July 14, 2000, Vol. 32, No. 39
Tuition and Fees Increase by 4 Percent
Ford Provides Second Installment Toward $3 Million Plan
GM Offers Discount Program to Michigan Tech Employees
Department Displays, Open Houses Invited for Alumni Reunion
Bowen: “Most Productive Year in Michigan Tech History”
Facilities, MUB Seek Student Workers
Library Announces New Reference Desk Hours
Campaign Publications Win Award
Summer Hours for Performing Arts Ticket Office
Food Festival Saturday
New Staff
MTU Notables
In Print
On the Road
Proposals in Progress
Job Postings
Bill Curnow, director, University Relations
Marcia Goodrich, Tech Topics editor
Gail Sweeting, electronic marketing assistant
Information to be included in Tech Topics should be submitted to the Tech Topics editor in one of the following ways:
By electronic mail--send information to ttopics@mtu.edu
By interdepartmental mail--send double-spaced, typed copies to the attention of Tech Topics editor, University Relations.
Each week, the deadline for submitting information is Friday at 5:00 p.m. for the following Friday distribution.
News (Back to Contents)
Tuition and Fees Increase by 4 Percent
Submitted by the News Bureau
The Board of Control voted June 29 to boost tuition and fees 4 percent this fall.
At its regular May meeting, the board had increased tuition and fees by 3 percent, but reserved the right to revisit the issue since state appropriations had not yet been finalized. When a legislative conference committee set Michigan Tech's general fund appropriation at a figure lower than what university officials had expected, the legislature at the same time informed universities that they could increase the cap on tuition and fees from 3 to 4 percent without penalty. The board took advantage of those guidelines in setting the new rates, which call for a tuition hike of 3.78 percent and a student approved activities fee increase of 0.22 percent.
As a result, resident undergraduate lower division (freshmen and sophomores) students will pay tuition of $4,530 for the two-semester academic year, while upper division (juniors and seniors) students will pay $4,744. Nonresident lower division undergrads will see their tuition rise to $11,086, while upper division nonresidents will pay $11,784.
At the graduate level, Michigan residents will pay $4,872 in tuition for the 2000–01 academic year, while nonresident graduate students will see their tuition rise to $10,008.
Ford Provides Second Installment Toward $3 Million Plan
Submitted by the News Bureau
Ford Motor Company recently gave Michigan Tech its second $600,000 installment toward the support of a $3 million, 5-year business plan. The partnership calls for annual Ford contributions to support initiatives ranging from student scholarships and research coordination to diversity programs and facilities renovation.
"Michigan Tech has traditionally been a strong partner for Ford Motor Company in many respects," said Jerry Haycock, director of core and advanced powertrain engineering in Ford’s research and vehicle technology division. "This funding for the College Relations Sponsorship Program demonstrates our continuing commitment to the success of Michigan Tech and its students, who will be tomorrow's technological leaders."
Ford's Careers for the American Road Scholarship Program sponsors 320 scholarship opportunities ranging from $1,000 to $12,000 per year and worth $1,259,000 over the 5-year duration of the partnership with Michigan Tech. Ford will also support three engineering enterprise teams, including the Society of Automotive Engineers Formula Team and Campus Development Team.
Ford has committed more than $5 million to the Leaders for Innovation Campaign, including the $3 million for the business plan, a recently completed $1 million gift for the Dow Environmental Sciences and Engineering Building, and more than $1 million in employee matching and other gift programs.
One of the new programs supported by Ford calls for the production of a Web site in conjunction with Michigan Tech's Youth Programs Office that would provide an interactive, multimedia experience demonstrating career opportunities available to those who attain an automotive industry-related degree. Highlights of the site would include watching video clips of robots in Ford manufacturing plants and sound, movie, and still pictures of youth program participants actively engaged in learning during the summer. Another component would be a "click-able" car that guides users through various components of an automobile and associates different types of engineers and engineering backgrounds with each component.
