Building a new residence hall. Welcoming a nursing program. Conducting award-winning research in plastics recycling, astroparticle physics, aquatics robots and more. Get a glimpse of campus happenings and student and faculty accomplishments in this edition of 1400 Townsend.
An internationally recognized expert in high-energy gamma-ray astronomy and galactic cosmic rays, 2023 Michigan Tech Research Award recipient Petra Huentemeyer views the career path she has followed as a natural if not always easy progression. Fueled by a persistent curiosity to probe the unknown origins of the universe, her work has led her to study and conduct research at the world’s leading institutions in her field. Among the top three most cited authors at Tech, she serves as vice-spokesperson for a globally collaborative observatory and mentors her students to seek their own bright futures. Learn more about her in this MTU News Q&A.
That’s why Greg Odegard got into carbon.
Odegard is the John O. Hallquist Endowed Chair in Computational Mechanics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Technological University. He also leads the NASA Institute for Ultra-Strong Composites by Computational Design (US-COMP) and the Tech Forward initiative for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing. Odegard specifically studies ultrastrong carbon-nanotube-based composites, and he points out that not all carbon is equal. While all sporting a big C chemically, the soft sheets of graphite differ from the rigid strength of diamond and the flexibility and electrical properties of graphene.
In its many forms, carbon can perform in many ways and the tricky part with composites