Keynote speaker for the event was Dr. Charles Kerfoot, Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Director of the Lake Superior Ecosystem Research Center. His research on Lake Superior is world renown and encompasses many topics from mercury in watersheds to remote sensing of chemical transport in lake currents and their effects on biological communities. Dr. Kerfoot spoke about the new $25 Million Great Lakes Research Lab soon to be built at Michigan Tech on the Houghton Canal. Kerfoot pointed out that this new building will facilitate further research and education about pressing issues in the Upper Great Lakes issues, such as the effects of Global Climate Change on Lake Superior water levels, the development of realistic coastal models, impacts of non-indigenous nuisance species; and restoration of native fish stocks, among several other issues.

Dr. David R. Shonnard presentation to Dr. Mike Mullins of the Department of Chemical Engineering

SFI’s second 2009 Distinguished Fellow Award went to Dr., Director SFI’s  Center for Fundamental and Applied Research into Nanostructured and Lightweight Materials, for his contributions to important areas of energy and human health. With $3 million in support from the Department of Energy, the Center focuses on inventing better materials for fuel cells. Dr. Mullins’ goal is to design batteries that are more heat-tolerant, and more powerful, but are half the weight. He also researches medical projects that use nano-materials for use in pharmaceuticals and nerve fibers. Dr. Mullins believes that nanoscale materials will have the greatest impact on the field of photonics, electronics and bioengineering.

Dr. David R. Shonnard presentation to Dr. Alex Mayer of the Department of Geological & Mining Engineering & Sciences

Dr. Mayer, Director of SFI’s Center for Water and Society, also won this year’s Distinguished Service Award at Michigan Tech for his efforts at forging collaborations that cross-disciplinary boundaries, particularly in his quest to enhance teaching and research and to expand awareness of water-related issues. His projects span a wide range of sustainability issues from protection of the local Huron Creek watershed study to a $1 million National Science Foundation-funded multi-disciplinary study to determine how various activities will impact Great Lakes water quality, quantity, and availability. He also recently received a  $2.5 Million award from the National Science Foundation to promote interchanges between graduate students and school teachers to help create lesson plans that teach about current watershed issues. This project targets low-income and high Native American populations as well as a K-12 school system in Sonora, Mexico. Dr. Mayer was honored for his passion and commitment to sustainability and water issues. 

SFI’s Operations Manager, Richard Donovan, awarded the Inaugural Operations Manager Award of  $200 to the entire ETEC Enterprise Team whose members are:  Ashley Brown, Dianna Cacko, Stephen Chartier, Patrick Green, Jordan Huffman, Eric Kinonen, Markus Manderfield, Andrew Manty, Michael D. Powers, and Tyler Sutkowi. The ETEC teams submitted three posters: 1.) “Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad,” which describes a more efficient track design for increased capacity and speed; 2.) "Habitat for Humanity" about five new designs for environmentally friendly homes that meet Habitat for Humanity requirements for energy efficiency and meet the needs of diverse family units; and 3.) "Generations of Energy," which describes a project sponsored by the Ford Motor Company Fund through a Fund College Community Challenge (Ford C3) grant that brings together college students, local high risk high school students and non-profits to form teams that winterize the homes of low income elderly people. This last project is in collaboration with a local non-profit called New Power Tour. New Power Tour’s Managing Director, Melissa Davis, is on the SFI staff and also received a Scholar of SFI distinction at the banquet.  ETEC, a Michigan Tech Enterprise Program, stands for Efficiency through Engineering and Construction Enterprise (ETEC).  Their advisor is Lynn Artman. Dr. Donovan chose it for his inaugural award not only for the three posters in the show but, as he said, “I just like the whole idea of this enterprise!”

The Graduate Student Council People’s Choice First Place Poster award of $150 was announced  by Anna Pereira, Academic Chair of the GSC. It went to four Physics Engineering graduate students for a poster entitled, “Miniature Energy Sources: Biofuel Cells Based on Carbon Nanotube Arrays,” designed by Archana Pandey, Abhishek Prasad, Jason Moscatello, and Abhay P. Singh. This poster describes a concept by which excess calories in a human can be converted into usable energy to power medical sensors made from carbon nanotubes implanted in the body to make actual adjustments to body chemistry.  Their advisor is Associate Professor Yoke Khin Yap.

This year, there was a surprise tie for First Place. SFI matched the GSC's $150 for the other First Place finishers: Craig Gossen, Stefan Marek (Mechanical Eng.),  Ashley Thode (Civil Eng.), Kim Landick, Krissy Guzak, and Cara Hanson (Environmental Eng.). Their poster, entitled "Improving Airflow in Ventilated Improved Pit Toilets" describes a low cost air flow toilet made from minimal materials. This poster is a preliminary design that will be part of a display in April on the Washington DC Mall as part of an EPA P3: People, Planet, and Prosperity competition. The students’ advisors are Dr. Kurt Paterson, Dr. David Watkins (CEE), and Dr. Donna Michalek (MEEM).

The new 2009 Sustainable Futures Scholars

Seventeen graduate students and post docs were inducted into SFI’s Scholar Program. They are: Zeyad Ahmed, Felix Adom, Brandon Ellefson, Akhilesh Reddy Endurthy, Rabi Gyawali, Jiqing Fan, Robert Handler, Christopher Hohnholt, Meral Jackson, Azad Henareh Khalyani, Jennifer Lind, Jifei Liu, Xuhong Liu, Jarod Maggio, Jacob Midkiff, Ali Mirchi, and Fengli Zhang.

SFI Annual Banquet featuring local food sources

In keeping with the theme of sustainability, Chef Eric Karvonen prepared the dinner using fresh roasted trout from Lake Superior, vegetables from Chip Ransom’s organic farm on the Houghton Canal Rd, grass-fed bison from Northern Wisconsin, and wild blueberries from Gay, Michigan.