improving pedestrian safety and the visual appeal of the US 41 corridor through campus, encouraging the enhancement and preservation of residential neighborhoods near the campus and reviewing the design of classrooms.

"Michigan Tech has continuously worked to enhance campus and community, for example, through the construction of the Rozsa Center, the enhancement of the Tech Trails, the expansion of the library and the renovation of residence halls," said Craig Waddell, chair of the committee.

"Much more could be done, however, with classroom design and with developing recreational use of our waterfront location, which could be especially helpful with plans to develop a full, 14-week summer semester. The purpose of this committee is to solicit, develop and recommend such ideas."

The committee members urge members of Michigan Tech and the surrounding community to access their web site and offer their suggestions. Committee members include staff member Mike Abbott; undergraduates Jason Cook, Liza Orwin and Carl Schroeder; and faculty members Waddell, Kim Hoagland and Tom Merz.

The committee will report its recommendations to Mroz by the end of the academic year.

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5. FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP GRANTS RECOMMENDED

Based on recommendations by the Faculty Scholarship Grant Committee, the following for funding proposals have been funded: Victoria Bergvall, $2,200, Travel to Poland and Sweden; Heidi Bostic, $2,750, Publication of the English Translation of Jacques Fontanille’s Book “The Semiotics of Discourse”; and Patricia Sotirin (Humanities), $1,500, Investigation Alternative Relational Dynamics: Aunt/Niece/Nephew Communication and Feminist Mothers/Sons; Larry Davis (SBE), $2,000, Assurance Services: Framing and Experience Effects; Mary Carol Friedrich (Fine Arts), $1,300, Attending The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Summer Intensive Master Class in Lighting; Tim Scarlett (Social Sciences), $2,200, Archaelogical Excavation of a Nineteenth Century Pottery Shop; Andrew Storer (SFRES), $2,500, The Distribution of Red Wood Ants in North American Forests; Martin Thompson (Chemistry), $2,550, Identifying Chemical Determinants of Gene Regulation Using Designer Proteins; and Ramakrishna Wusirika (Biological Sciences), $3,000, Do Bidirectional Promoters Exist in Rice and Maize (Corn) Genomes?.

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6. MONT RIPLEY END OF SEASON SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

Mont Ripley is offering a special $10 rate for lift tickets and rentals during their end-of-season weekend.

Mont Ripley will be closed from Sunday, March 27, until Wednesday, March 30. They will be open Thursday, March 31, from noon to 7 p.m.; Friday, April 1, from noon to 9 p.m.; Saturday, April 2, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday, April 3, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This year marks the fifth year in a row that Mont Ripley will close in April and end with 112 days of skiing.

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7. CALL FOR MTU RESEARCH AWARD NOMINATIONS

It's time to solicit nominations for the annual MTU Research Award. The information can be found on the web at
http://www.admin.mtu.edu/research/vpr/internal/mturesearch.html.

Please nominate outstanding researchers among your department's faculty and research staff for this award.

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8. ADVERTISE YOUR STUDENT EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES WITH CAREER CENTER

Have a student position to fill? Know of someone interested in advertising a part-time position in the local area?

Consider advertising your on-campus or local student employment opportunities on the Career Center web site. With this free service, your postings will be online for a full month and candidates can apply directly to your designated contact person.

Visit http://www.ucc.mtu.edu and view the "Campus & Local Job Postings" section.

The Career Center job posting system is not available for work-study position postings. Work-study position requests must be completed through the Financial Aid Office. Please visit their site at http://www.admin.mtu.edu/finaid/finaid.htm for more information.

For more information regarding on-campus employment, please contact the Career Center at career@mtu.edu or 487-2313.

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9. MOTOR POOL FUEL SURCHARGE INCREASES ANNOUNCED

Effective May 1, there will be a motor pool fuel surcharge increase. The basic mileage rates of all university motor pool sedans and minivans will increase 3 cents per mile. All other vehicles (passenger vans, cargo vans, step vans, pick-ups and SUVs) will increase 5 cents per mile. The minimum mileage per day (60 miles per day) will remain the same.