"We're very grateful for this continuing high level support from the Ford Motor Company toward our efforts to produce quality graduates who will be able to make meaningful contributions early in their careers," said president Curt Tompkins. "Ford has been a strong supporter of our university's programs for many decades and we look forward to continuing and even expanding this mutually beneficial relationship in the future."
GM Offers Discount Program to Michigan Tech Employees
General Motors Corporation recently opened its supplier discount program to Michigan Tech employees. This program provides discounts on new automobiles at participating dealers. Details can be found at <http://www.gmsupplierdiscount.com/> or by calling 1-800-960-3375. You may also contact Ingrid Cheney in Human Resources who is the local point of contact for the program.
In order to participate in the program you must request "GM Form 1753" either from the Web site or the 800 number. Employment (and therefore eligibility) is verified by a Michigan Tech pay stub. You must also disclose your intentions of buying a vehicle under this program at your first contact with the dealer. Currently all local GM dealers participate in the program.
Department Displays, Open Houses Invited for Alumni Reunion
The Alumni Association invites departments to host open houses or provide displays during the 2000 Alumni Reunion, set for August 3-5. Stephan Olsson, executive director of alumni relations, says his organization is “targeting the period from 1:30 - 3:00 pm, Friday, August 4, as a time for alums to visit campus departments.” Olsson asks that department chairs planning open houses contact him to coordinate publicity.
Theresa Coleman-Kaiser, assistant director of the Memorial Union, asks that department chairs contact her, as well. “This is a busy time for everyone, including our catering department,” she says, “and we appreciate the opportunity to do some advance planning for food and staffing.”
Olsson is also inviting groups and departments to consider preparing outdoor displays for the reunion’s welcome tent, to be set up at the MUB. “This provides the entire campus community a great opportunity to highlight the programs and projects which are at the core of our institution,” he said.
This year, registration and the welcome area will be at the Memorial Union, rather than the Meese Center. Registration will be inside the Memorial Union on the first level. You can request more information or a full schedule of events by e-mailing the Alumni Association at mtu_reunion@mtu.edu.
Bowen: “Most Productive Year in Michigan Tech History”
In his report at the last Board of Control meeting for the academic year, interim provost Stephen Bowen reflected on the achievements of the faculty as Michigan Tech geared up for the change to semesters.
“In terms of development of new courses, curricula, and degree programs, the intensity of student advising, and the growth of scholarship, this unquestionably has been the most productive year in the history of Michigan Tech,” Bowen said. He cited a number of innovations that will become part of the curriculum this fall.
Bowen singled out the common first-year engineering curriculum, developed under the leadership of Sheryl Sorby (director of general engineering), and particularly its coordination of what students study in math and engineering. He also cited the development of the Perspectives on Inquiry courses, led by Marilyn Cooper (Humanities) and Bob Keen (Biological Sciences). The faculty preparing the nearly 65 sections of this course have worked together to refine syllabi and develop parallel assignments for each section.
He also noted that the Engineering Enterprise program will begin full implementation this fall. Developed with the leadership of Mark Plichta (associate dean of engineering), 10 enterprise teams involving 180 students will combine special course work, project work, and team work as they simulate the development of technology-based commercial enterprises over a three-year period.
Bowen said the introduction of minors is another curriculum enhancement. Starting this fall, Michigan Tech will offer 36 different minors of 16 credit hours each.
The distance education program increased enrollment by 25 percent, with 551 registrations in existing courses. “Even more dramatic,” Bowen pointed out, “has been growth of new distance education programs. With the leadership of Bill Shapton and Bill Predebon (ME-EM), and Marti Banks-Sikarskie, director of Extended University Programs, we have developed a new program to deliver the Design Engineering Certificate through distance learning to General Motors. We will begin with a pilot program involving a few hundred students next fall, but GM estimates they have 5,000 current employees who will need this certification sometime in the next five years.”
Bowen credits those who provided academic advising as key players in the semester transition, as every student needed to develop a plan for the change. “Both the students and the faculty report that they enjoyed this interaction,” he said, “and this encourages us to concentrate more on academic advising in the coming years.”
