The
Technician bulldogs.kettering.edu/technician
February 25, 2015•
•
Volume 117
Issue 2
Community Vitality Summit By Chloe Hauxwell Editor-in-chief On January 27, leaders from the four area colleges gathered at Baker College of Flint's Center for Business. Flint Mayor Dayne Walling moderated the discussion on how higher education institutions can and will contribute to community revitalization. The summit was the first meeting of the year for the Flint Area Public Affairs Forum. The Flint Area Public Affairs Forum was begun in 1986 as a nonpartisan public service devoted to helping the public gain a better understanding of important social and political issues. At the community vitality summit, the four college leaders, including President McMahan, agreed on a few main things. Continued on page 2
What’s Inside
Photo courtesy of Kettering Communications
Kettering Global Online Courses expanding
Art Center Reception
By Adam Lecznar Copy Editor
The Department of Liberal Studies at Kettering University was bustling with people on Friday, February 6, 2014 as Kettering’s Humanities Art Center opened its doors to guests for a reception lunch featuring artist Guy Adamec, a sculptor from the Flint Institute of the Arts whose various works were on display in the Art Gallery. Located on the fourth floor of Kettering’s Academic Building, the Art Center is a small area for students to view and appreciate various pieces of art, which are rotated in and out of Kettering throughout the year. For this event, lunch was provided to guests in the form of catered sandwiches. “We really appreciate Guy coming out and helping us set this up,” began Art Center Curator Regina Schreck as the reception officially started. After his introduction, Guy talked about the pieces featured in the Art Center, but began with an explanation of his experience as an artist. “I started out as a chemistry major at Knox College,” Guy explained, referring to the highly ranked liberal arts college in Galesburg, IL. He then abandoned chemistry after doing an independent study in glaze chemistry with a chemistry professor who was interested in the subject because his wife was a potter. From there, he went on to the Cranbrook Academy of Arts, where he received an MFA in ceramics. “I have been working in ceramics for over 40 years, but I still use my chemistry background in pottery and glazing.” Continued on page 2
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Club Spotlight Gamer's Society and Kettering Cru
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i2E Courses Innovation to Entrepreneurship
Film Review
"Half of a Yellow Sun" 7
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Engineers Week Professor Mebert Schedule Interview
Sunday, Feb. 22 to Saturday Feb. 28, 2015 Celebrating engineers who make the world a better place Join the Kettering community during Engineers Sunday 2/22 9 a.m. Great Court SWE Expo Pre-college weekend wrap-up 2 p.m. FIRST Robotics Community Center FIRST Robotics 16 Team Scrimmage Monday 2/23 11:30 a.m. International Room Lunch service begins for campus community *Kettering Dining Services will only be serving lunch on the fifth floor outside the International Room. Lunch is free for faculty, staff and students. 12:30 p.m. International Room Keynote Speaker: Dr. Bernard Amadei, National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and Founder of Engineers Without Borders/USA Tuesday 2/24 11:30 a.m. B.J.'s Lounge Lunch service begins for students 12:30 p.m. B.J.'s Lounge Keynote Speaker: President Dr. Robert McMahan "Engineering the future of Kettering, the Campus Master Plan" 8 p.m. B.J.'s Lounge Movie night: "Tim's Vermeer" Featuring a discussion with President Dr. Robert McMahan on the intersections between engineering, innovation and art Continued on page 2
Erin Boyse Online Editor
Dr. Laura Mebert is a new liberal studies professor who started teaching at Kettering in Fall 2014. She was born and raised in Flint, and grew up around the GMI campus. She attended Albion College with a major in Anthropology and a minor in Spanish for her Bachelor’s degree, and she spent a summer in Mexico as a research assistant at an Aztec burial site. Mebert always knew she wanted to study anthropology: “Originally, from the time I was about five, I thought I was gonna be Jane Goodall, I wanted to study chimpanzees. But then [in] college, after taking Introduction to Anthropology, I got really interested in studying people.” Continued on page 2
Photo courtesy of Kettering Communications
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The Technician
Announcements
February 25, 2015
Art Center Reception
Mebert Interview
Engineers Week Schedule
Continued from front page
Continued from front page
Continued from front page