The motor pool delayed the implementation of a scheduled surcharge in February and has continued to monitor fuel costs to determine the necessary increase to offset the increased fuel costs. The last increase, which was effective July 1, 2004, was based on $1.95 per gallon fuel costs. However, the market price has now reached $2.20 per gallon and the trend indicates that prices will continue to rise. The volatility of the market may necessitate future adjustments to reflect the increase or decrease in the cost of operating the motor pool.

Please refer to http://www.admin.mtu.edu/fm/motorpool/vehicle.html for the current rates and check after May 1 for the surcharge rates.

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10. MEMORIAL UNION EASTER WEEKEND HOURS

The Memorial Union will close at 10 p.m. on March 25. It will be open 9 a.m.-10 p.m. on March 25 and will open at 11 a.m. on March 27.

On March 25 the Manager’s Office and Tech Express will be open 8 a.m.-noon, the Food Mall will be open 7:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and the Corner Store will be open 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. The Manager’s Office, Tech Express, Food Mall, Corner Store, Campus Store, Bowling Alley and Billiards Room will all be closed March 26-27. The Bowling Alley and Billiards Room will also be closed March 25.

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11. A. E. SEAMAN MINERAL MUSEUM EASTER SALE THIS WEEK

The A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum Easter sale is on through Friday, March 25. The museum gift shop will be offering a 10 percent discount on all merchandise. The museum and gift shop are open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The Easter sale features colored rock eggs. There is also a wide selection of distinctive gifts including locally handcrafted gemstone jewelry, books and much more.

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12. TEACHING AT TECH: GETTING ONLINE
by William Kennedy, director of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Faculty Development

In a more perfect world, faculty members would have the time and training to skillfully apply computer-mediated learning technologies that demonstrated real benefits in their on-campus courses rather than rapidly morphing classroom courses into distance education applications. Unfortunately, when the actual call comes to teach a distance ed course, the most common response is to abruptly translate 40 or so 55-minute lectures into some combination of talking head videotapes and CRT screens full of pixilated text.

In the early days, distance education was delivered to students who were especially eager to gain access to continuing education for some very compelling reasons. Non traditional learners, often single working moms with kids, saw distance education as a means of improving their lives when traditional brick-and-mortar higher education was time, location and cost prohibitive. Working professionals saw graduate-level distance ed offerings as a way to overcome glass ceilings while still making mortgage payments and raising families. One of my former employers routinely produced and delivered what can only be described as mind-numbingly dull videotaped lectures that working adults were required to view in darkened conference rooms for three hours at a shot at the end of their regular working day. One student told me that he would have taken the course via Morse code in order to get the graduate degree that would allow for his promotion and career advancement; in fact, he said, he might have preferred it to watching those videotapes.

The truth is that most of us learned to teach by watching others teach. Some would suggest this is like learning to fly an airplane by taking a lot of plane rides. I was struck by all of this, a few years back, when some information technology folks decided they wanted to work intensively with a faculty member, use all of the technological bells and whistles and translate an on-campus course into a high-quality distance learning masterpiece. As the planning discussion began, several things become clear. First, the IT folks had a big bag full of tricks they were anxious to use. Second, the faculty member, who clearly knew the course content like the back of his hand, couldn't distinguish an instructional objective from a teaching technique. As I recall the discussion, it went something like this …

IT person: "What are you trying to accomplish in this first lecture?"

Faculty member: "I want the students to remember the important things I say."

IT person: "What would be the best way for us to package the key elements of your lesson?"

Faculty member: "How about I give my lecture, you record it, then we show them the tape and later we'll give them a test?"

IT person: "Are there elements we could simulate using computer animation?"

Faculty member: "How about I draw on the chalkboard and you point the camera at me?"

IT person: "Do you think threaded discussion groups might encourage synergistic learning?"