In addition, the records and registration staff had to cope with processing 1,700 new courses, 20 new sets of degree requirements, and completion and coursework plans from 4,000 students. “Our Office of Student Records and Registration responded to this challenge with a combination of creativity and professional discipline that let us get through the year smoothly,” Bowen said. “We are all grateful for their continuing commitment and willingness to go the extra mile.”
At the same time, the same office implemented the new Web registration system.
In terms of research and graduate studies, acceptances to master’s programs are up 27 percent for this coming fall, and those to PhD programs have increased 44 percent. Bowen cited three major research consortiums led by Michigan Tech faculty, including the Keweenaw Current (KITES) program led by Sarah Green (Chemistry), studies of high energy particle astrophysics led by David Nitz (Physics), and major research on greenhouse gases led by David Karnosky (SFWP).
“The faculty with whom I have spoken in the last month report equal measures of exhaustion and elation,” Bowen said. “They are exhausted after an extremely intense year of teaching, research, planning new curricula, and advising students for semesters. But they are elated at the prospect and promise of the coming academic year and look forward to its realization.”
Facilities, MUB Seek Student Workers
Facilities Operations has several student employment positions available in Custodial Services. Hours are from 7:00 am to 3:30 pm, Monday through Friday, and the pay rate is $5.25 per hour. Applications are available from the facilities office on the waterfront or by calling Diane Gilbert at 7-2711.
The Memorial Union is looking for people 16-years-old and older to be part of a pool of temporary catering helpers. Temporary workers would be assigned a variety of duties which may include set-up, waitstaff, clean-up, and dishroom. Shifts are primarily evenings and weekends. Early shifts and days shifts are sometimes offered.
The MUB particularly needs workers for the Calumet All-School Reunion on July 20-21 and the Michigan Tech Alumni Reunion, August 3-5. Inquire in person at the MUB Kitchen Office between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm.
Library Announces New Reference Desk Hours
From July 1 through August 28, reference desk hours at the J. Robert Van Pelt Library are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. In addition, there are two ways to submit your questions to reference staff electronically. One way is to send your questions via e-mail to reflib@mtu.edu. The second way is to use the Reference Request Form accessible via the library's web page (select Library Forms, then Reference Request Form).
When visiting the library after 5:00 pm, you also have the option of filling out a paper form, available at the reference desk (in a green box). Fill out the form and place it within the green box. The staff will retrieve the submitted questions the next morning.
Campaign Publications Win Award
The Michigan Tech Fund's Leaders for Innovation Campaign materials have been awarded a 2000 APEX Award for Publications Excellence from Communications Concepts. The series of publications highlighted alumni, donors, faculty, and university initiatives.
Editors of the pieces were Dennis Walikainen and John Gagnon, and photography was by Brian Parmeter, all of University Relations.
The APEX awards are given annually by Communications Concepts of Springfield, Virginia, who reviewed some 4,900 entries.
Entertainment and Enrichment (Back to Contents)
Summer Hours for Performing Arts Ticket Office
The Performing Arts Ticket Center business hours have changed to 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday, for the summer. Tickets are currently available for the summer season at the Calumet Theatre. These events include: The Coasters, Drifters, & Platters, Sheer Pandemonium, Sh-Boom, Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadians, and many more. For tickets, call 487-3200.
Daniell Heights will sponsor an international food festival this Saturday, July 15, from 11:30 am until 2:00 pm. The event will feature a variety of authentic international food (and some local food) cooked by Michigan Tech students from Sri Lanka, China, India, Pakistan, Thailand, and other countries. The festival will take place near 2012 Woodmar Drive (all the way up in the upper Heights). Plenty of parking is available. For more information call 483-8110.
Seminars, Classes, and Workshops (Back to Contents)
Wellness Planning and Screening Scheduled
The Wellness Office is coordinating a blood pressure screening on Wednesday, July 26 from 10 am - 1 pm in the ROTC Gym, open to all Michigan Tech employees. There is also a Wellness Planning Group meeting on Thursday, July 20, in the HR conference room at noon.