From there Guy began explaining how his practice is affected by changes in technology and innovations in engineering. “The reason I picked these pieces for this show is to highlight how technology and engineering have affected my art and made new things possible.” Some specific examples he highlighted were innovations in materials for kiln shelves, which made them thinner, lighter, stronger and reusable. He also discussed automated kilns and innovations in glazing practices: “I can now make any color at any temperature.” Though the event was held within Kettering’s Academic Building, it was open to the public, and many people in attendance were from outside the university. Some students from other schools such as U of M-Flint were seen among the crowd as well. “I love art and I’m a fan of Guy Adamec,” commented Judith Wolbert, a former Calculus professor at Kettering and a volunteer at the Flint Institute of Music. “I think this reception is a wonderful opportunity for students, particularly Chemistry students, to see their field applied in art. Glazes are all chemistry.” The reception was scheduled to run from noon until 2 p.m., but due to conflicting class schedules with some students, Guy talked for about 30 minutes, though guests were invited to stay until 2 p.m., anyway. The reception also featured a drawing for students for $25 gift cards to Churchill’s and the Whitehorse Tavern, local area restaurants. “I think that the displayed art is very fascinating; it’s refreshing to get a different perspective of the world outside of engineering,” remarked Senior II Alan Xia, one of the recipients of a gift card. Guy Adamec ended his reception by socializing with his guests and informing them more about programs and opportunities available through the FIA, such as Empty Bowls, a program that donates ceramic bowls, made by students and volunteers, to local area shelters after they have been filled with soup. “This is fun,” concluded Guy, talking about his work as an artist and with the FIA. “It keeps changing; it never stops, and engineering is what’s bringing it on.”
After she graduated, Mebert moved to an indigenous Mayan village in southern Mexico where she taught English and applied for a Master’s program in a nearby city. She wrote her Master’s thesis, titled “Water and the Coca-Cola Company in the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico,” while she was studying there. She then traveled to Manchester, England for her PhD and returned to Flint for a year doing research on retail workers for her dissertation. As part of her research, Mebert worked at a superstore chain for three months doing participant observation where she interviewed the employees while also working alongside them. She discovered that many employees were on food stamps or worked a second job because minimum wage was not enough to support them: “I was looking at workers’ responses to that— how it affected their lives and how they responded.” Many large retailers use similar cost-cutting measures in the name of efficiency, but the irony is that these practices require government subsidization for the employees. She is in the process of turning her dissertation into a book. After graduating from the University of Manchester, Mebert moved to Germany where she taught classes in English at the University of Munich for a year before coming to Kettering. She returned to Flint to be closer to her family, but “mostly I was attracted to what Kettering offered…I love teaching, that’s what I want to do, and Kettering offers small class sizes, so it’s an opportunity to interact with students, to get to know students, and to teach the student, not to teach the lecture.” She finds teaching rewarding and likes that Kettering students aren’t anthropology majors because it allows her to make a difference. Her passion is sharing social sciences with students who don’t realize what the field has to offer them. Engineers still need to be able to make ethical decisions and be engaged politically. She enjoys the challenge of making the topics relevant and exciting to the students. While at Kettering, Mebert hopes to develop new courses and bring new ideas into existing classes. She taught Introduction to Social Science last fall term, and is currently teaching Senior Seminar.
Wednesday 2/25 12:30 p.m. Great Court Innovation Quest Competition: Engineering solutions to human problems Thursday 2/26 12:20 p.m. AB 2-225 CETL Distinguished Faculty Speaker Dr. Janet Brelin-Fornari "Don't forget about crash safety when preparing for a family vacation" Friday 2/27 12:30 p.m. Great Court Engineering Trivia Bowl Contest Sponsored by Kettering Student Government Saturday 2/28 9 a.m. Great Court Service Saturday: Serving the Flint Community Children's Museum exhibit conversion and blanket making for Project Linus.