Faculty member (long pause): "As long as they can pass the test, I don't care."

Like two ships passing in the night. The course never got off the ground.

Computer-mediated educational technology is here to stay whether we like it or not. I cringe when I think of the widespread and largely unexamined implementation of Powerpoint lectures occurring on every campus. At the same time, I am heartened by the sense of excitement and engagement I have observed in large lectures sections using those personal response devices to liven things up and get students talking and doing things together. Nearly half of our faculty members are using WebCT to some extent to facilitate communication with students or just to let them see their grades.

Transforming an on-campus course into an electronic delivery system is a daunting undertaking. Sort of like packing for a three-month safari or expedition to some forbidding place; perhaps like figuring out what that Mars rover would encounter after landing.

Finding technological enhancements that improve the quantity and the quality of student learning takes time, energy, patience and a helping of creativity.

13. PRIDE WEEK SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED: DRAG SHOW APRIL 1
Submitted by Keweenaw Pride

Keweenaw Pride welcomes everyone to attend the following Pride Week events:

•Monday, March 28, from 7 to 8 p.m., Bowling with Keweenaw Pride in the Memorial Union Lanes. Free pizza and bowling.

•Tuesday, March 29, at 5 p.m., Roundtable Discussion, “Diversity on Campus,” in Dow 641. Come join Keweenaw Pride and university leaders to discuss how this issue affects Michigan Tech students and the community. Bill Roberts from the Admissions Office, Bonnie Gorman from Student Life and Chris Anderson from Educational Opportunity will be present. The moderator will be Sherry Kauppi from Affirmative Programs. All are welcome.

•Wednesday, March 30, at 9 p.m., comedian Sabrina Matthews in the Memorial Union Commons. Matthews has been a featured comedian on "Comedy Central Presents" and her routine promises to bring laughs to the Memorial Union. Please join Keweenaw Pride and MUB Board in welcoming this world-class comedian to the campus.

•Thursday, March 31, at 6 p.m., “Guess the Straight Person” game in Fisher 138. Join Residence Life in a exercise in breaking down stereotypes and exercising your mind by learning about diversity. A panel of students, faculty and staff will sit for the audience, give details about themselves and allow the audience to ask simple questions before voting to determine who they believe is straight or gay on the panel. After the voting takes place there will be a discussion about stereotypes, along with a question-and-answer session with the audience. After the game there will be social time to get to know members of the group, followed by Glow Bowling at the Copper Bowl Lanes in Ripley.

•Friday, April 1, at 8 p.m., Fifth Annual Drag Show and Amateur Competition. The grand finale for Pride Week is one of MTU's most well-attended student-produced events of the year. Join Miss Joey Black, the mistress of ceremonies, and her four co-stars from Milwaukee as they put on a show you won't forget and won't be able to stop talking about.

Don't know what a drag show is? It definitely has nothing to do with fast cars. Drag shows are when fabulous entertainers, queens (men) and kings (women) dress up in stunning costumes and songs from famous artists. It's tongue-in-cheek entertainment where gender boundaries are annihilated with a lot of fun along the way.

The amateur competition allows students to compete in drag for fantastic prizes and the adoration of the crowd. Prize packages are donated by local businesses and awarded by a panel of student judges. Thinking of competing? Register ahead of time or show up at the door with your make-up done and music in hand.

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14. FORESTRY FILM APRIL 6, 7

The Michigan Tech chapter of the Society of American Foresters will be showing a new documentary entitled "The Greatest Good." The film will be shown April 6 and 7 at 6 p.m. in Noblet G002. Refreshments will be provided. RSVP to mtu_forestry_club@yahoo.com and include your date of attendance.

For more information about the film, visit http://www.fs.fed.us/greatestgood.

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15. MS.FILMS THURSDAY

Niku Arbabi, director of Ms.Films, will lead a discussion about filmmaking on Thursday, March 24, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom. Later that day, at 7 p.m. in the same location, there will be a viewing of the Ms.Films program. Both events are free.

