2019 Research Magazine
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THIS ISSUE Parking Lot Archaeology VR For Everyone Andean Peatlands Immortal Batteries MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY / 2019 SLEEP We sleep one third of our lives. Big data reveals why our hearts need plenty of sleep, which may matter more to women than men. Research TABLE OF CONTENTS 10 SLICE OF LIFE by Cyndi Perkins Industrial archaeologists uncover unexpected layers of history, ethnicities, and cultures in a small town parking lot. 12 3 PERCENT FOR THE PLANET by Kelley Christensen Peatlands cover only 3 percent of global land but store 30 percent of Earth’s soil carbon. To mitigate climate change, teams restore Andean peatlands. 16 SLEEP LAB GETS TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER by Kelley Christensen Researchers wake up to the importance of sleep for healthy hearts, especially for older women. 20 A BATTERY’S GUIDE TO IMMORTALITY by Marcia Goodrich Batteries die fast. Engineers seek battery reincarnation through ecological principles and old-school mining techniques. 24 EDUCATION ECOSYSTEM FOR STEM edited by Allison Mills Mi-STAR, Mechatronics, ETS-IMPRESS: a sustainable, empowering education ecosystem. 28 READY USER ONE by Stefanie Sidortsova This isn’t your grandpa’s typewriter. Computer scientists integrate text into virtual and augmented realities. REGULAR FEATURES 06 RESEARCH IN BRIEF 30 AWARDS 32 BEYOND THE LAB 34 RESEARCH CENTERS AND INSTITUTES Research is published by University Marketing and Communications and the Vice President for Research Office at Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, Michigan, 49931-1295. Allison Mills John Lehman David Reed Managing Editor Vice President for University Vice President for Research Relations and Enrollment Nicole Kelly Jason Carter Creative Director Ian Repp Associate Vice President for Assistant Vice President for Research Development Crystal Verran University Marketing Director of Operations and Communications Cathy Jenich Assistant to the Vice Vassilissa Semouchkina, Jessica Brassard, President for Research Jon Halquist Natasha Chopp, Designers Jodi Lehman Research Office 2 RESEARCH 2019 Andrew Barnard is an acoustic engineer. From loud stadiums to quiet hospital hallways to near-silent anechoic chambers, he analyzes how different noise sources, sound waves, and materials interact. 2019 RESEARCH 3 RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS 2018 Between 2017 and 2018, Michigan Tech’s research expenditures grew 9.8 percent, totaling more than $78 million. The number reflects the University’s expanding expertise in Great Lakes research, mobility, remote sensing, and health sciences. Above water: The Great Lakes Research Center oversees the Marine Autonomy Research Site (MARS) in Lake Superior, the first freshwater test bed of its kind. It is part of the Smart Ships Coalition, which brings together researchers, policy makers, and resource managers to study and set ground rules for the use of autonomous marine vehicles on the Great Lakes. Navigating risk: In January 2018, the State of Michigan placed Michigan Tech at the helm of an independent risk analysis of the Straits Pipelines. The 41-person team looked at 4,380 simulations of “worst-case-scenario” spills. Eruptions: More than 10 faculty, grad students, and alumni responded to the eruptions in Hawaii and Guatemala. Seismic surveys and remote sensing data help geoscientists better understand volcanoes, their plumbing systems, their emissions, and evacuation protocols to keep people safe. Stream gauges: Following the June 2018 flash floods that hit the Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan Tech ecologists worked with state and federal agencies to advocate for reinstalling local stream gauges. Better data means better predictions for events like last year’s 1,000-year storm. Traffic signals:The Michigan Department of Transportation installed five upgraded traffic signals in Houghton that provide a local corridor where engineers can safely study vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technology and communication. 4 RESEARCH 2019 Research Statistics FOREIGN | 2% 2017 INVENTION DISCLOSURES | OTHER 3% CROWDFUNDING | <1% PER $10 MILLION OF RESEARCH STATE OF MICHIGAN | 5% EXPENDITURES (COMPARED TO BENCHMARK UNIVERSITIES) GIFTS | 7% MICHIGAN TECH 5.3 INDUSTRY | 12% GEORGIA INST OF TECH 3.3 SPONSORED AWARDS FEDERAL | 71% FISCAL YEAR 2018 MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH 4.6 STANFORD UNIVERSITY 4.6 UNIVERSITY OF 2.0 NC CHAPEL HILL US DEPT OF ENERGY | 4% US DEPT OF EDUCATION | <1% US DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION | 4% US DEPT OF 2017 INVENTION DISCLOSURES US DEPT OF AGRICULTURE | 6% DEFENSE | 32% PER $10 MILLION OF RESEARCH EXPENDITURES US DEPT OF HEALTH (COMPARED TO MICHIGAN UNIVERSITIES) & HUMAN SERVICES | 6% FEDERAL MICHIGAN TECH 5.3 AWARDS FISCAL YEAR 2018 MICHIGAN STATE 1.7 OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES | 12% UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 3.0 NAT’L AERONAUTICS NAT’L SCIENCE WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY 3.1 | & SPACE ADMINISTRATION 12% FOUNDATION | 24% RESEARCH EXPENDITURES $78,678,397 (IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS) 78.7 TOTAL 2018 RESEARCH EXPENDITURES 72.5 72.0 70.7 71.6 70.1 68.5 69.6 63.5 60.4 9.8% INCREASE OVER FISCAL YEAR 2017 18 RESEARCH CENTERS AND INSTITUTES 277,684 SQUARE FEET OF RESEARCH SPACE 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 | FISCAL YEARS | 2019 RESEARCH 5 Research IN BRIEF NOT JUST A DAD SPORT More young women are buying fishing licenses in the Great Lakes region, while the number of ADVANCING male anglers is generally declining. The finding is FACULTY CAREERS one of several in a new study exploring regional demographics of fishing. A more diverse STEM workforce starts with more diverse faculty. To make that a reality, Stefan Liebermann Richelle Winkler, associate professor of sociology an interdisciplinary campus team has a goal: and demography and the principal investigator for measurable increases in retention and career the study, with doctoral candidate Erin Burkett, advancement of women and under-represented GLIMPSE THE STARS examined changes in the angling population by minorities at Michigan Tech within the next looking at recent trends in anglers through various three years. Among the initiatives are career Robert Nemiroff, professor of astronomy and demographic lenses, such as gender, age, and development teams, programs addressing astrophysics, co-created the Astronomy Picture of generational differences. intersectional disadvantages, and managerial the Day (APOD) website with Jerry Bonnell, training for chairs. a fellow astrophysicist and staff scientist at Each year, approximately 1.8 million recreational NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center working anglers fish the Great Lakes. Millions more fish The National Science Foundation has granted on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope team. inland lakes and streams across the Upper Great $1 million to Michigan Tech faculty Adrienne Nemiroff and Bonnell track down, post, and Lakes region. Anglers play a critical role in the Minerick, Patty Sotirin, Sonia Goltz, Andrew explain images that endeavor to inspire a spirit region’s fisheries, their related ecosystems, and Storer, and Audrey Mayer to continue the work of curiosity and open the eyes of viewers to the fisheries management practices and policies. of existing programs and implement new ones myriad opportunities to take a voyage through based on other university programs. space via photography. >>>Find out what the changing face of anglers means for fisheries management: “We are inspired by, but not bound to, the work APOD, translated into more than 20 languages, mtu.edu/greatlakes/fishery of similar teams on other campuses,” Sotirin typically receives more than 800,000 views with says. “We look forward to the collaborative a social media following of more than 1.3 million development of programs that are responsive to people, popularizing science and inspiring a love our uniqueness and that open new possibilities for of astronomy. campus culture change, equity, and success.” >>>Enjoy the view from this “Small and Drifting >>>Learn more about the ADVANCE program: Planet” in an Unscripted photo essay: mtu.news/2NtOYog mtu.news/2BzTZEm 6 RESEARCH 2019 The Sabana Research Station, Luquillo, Puerto Rico. Tana Wood Tana Wood researchers Tana Wood from the USFS, and BEFORE AND AFTER: “We got four good years of data,” Cavaleri Sasha Reed with the US Geological Survey. says. “I’m so grateful my whole lab was there all HURRICANES IRMA summer. I had three undergraduates there doing AND MARIA HIT When Irma passed the island, the forest canopy projects, my PhD student was doing a project all PUERTO RICO where the TRACE project is located was patchily summer, and they finished a full campaign. They damaged. Hurricane Maria finished the job, and got back a week before the first hurricane hit. We When Hurricanes Irma and Maria carved their marred project equipment at the same time. were lucky.” destructive paths across the Caribbean, they left behind grieving communities without power, These events left the researchers wondering Cavaleri and her team secured a DOE Office badly damaged homes and infrastructure, and how to move the project forward now that of Science grant to document and study the completely altered ecosystems. One of these many, if not all, of the parameters had been disturbance and recovery of the El Yunque was the El Yunque National Forest, on the dramatically altered. TRACE site. They will also continue their work northeastern side of Puerto Rico. on detailing the effects of rising temperature “When you walk into what was previously a impacts on tropical forests and carbon storage El Yunque is the only tropical forest in the closed-canopy