The
Technician Chloe Hauxwell
Editor-in-chief
Kaitlin Solovey
Staff writers Colleen Chavis
Assistant Editor
Erin Boyse
L ayout Editor
Erin Boyse
Online Editor
Adam Lecznar
Copy Editor
Bryan Boyse
Distribution Editor
Photographer Joseph Stevenson
Faculty Advisor Christine Levecq Special Thanks To Betsy Homsher
Community Vitality Continued from front page They all agreed that colleges have to prepare a well-trained work force; employers are attracted to communities with a strong educational base. They all also agreed that students, staff, and faculty are major players in the community—service projects and a mindset to be a part of Flint. Lastly, the area leaders agreed that to really make a difference, they need to continue to work together and use their combined resources from within Flint.
Technician Student Forum Thursday, February 26th 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. AB 2-225
Submissions Policy The Technician encourages any interested students to attend staff meetings. Meetings for Winter 2015 will be each Monday and Thursday over the lunch hour in The Technician office, located on the 3rd floor of the Campus Center above the Sunrise Café. Student submissions are encouraged and will be published if their material is in the public interest. Submissions or letters to the editor from faculty and administrative entities will be published if space is available. The Technician reserves the right to edit any and all submissions for brevity and clarity. Anonymous submissions are rarely published and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Individuals wishing to publish anonymously should consult the Editor-in-chief. The deadline for the upcoming issue of The Technician is 9th Monday at 6pm. Expected distribution is 10th Monday. Send submissions to atechnician@kettering.edu.
February 25, 2015
The Technician
Campus Updates
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Kettering Global Campus By Kaitlin Solovey Assistant Editor
space will be shared with Betsy Homsher and her administrative assistant Jennifer Windle. Kettering Global is working on redeveloping a Kettering Global Campus (KGC) focuses on exnumber of already approved programs for online depanding the Kettering brand with online courses in livery. These courses include the MS in Operations graduate programs, corporate training, Continuing Education for Maintenance of Professional Engineering Licenses, undergraduate programs, and specialization certificates. KGC is currently being headed by Dr. Christine Wallace, from the Business Department at Kettering. KGC is intended to provide the skills necessary to succeed in an engineering career. According the recent update on Blackboard from the Kettering Global Team, this year is expected to be a big year for Kettering Global. The first big piece of news is Kettering Global’s new office space. They will be moving from the Office of Multicultural Student Initiatives offices on the third floor before the end of January. Their new Dr. Christine Wallace, VP for Kettering Global Campus.
Management and the MS in Engineering Management. Updated versions of these courses are sure to help many professionals and even current students work towards their educational goals. Another important thing to note about Kettering Global is that all KG courses will be run on the same primary academic calendar as the University. More details on this will likely come soon from the Kettering Global Team. Kettering Global is all about expanding the University’s brand with online courses and training. Currently, Kettering Global is working on two MS programs, but has intentions to eventually work on undergraduate programs as well. This could significantly improve the undergraduate classes online that many students take over work-term, making the classes more about learning than finishing the work.