The office also has a new Web site at http://www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/wellness/well2/mainwellness.htm
Regular Features (Back to Contents)
Eric Blough has joined the biological sciences staff as a laboratory supervisor. He was previously a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Blough has also been a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan's School of Medicine, in the Mental Health Research Institute. He has a BS in Biology from MTU, an MS from Southern Illinois University, and a PhD from Ohio State. Blough lives in Hubbell and enjoys most sports and outdoor activities.
Martin Tervo is the new senior design project coordinator for mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics. He comes to Michigan Tech from DaimlerChrysler, where he was a product engineer, and he has worked as the industrial education teacher at Jeffers High School. The 1990 Tech graduate, his wife Anita, and their four children, live in Calumet.
Dickie Selfe, director of technology-based instruction in the humanities department, has been elected to the College Section Steering Committee of the National Council of Teachers of English. The Council includes 77,000 individual and institutional members worldwide and is dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education.
James R. Baker (associate director of corporate relations and PhD student in environmental engineering), associate professor James R. Mihelcic (CEE) and Elizabeth Shea (Princeton University and former environmental engineering summer undergraduate research assistant) published a paper titled "Estimating Soil-Water Partition Coefficients (Koc) for Persistent Organic Pollutants: Limitations of Correlations with Kow" in Chemosphere, Volume 41, pages 813-817, 2000.
Professor David Karnosky (SFWP) has co-authored a chapter in “Responses of Northern U.S. Forests to Environmental Change, Ecological Studies.” The chapter is titled “Interacting Effects of Multiple Stresses on Growth and Physiological Processes in Northern Forest Trees.”
The summer issue of the ACUTA Journal of Telecommunications in Higher Education (with the theme “Convergence: Dealing with Change”) includes articles by vice provost for information technology Jim Cross (“Cybervandals: Fending Off Attacks”) and information technology editor/analyst Mick McKellar (“The Conscripted Consultant”). Cross is also part of a panel of experts interviewed on the topic of “convergence.”
Assistant Professor Sheila Grant (Biomedical Engineering) was featured in the June 2000 (vol. 15, pp. 72) issue of AIDS Alert. The article was titled "Viral-load self-test kits in future for HIV patients."
Assistant Professor Ulrich H. E. Hansmann (Physics) has presented a number of talks and seminars, including “New algorithms and the statistical mechanics of protein folding” at the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis; “Ising Model and Helix-Coil Transition in Biomolecules” at Cologne University in Cologne, Germany; and "New Algorithms and the Statistical Physics of Protein Folding" at the Niels-Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. He also visited the Department of Physics, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
A number of faculty members received awards and gave presentations at the annual American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) meeting, June 18-21 in St. Louis, Missouri. Assistant professor Sheila Grant (Biomedical Engineering) attended as the recipient of the Michigan Tech ASEE New Engineering Educator Travel Award. Assistant professor David Miller (Chemical Engineering) was selected to participate in the National Effective Teaching Institute offered prior to the conference.
Assistant professor Donna Michalek (ME-EM) gave a presentation, "Implementing a Team Exam in Thermodynamics," on her proceedings paper. Associate professor Ashok Goel (Electrical & Computer Engineering) gave a presentation, "Research Experiences for Undergraduate Women Students in High-Speed Integrated Circuits," on a proceedings paper co-authored by professor Martha Sloan (Electrical & Computer engineering) and seven students.
Associate professor Noel Schulz (Electrical & Computer Engineering) gave a presentation, "Using Posters to Enhance Electrical Engineering Students' Communication Skills," that was co-authored by associate professor Leonard Bohmann (Electrical & Computer Engineering) and professor Jon Soper (Electrical & Computer Engineering).
Associate professor and chair Kirk Schulz (Chemical Engineering) and Noel Schulz gave a joint presentation, "Getting U.S. Undergraduates into Graduate School: Providing Information and Opportunities," on a proceedings paper. Kirk was also a session moderator for the session on "Chemical Engineering Instruction in the Future."