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16. DIVERSITY EXPERT TO SPEAK AT MTU APRIL 4

Frank W. Hale Jr., an expert on implementing diversity in academia, will give a talk to the university community on Monday, April 4, at 5 p.m. in Dow 641.

Hale has be instrumental in attracting nearly $15 million in graduate fellowship awards to 1,200 minority students at Ohio State University. The university's Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center was named in his honor, as was an endowed scholarship.

He has authored a number of books, including "What Makes Racial Diversity Work in Higher Education," and dozens of articles.

Hale earned AB and MA degrees from the University of Nebraska and a PhD in Speech and Political Science from OSU.

For more information, contact Betty Chavis, 487-2920.

SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
News  |  Entertainment & Enrichment  |  Seminars and Workshops   |  Regular Features  |  Calendar

17. MEEM SEMINAR THURSDAY

Professor John Texter from Eastern Michigan University will present a seminar entitled "Nanocomposite Materials from Microemulsions and Mesophases" on Thursday, March 24, from 10 to 11 a.m. in MEEM 610. The seminar is part of the John Towers Distinguished Lecture Series.

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18. MEEM GRADUATE SEMINAR THURSDAY

Professor William P. King from Georgia Institute of Technology will present a seminar entitled “Thermal Processing and Thermal Measurements at Extremely Small Scales: 10 Nanometers to 50 Micrometers” on Thursday, March 24, from 3 to 4 p.m. in MEEM 112.

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19. PHYSICS COLLOQUIUM MARCH 31

Ralph H. Scheicher from the Ångström Laboratory of the Uppsala University, Sweden, will present a physics colloquium, “The Many Uses of DNA: Examples from Biophysics and Nanotechnology,” on Thursday, March 31, at 4 p.m. in Fisher 139.

DNA is an extremely versatile molecule. “Designed” by nature, this polymer plays a central role in biology, carrying the genetic instructions for the development of all cellular forms of life. It has been speculated that the pi-stacking interaction between the bases of DNA could potentially be exploited in molecular electronic devices. In this talk, Scheicher will give an overview of this field, reviewing selected results from both experimental and theoretical/computational studies. He is currently working as a senior research scientist in the Condensed Matter Theory Group. Scheicher received his PhD in Physics from the State University of New York at Albany in 2004. His current research interests lie in the ab initio studies of various systems involving DNA and hydrogen storage materials. For more information, contact Yoke Khin Yap (ykyap@mtu.edu, 487-2900) or Ranjit Pati (patir@mtu.edu, 487-3193).

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20. COMPUTER SCIENCE SEMINAR FRIDAY

Associate Professor Ching-Kuang Shene (Computer Science) will present a seminar entitled "The Beauty of Computational Theory: When Mathematics and Computer Science Meet" on Friday, March 25, at 3 p.m. in Rekhi Hall 214.


21. MTU NOTABLES

Professor Alan Brokaw is the recipient of a Fulbright Senior Specialist grant for the second year in a row. He will be traveling to Estonia to teach marketing management education.

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22. NEW FUNDING

Tammy Haut Donahue has received a $219,645 grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases for her research, “Structure and Function of Meniscal Horn Attachments.”

Julia King has received a $299,950 grant from the National Science Foundation for her research, “GOALI: Development and Modeling of Highly Conductive Carbon-Filled Thermoplastic Resins for Fuel Cell Bipolar Plate Applications.”

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23. NEW STAFF

Jon Oman has joined University Communications/Athletics as assistant director of athletic communications and marketing. He was previously employed at Bemidji State University as a graduate assistant sports information director. Oman obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Communication at Concordia College. He enjoys backpacking, waterskiing, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. He and his wife, Elissa, live in Houghton.

Melissa Childs has joined Admissions as an admission representative. She was previously employed at Drake University as the assistant director of admissions. Childs has received a BA in English/Creative Writing from Drake University and is currently pursuing an MA in Community Counseling. She enjoys working out and is currently coaching track for Concordia University. Childs lives in Berwyn, Ill. and will be marrying Stanley Patton this coming October.