Photo courtesy of Kettering Communications
Professor's Story Inspires Him to Help Others
By Kettering Communications
Dr. Petros “Pete” Gheresus, Robert and Claire Reiss Chair of Industrial Engineering at Kettering University, has one resounding message about his journey from Eritrea (formerly a province of Ethiopia), East Africa, to the American Midwest: he didn’t get here alone. “I did not get here by myself,” Gheresus said. “Call it the miracle work of God or the invisible hands of God. The probability of leaving Eritrea for educational opportunities was virtually unimaginable.” Gheresus spoke about his journey at the annual Black History Month celebration at New Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Flint on February 8. The theme of this year’s celebration focused on “struggle.” Gheresus’ struggles were plentiful at each point of his journey and now he’s dedicating his life to serving students both in his homeland of Eritrea and in the Flint and surrounding communities by sharing his time and knowledge. One bed and one blanket shared with four brothers in one room. Two shirts and two pairs of shorts. No electricity. Divorced and single mother. That was the extent of resources and support in Gheresus’ household in Eritrea.“ This situation made it very difficult for my mother and brothers,” Gheresus said. “There was no such thing as my plate or your plate. We all ate in one plate.”Gheresus supported his family by working six days a week as a janitor, dishwasher and a waiter at an officers’ club on a U.S. Military Base (Kagnew Station) in Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea. His salary as a waiter was $30 U.S. Dollars per week. He also worked part-time shining shoes and cleaning vehicles for American soldiers. The income was enough to support his family each month. “It was a privilege working at the club because I could eat at the [U.S.] base,” Gheresus said. “I didn’t get to eat what the officers ate but it was far better food than I could afford.”Despite his familial obligations and job, Gheresus wanted to go to school. But there was one problem: he failed his ninthgrade placement exam so he wasn’t permitted to enroll in a public school. Gheresus’ explanation of his circumstances was overhead at his job by a group
of teachers, including Gladys Mower of Perry, Iowa, who happened to be the high school counselor at the military base. “If you pay for me to go to private school, I’ll take one class and prove to you that I want to go to school,” Gheresus said to the counselor. “I took geography because it’s an easy class and I wanted to make sure I did well.” Mower began to assist Gheresus in migrating to the United States even though he had yet to complete high school, which was a requirement to emigrate from the country. Gheresus at the time was 18 and had only an eighth grade education. However, Mower did not give up on Gheresus. She continued to help him secure a passport and connected him with a family from Hills, Minnesota, who was visiting the U.S. Military Base. They agreed to sponsor Gheresus on Mower’s request so he could continue his education in the United States. In Gheresus’ mind this must be an example of his mom’s blessing coming true. “My mom always said ‘God will never throw us away,’” Gheresus said. Gheresus came to the United States as a 19-year-old with one year of English and an eighth grade education. He began his time in America by helping raise 1,000 beef cattle and baling hay “day-in and day-out.” “That experience built my work ethic,” Gheresus said. “So today, in academia, when I see people stressed out, I say, 'we don’t know what hard work is.'” While working on the farm, Gheresus started high school but with limited English capabilities, which proved to be a greater challenge than he expected. “Reading was a problem,” Gheresus said. “They placed me in 10th grade. I could barely understand English and they were reading Shakespeare. I was not with it.” With the help of teachers and peers, Gheresus persevered and graduated from high school when he was 23-years-old. From there he moved to Boone, Iowa, and began attending Des Moines Area Community College with the aim of becoming a television repair man. Why a television repair man? Gheresus was watching Sesame Street on television and realized that the show could be a powerful tool to promote and educate children in Eritrea. So he continued his education at Iowa State University in
Ames, Iowa, with the hope of bringing educational technology back to his country. Unfortunately, due to civil unrest, Gheresus could not go back. Instead, he continued his educational journey by completing his master’s and doctorate in industrial engineering at Iowa State before coming to Kettering (then General Motors Institute). In March 2015, Gheresus will celebrate his 35th year as a professor at Kettering University. After 26 years in the United States, Gheresus traveled back to Eritrea for the first time in 1992 and was distraught by the devastation that he observed in his war-torn homeland. “When I went back, it was turmoil,” Gheresus said. Having settled in Flint, Gheresus began to devise a plan to contribute to the recovery efforts in his home village in Eritrea and chose to focus his energy on improving literacy after being discouraged by the limited library resources in his home village. In 1992, Gheresus started a 20-year book drive that concluded in 2012 when he shipped 8,000 collected books overseas to the library at the Eritrean Institute of Technology. Since 1992, Gheresus has also been travelling back every two years to teach month-long courses at the Eritrean Institute of Technology. “I have all the material resources I need but now it’s time for me to remember where I came from and give back to those who helped me by helping others,” Gheresus said. Based on his own life experiences, Gheresus has developed an unwavering belief in the power of education. In his 35 years in Flint, he’s been active in the Flint Public Schools while also forgoing his summer vacations to develop and invest in pre-college programs at Kettering. Gheresus emphasizes that he didn’t get to where he is today by himself and it’s unreasonable to think Flint-area students could achieve success without the help of the generation that came before them. “I am grateful that Kettering University continues to enable me pursue my passion helping others through the vision of ‘Community Vitality,’” Gheresus said. “Education will equip you with knowledge and information and that’s the best asset one can possess.”