Graduate Student Elvin Beach (MSE) presented a paper, “Measurements of Adhesion Forces in Pharmaceutical Powder-Polymer Systems by Atomic Force Microscopy,” co-authored by assistant professor Jaroslaw Drelich (MSE) and R. Han of Dura Pharmaceuticals Inc., during the seventh International Symposium on Particles on Surfaces: Detection, Adhesion and Removal, June 19-21, 2000, Newark, NJ.
Drelich also presented a paper, “Contact Angle Relaxation for Ethoxylated Alcohol Solutions on Hydrophobic Surfaces,” co-authored by undergraduate student Randy Zahn (MSE), and others, during the Second International Symposium on Contact Angle, Wettability and Adhesion, June 21-23, 2000, Newark, NJ. At the same symposium, graduate student Anna Gosiewska (MSE) presented a paper “Contact Angles on Heterogeneous Coal Surface: The Effect of Mineral Matter,” co-authored by Drelich, engineer Timothy Eisele (MSE), and J.S. Laskowski and M. Pawlik (University of British Columbia, Canada).
John Vucetich, Rolf Peterson (SFWP), and Tom Drummer (Mathematical Sciences), "Population Dynamics of Moose in Northwestern Minnesota," Minnesota DNR
Jong Lee (MSE), John Jaszczak, and Ranindra Pandey (Physics), "Colossal Magetoresistance and Lattice Strain: A Multiscale Modeling Study," NSF
Jaroslaw Drelich (MSE), "MTU-MSU International Program on the Preparation of Self-Assembled Monolayers and Nanostructures on Solid Substrates," NSF
John Vucetich, Dana Richter (SFWP), and Thomas Waite (Ohio State University), "Assessing Ecological Consequences of Low-Lignin and Fast-Growth Transgenic Aspen," USDA BRARGP
Charles Young (GES), "Travel to Plan Environmental Geophysical Studies in Estonia," National Academies of Science
Klaus Weinmann (ME-EM), "Closed Loop Control of Sheet Metal Forming—Implementation of Controlled Drawbead Penetration and Binder Force," NSF
Mahesh Gupta (ME-EM) and Faith Morrison (Chemical Engineering), "Optimum Design of Extrusion Dies Using the Estimated Elongational Viscosity of Polymers," NSF
Judith Perlinger (CEE), "Transformations of Polyhalogenated Aliphatic Compounds in Heterogeneous Systems," Michigan Space Grant Consortium
Gordon Parker and Bernie Bettig (ME-EM), "Optimal Design of Smart Structures," AFOSR
John Sutherland (ME-EM), "High Frequency Micro-Actuation to Achieve Dry Drilling (GOALI)," NSF GOALI
Ibrahim Miskioglu, Carl Vilmann, and Burhanettin Altan (ME-EM), "Low-Cycle Fatigue and Degradation of Sandwich Panels Due to Thermal Stresses," AFOSR
David Hand, John Crittenden, David Hokanson, and David Perram (CEE), "Development of a Methodology for the Technical Evaluation of Using Advanced Oxidation Processes for MTBE Removal," AWWARF
Martin Auer, James Mihelcic, et al (CEE), "Center on In Situ Management of Contaminated Sediments in the Great Lakes Region," EPA
Job descriptions will be available at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, or by e-mail at <JOBS@MTU.EDU>.
The following positions will be posted Friday, July 14, 2000, at 1:00 p.m. through noon, Friday, July 21, 2000, in the Human Resources Office.
Associate Director—University Career Center
Residence Hall Coordinator—Residence Life (Regular, full-time, ten-month position)
Secretary N3—Physics (UAW internal and external)
Office Assistant N5—Residential Services-Facilities
Custodian—Facilities (AFSCME internal only)
University employees are reminded to apply in writing prior to noon, Friday, July 10, 2000, 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 1:00 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.