Keith Troesch has joined the biological sciences and social sciences departments as the system administrator. He was previously employed as a design engineer for Computer Network Technology. Troesch obtained a BSEE from Michigan Tech. He lives in Dollar Bay with his wife, Valorie.

Mary Frances Lawver has joined the Seaman Mineral Museum as museum assistant. She was previously employed at Warner Electric as a business systems analyst. Lawver received a BA in Art from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She enjoys fishing, reading, canoeing, painting, quilting, knitting and spinning. She and her husband, Darrell, live in Laurium.

Julie Chandonais has joined the J. R. Van Pelt Library as office assistant 4. She was previously employed by the WUPDHD. as an environmental health clerk. She has medical and food service experience as well. Chandonais holds an associate degree in business as well as a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Finlandia University. She enjoys raising and breeding Appaloosa horses for showing and is also an avid deer hunter. Chandonais has a daughter, Cassy, and husband, Brian. They reside in Lake Linden.

Haihua Li has joined the JRVP Library as a web services librarian. Li was previously a graduate teaching assistant for Michigan Tech and has experience as an audio visual editor. Li holds a Master of Science in Mathematics (Statistics) from Michigan Tech, as well as a Master of Information Science. Li is married to Haiying. They have two children, Grace and Stephen, and live in Houghton. Li enjoys swimming, volleyball, ping pong, playing piano and reading.

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24. CALENDAR: MARCH

24--Thursday
all day--Mary Peters’ birthday--Everywhere
11 a.m.--Don Smith, Entrepreneruship Talk--M&M U115
10-11 a.m.--John Texter, “Nanocomposite Materials from Microemulsions and Mesophases”--MEEM 610
noon--Lunch and Learn, “Tennis Anyone?”--Memorial Union Ballroom A
noon-1 p.m.--Niku Arbabi, filmmaking discussion--Memorial Union Ballroom
3-4 p.m.--William P. King, “Thermal Processing and Thermal Measurements at Extremely Small Scales: 10 Nanometers to 50 Micrometers”--MEEM 112
7 p.m.--Ms. Films program viewing--Memorial Union Ballroom

25--Friday
5:30/7:30 p.m.--International Night dinner/performances--Memorial Union Ballroom/Rozsa Center

26--Saturday
10 a.m.--Men’s tennis, Lake Superior State at MTU--Gates Tennis Center

31--Thursday
4 p.m.--Ralph H. Scheicher, “The Many Uses of DNA: Examples from Biophysics and Nanotechnology”--Fisher 139

APRIL
2--Saturday
2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.--Geno Delafose and French Rockin’ Boogie--Rozsa Center

4--Monday
5 p.m.--Frank W. Hale, lecture on diversity in universities--Dow 641

6--Wednesday
6 p.m.--Documentary, “The Greatest Good”--Noblet G002

7--Thursday
6 p.m.--Documentary, “The Greatest Good”--Noblet G002

_______________

25. MICHIGAN TECH POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Job descriptions are normally available at 1 p.m. on Friday. You can visit the Human Resources Office, call 487-2280, e-mail <JOBS@MTU.EDU> or go to http://www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/postings .

The following positions will be posted Friday, March 25, at 1 p.m. through Monday, April 4, at noon in the Human Resources Office.

Custodian--Residential Services/Facilities, (AFSCME internal posting only)

Systems Administrator--System Administration Services Group

Applicants from the recall pool will be given first consideration for non-bargaining-unit positions only. Michigan Technological University is an equal opportunity educational institution/equal opportunity employer.

_______________

26. MICHIGAN TECH FUND POSITION AVAILABLE

Major Donor Stewardship and Special Events Coordinator

Application deadline is April 8. For a job description, contact Janice Henkel, jrhenkel@mtu.edu, 487-3626.

 

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