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The Technician
In Pictures
February 25, 2015
Students enjoyed a day off classes on February 2nd, thanks to the snow and "inclement weather". Although it's been bitter cold, the campus is staying busy (from top, clockwise): • Members of Delta Tau Delta defeat FIJI to become the A-Tourney broomball champions. • Ari Budiono races at Extreme Indoor Kart Racing with the Firebirds Club. • Marsha Lyttle gets some help cutting the ribbon for the new SBDC office in the Campus Center, located on the 5th floor. • Students prepare their ballon cradle to keep an egg from breaking during Innovation Quest's Egg Drop.
Photos are courtesy of Kettering Communications
February 25, 2015
From top: • A potential student poses with the Bulldog during Prep for Success in the Great Court on February 16. • Kettering students face off against Powers in a broomball competition. • Autoliv donated money to Kettering to put into creating more innovative spaces on campus. There are plans for a new d-space in the Academic Building soon.
Photos are courtesy of Kettering Communication
The Technician
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February 25, 2015
The Technician
Student Life
Club Spotlights Kettering Cru
Gamer's Society Are you feeling a little stressed out from homework and classes and in need of a little break? Then head up to the Gold room on the 4th floor of the campus center on Wednesdays from 6:00 p.m.-midnight for Gamer's society. According to Club President Tyler McCardell, Gamer's Society is “a community of people who get together to play games, eat pizza and have fun”. They do not play video or computer games, but they have all sorts of competitive, strategic, and storytelling games. They have a wide variety of board games, card games, tabletop and role-playing games available, and if they don’t have what you want, you are welcome to bring your own. So if you would like to hang out and get to know people by playing games, then come to Gamer's Society. Both club photos courtesy of Mr. Bryan Boyse
Diversity Initiatives & Diversity Week – 8th Week The Office of Student Life is committed to celebrating diversity on campus. The kick-off for Diversity Initiatives was held on Tuesday, February 3 from 12 noon to 1:30pm in the Great Court. Cake and ice cream were served to Kettering faculty, staff and student. A flyer explaining diversity and a “Celebrate Diversity” bracelet were given away as music from various genres played in the background. Diversity Week will be held 8th week with the following clubs/organizations hosting events and providing food during lunch or in the evening: ALLIES, Anime Club, Black Unity Congress (BUC), Cru, International Club, National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and Society of Women Engineers (SWE). A combined “Celebrate Diversity” event will be held 8th Wednesday from 5-9pm in the International Room. Food and music from various cultures, Evolution of Dance, Mariachi dancers, spoken word, and a speaker are planned. The term diversity is used to describe individual differences (e.g., personality, learning styles, and life experience) and group/social differences (e.g. race/ ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, country of origin, and ability as well as cultural, political, religious, or other affiliations) that can be engaged in the service of learning and working together. For more information, please contact Stephanie Jones, Office of Multi-Cultural Student Initiatives (OMSI) at sjones1@kettering.edu or ext. 7328 or Ronni Isham, Multi-Cultural Student Rep, at isha6279@kettering.edu.
Kettering Cru is a group of Christian students at Kettering University from diverse backgrounds, coming together to reach out and share The Gospel with fellow students, to grow in our faith together, and in fellowship with one another. Cru has a worship service every Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. in AB 1819. There is worship music and a speaker, as well as an opportunity to fellowship with other Christians. This term’s topic is “Respectable” Sins, which refers to sins that are generally accepted in today’s culture. They welcome anyone who is interested in finding out more about Christ and the Bible, regardless of background or religious affiliation. Cru has a variety of Community Groups for any-
one interested in a small group setting. This term they have three groups: “Habitudes” Mondays at 8:30 p.m. in the basement of Thompson Hall; Girl’s Group Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. in Campus Village; and Guy’s Group Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. in the basement of Thompson Hall. Cru hosts a fun event every Friday or Saturday, with more information given at their Wednesday meetings. On Friday, March 20, they will have a Lock-in in the Recreation Center from 9 p.m. to midnight. Everyone is welcome to come enjoy volleyball, dodgeball, table tennis, and other sports. If you have any questions, please contact Jake Fairbairn at fair9477@kettering.edu.
DECA State Conference Winners From Kettering Communications
Third Place Alex Holder in Professional Sales Kettering University students took honors at ColTroy DeLong and Harschal Patel in Business to legiate DECA’s State Career Development ConferBusiness Marketing Management ence held in Battle Creek MI, February 6-8. KetterJonathan Blanchard and Matthew Stauffer in Fiing University’s chapter went head to head against nancial Statement Analysis students from University of Michigan, Michigan Matthew Cromer and Hugo Rouquet in Business State University, University of Pittsburg, Oakland Ethics University, Northwood, Davenport (Grand Rapids), and Delta College. This year fourteen KetterHonorable Mentions ing students captured 13 awards: four in first place, (Honorable Mentions are placements between 4th one second place, and four in third place with 4 and 6th place) honorable mentions. Madeline Geffert in Fashion Merchandising and At the conference, students took exams, solved Management current and practical business case study problems, Ross Person in Corporate Finance wrote business plans, and role-played with indusJacob Sherwood in Accounting try judges. Of the sixteen Kettering students who Matthew Cromer in Executive Job Interview competed this year, fourteen were new to Collegiate DECA and six were either engineering or applied Collegiate DECA is an entirely student-oriented math students. The below honors qualify the stuorganization focused on developing future business dents to attend the International Collegiate DECA leaders. The four cornerstones of DECA are career Career Development Conference in Orlando, Florawareness, civic consciousness, social intelligence, ida, April 17 - 21. and leadership development with competitive events in Business, Design, Entrepreneurship, Finance & First Place Accounting, Food Service & Culinary, Hospitality Matthew Pawelski in Restaurant and Food Service & Travel, Information Technology, Management, Management and Marketing & Sales. Besides the yearly State and Thomas Swanson in Entrepreneurship – Growing International Career Development Conferences in a Small Business the spring, Collegiate DECA also sponsors a yearly Lauren Putnam, Allison Putnam, and Jacob SherLeadership Conference in the fall. wood in Advertising Campaign Matthew Pawelski in Marketing Management Collegiate DECA is open to all Kettering students. To find out more about the two chapters, Second Place contact Professor Cayo. Madeline Geffert and Ross Person in Emerging Technology Marketing Strategies
February 25, 2015
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The Technician
Student Life
i2e Makes a Presence on Campus By Adam Lecznar Copy Editor A change is occurring at Kettering University. In the T-Space of Kettering’s C.S. Mott Engineering and Science Center, students are working diligently in a new course of study that is growing on campus, Innovation to Entrepreneurship. I2e-AU, otherwise known as Innovation to Entrepreneurship Across the University, is a course of study that was introduced to Kettering in the Winter 2014 academic term. This course was established with the intent of creating an environment that is conducive to student innovation and entrepreneurship, and has gradually been spreading its name across the campus since its inception. “We think our students can become more effective if they add entrepreneurial mindsets to their education and work experience,” commented i2e-AU director Massoud Tavakoli, who is also a professor of Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University. “Entrepreneurs have a different way of seeing the world,” he added. To help foster this mindset on campus and begin spreading the word about i2e, Tavakoli and other administrators helped establish other programs at the university which promote similar ideas and ways of thinking. These often came in the form of extracurricular activities or clubs, such as the weekly Innovation Quest, which is held in the Great Court of Kettering’s Campus Center during the lunch hour on Wednesdays. These types of activities interact with each other and the i2e course of study, which is
a 7-class course begun in a student’s second term on campus and meant to be followed for several terms, to try and get students thinking outside of their classroom degrees. “It is important for students to realize that this course, though it’s called Innovation to Entrepreneurship, is not about creating a business. That’s just one form of thinking,” explained professor Tavakoli. “The course is more about ‘What can I do with what I learn?’” The i2e course is shown as a progression over several terms. In a student’s Fresman II term, they are enrolled in INEN 101, where they are introduced to an innovative mindset through several projects using interesting and fun programs that are not found in many other classrooms, such as the Arduino programming system. “Right now I think the class is geared toward EEs,” commented INEN 101 student Dereck Monroe in reference to programming using Arduino, which some students have never done. “I could be a bit more adaptable. I want to get a better idea of what it means to take an idea and make it a product.” For the final project in INEN 101, students are allowed to choose their own way of producing a solution to a problem they see on campus or in the real world. Because it is very open-ended, the project promotes innovation and problem-solving as students figure out how to get an end result. “Success in a project is not necessarily the end goal,” mentioned professor Tavakoli. “Sometimes a good failure is better, as it allows us to learn from it.”
As students progress through the course, they begin learning more about innovation and entrepreneurial mindset. In INEN 201 and INEN 202, they are asked to develop an innovative idea, which they will work on throughout the i2e course of study. Two of the classes in the course come through the Department of Business, and finally in INEN 401 and INEN 402, students learn how to commercialize their project idea. Though the program is still in its infancy, with INEN 201 being the current highest-level class with enrollment, proponents of this program are confident that it will continue to grow. The program has seen increased support from members of the university, including President McMahan. Looking even farther toward the future, administrators for this program hope to begin including Intrapreneurship, the concept of applying the mindset learned in this course to students’ Co-op programs. They see this happening as students start to complete the entire course and it comes into its entirety, as well as by offering thesis opportunities through the i2e’s courselong innovation project. “This is grassroots work, but our administrators are seeing the worth of it,” summed up professor Tavakoli. “Industry looks for talent, not just skills. It wants this mindset. INEN is all our imagination – we aren’t copying anyone – it is unique to Kettering, but this concept is also catching on across engineering. In a few years, Kettering will be known not only for its great Co-op program, but also its students’ mindsets.”
CETL Faculty Speaker - Ruben Hayrapetyan By Adam Lecznar Copy Editor Kettering University was very pleased on Thursday, January 26 to have one of its Mathematics professors, Professor Ruben Hayrapetyan, give a presentation as part of a series by the Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning. The presentation, titled ‘An Ill-Posed Problem, or Journey behind Calculus,’ was held in Kettering’s Academic Building, Room 2225. “When people ask me about my profession, they ask if I teach Differential Equations,” opened Hayrapetyan. “The next question is usually what comes
after Differential Equations. Today everybody studies Calculus, but it is actually just the beginning of Mathematics.” Hayrapetyan went on to explain how the way a person views Mathematics can be attributed to the way a problem is posed: whether the problem is illposed or well-posed. “Everyone knows Mathematics solves problems; the question is what is a good problem and what is a bad problem. Calculus textbooks are written to show the success of Calculus, but even in Calculus, problems with differentiation can cause issues to appear.”
What followed was a series of examples of ill-posed math problems, which led professor Hayrapetyan into the topic of collaboration across fields of study. “To solve many problems, there is required an additional assumption beyond mathematics. Every next generation solves problems that are more difficult than those faced by the last generation.” The entire presentation can be found posted on the CETL website. Professor Hayrapetyan ended his presentation by stating: “There is no excitement in finding an answer to a problem we know to exist.”
Beta Theta Pi Host Alumni Event By Adam Lecznar Copy Editor On Saturday, January 24, the apartments of Beta Theta Pi in Kettering University’s Campus Village were full of the sounds of people socializing and reminiscing as members of Kettering’s Delta Eta chapter welcomed former brothers for one of their semi-annual alumni events. Because it was held during the winter, the gathered members of the fraternity spent their day playing mock poker and blackjack. “It was great fun,” commented 2010 Kettering graduate Trent Sutherland. “There was lots of yell-
ing.” While there was indeed lots of noise, very little of it was from yelling. The former brothers of the alumni found themselves welcomed by the current chapter, and pledges who attended the event found it a good opportunity to get to know Beta alumni. “In Beta we say that ‘Brothers are Brothers for life,’ so our alumni relations focuses on bringing them back because they’re the ones who got us here,” explained Sr. II chapter president Alex VanTol. “We have one alumni event per term. Summer events are larger and brothers’ families are invited. We typi-
cally have more people for summer events because we can do stuff outside.” The event, which lasted from 1:30 until 5:00, featured mock card games of Poker, BlackJack and Texas Hold’em. Though no money was actually gambled, the chapter did bust out actual poker chips. “I got a four of a kind!” Sr. I Stephen Morawski proudly exclaimed during the event. As the day ended, alumni and brothers said goodbye once again after having had a wonderful time catching up with one another, all looking forward to the next time they could meet like this.
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February 25, 2015
The Technician
Crossword
By Colleen Chavis
Michigan Crossword Across 3. If you seek a pleasant ____, look about you 5. One of our two seasons 6. Mitten 7. Capital of Michigan 8. Governor of Michigan
Down 1. One of our two seasons 2. The cold never bothered me ____ 4. There are ____ Great Lakes 5. Across the river from Detroit Street character Answers are posted on http://bulldogs.kettering.edu/ technician/
"Half of a Yellow Sun" Review By Kaitlin Solovey Assistant Editor Half of a Yellow Sun was screened at Kettering University during the 13th Annual Global Issues Film Festival. This film follows the story of two young women, their family, and their friends through the Biafran War that took place in Nigeria during the 1960s. The movie explains that the Biafran War occurred when the southeastern states of Nigeria tried to secede due to ethnic and political tensions. The war takes a personal toll on all of the characters in the movie, and it forces the two young women, twin sisters in fact, to see that they have significantly different values. This movie exemplifies the difference between those who do, and those who don’t value the welfare of others. At the start of the war, Olanna has already shown how much she cares about others by taking in the illegitimate child of her boyfriend, because the baby seemed so helpless. As the war begins, her parents offer her the opportunity to flee to London, but she refuses. Her mother only has four tickets to London, meaning that she would have to leave her boyfriend and her daughter behind. Olanna does not give leaving a second thought. She values the welfare of her family far more than her own safety. Unlike her sister, Kainene is less interested in the welfare of the people in her country during the war. She continues to work at her father’s company and she profits from the war. Interestingly, though, Kainene has a change of heart. She sees how much her sister is suffering during the war and the impoverished conditions she
is forced to endure. Even Kainene’s own servant is beaten by a small mob of people. These events force her to see that she needs to help the people being hurt by the war. Seeing people she cares about suffer forces her to put aside her desire for comfort and to focus on the value of helping her family. While this movie focuses on the lives of Olanna and Kainene, it also takes the time to demonstrate how powerless people are in the face of extreme violence, and how their values become void in these situ-
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ations. Kainene’s boyfriend, Richard, is in an airport when the violence begins. Men in military uniforms separate people by ethnicity, and they begin to kill anyone who is Igbo. Richard is British, so he is largely ignored. While it is clear from his actions later in the movie that he highly values the welfare of others, he can do nothing to act on that value while soldiers are killing innocent people in front of him. In the end of the movie, Richard and Kainene run a refugee camp, and Olanna and her husband live with them, and they work with them. It is surprising just how powerless all of these characters were throughout the movie. While Olanna worked to uphold her values, it was sometimes in vain, as the people she tried to help would just be killed during the next attack. Richard, despite his money and foreign connections, was utterly powerless, even in the end when he could not find his wife. These people, before the war, were wealthy, well-educated people, and the civil war destroyed their lives. The purpose of this film seems to be to show just how quickly one’s life can be destroyed, and how hard it can be to uphold one’s values in a place or time that is uninterested in those values. On the whole, Half of a Yellow Sun is very much worth watching. The story of the Biafran War is rarely heard in schools in the US, and this film presents the story in a very relatable way. It is easy to relate to Olanna and Kainene, and it is interesting to see the way they hold onto and change their values throughout the war.