About MTRI

MTRI, a research center of Michigan Technological University, is a recognized leader in the research, development and practical application of sensor and information technology to solve critical problems in national security, protecting and evaluating critical infrastructure, bioinformatics, earth sciences and environmental processes.

Mission

Be a recognized leader in the research, development and use of Information Technology to support solution of critical problems in national security, infrastructure, bioinformatics, earth sciences and environmental processes.
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Be acknowledged nationally and internationally as an innovator for the marriage of phenomenological understanding and implementation of the mathematically rigorous algorithms to build information from data in support of sponsor needs.
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Provide visibility and outreach for Michigan Tech in Southeastern Michigan.
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Establish collaborations with Michigan Tech academic departments, institutes, and centers to increase funded contract revenues for all organizations involved.
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Maintain a creative environment that rewards and encourages innovation.

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Our Facilities

Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI) Dave House Center is located in Ann Arbor, MI.  The research institute was purchased by Michigan Tech University in 2006 with a gift from the House Family Foundation, established by former Intel executive Dave House, a Michigan Tech alumnus.

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Outreach

MTRI’s outreach activities are designed to provide educational programs, technical expertise, tools/data and information and make them available to the public and stakeholders to promote awareness and improve environmental management. >>>

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What's New

October 2012 - Superior Ideas >>>
We are a vibrant community that partners innovative researchers with those interested in supporting cutting-edge university research.

April 2012 - Follow the new GLOS AOC Tributary Monitoing Twitter Feed or visit the GLOS AOC Tributary Monitoring website.

March 2012 - Rail Night 2012
MTRI Researchers attended the 7th annual Railroad Night, hosted in Houghton, MI. Research Scientists, Colin Brooks and Michael Billmire presented MTRI's Mineral Occurrence Revenue Estimation & Visualization (MOREV) Tool, which is a system for evaluating potential revenue and carbon emissions from mineral resourcers for existing and expanded rail networks in the Alaska-northwest Canada region.

February 2012 - Cropland Burning in the Russian Federation website now available. Begun in the winter of 2009-2010, this project aims to quantify crop residue burning and related emissions - with a focus on black carbon - in the Russian Federation using satellite data and available agricultural statistics. This project is a collaboration of researchers at MTRI, the University of Maryland, the All-Russian Institute for Agrochemistry (Moscow), and the Dokuchaev Soil Institute (Moscow). Much of this work was funded by the Clean Air Task Force, with support from Bellona Foundation in Russia.

Employment

MTRI is seeking employees committed to cutting edge research, development and practical application of sensor and information technology to solve critical problems in national security, protecting and evaluating critical infrastructure, bio informatics, earth sciences and environmental processes.

Current opportunities may be found on the MTRI employment page, however all exceptionally qualified applicants will be considered.

Internships at MTRI are available to undergraduate and graduate students. Desirable experience includes GIS, radar, signal processing, remote sensing, statistics, environmental science, MATLAB, computer science, and programming.>>>

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Business with MTRI

MTRI works through the Sponsored Programs Office (SPO) of Michigan Tech. Their website is: www.mtu.edu/research

Customer Base / Contract Type

View a list of all sponsors >>>

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Recent Publications

Kerfoot, W.C., Yousef, F., Green, S., Regis, R., Shuchman, R., Brooks, C.N., Sayers, M., Sabol, B., Graves, M. (2012) Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and multispectral studies of disturbed Lake Superior coastal environments. Limnology and Oceanography, 57(3): 749-771.

Buller, W., Leblanc D. (2012). "Radar Characterization of Automobiles and Surrogate Test-Targets for Evaluating Automotive Pre-Collision Systems", 2012 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC-URSI National Radio Science Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, July 8-14, 2012.

Chervin, R.D., Shelgikar A.V., and Burns J.W., (2012)."Respiratory Cycle-Related EEG Changes: Response to CPAP." SLEEP, Vol. 35, No. 2.

Moreno Ruiz, J.A., Riaño, D.A., Arbelo, M., French, N.H.F., Ustin, S.L. and Whiting, M.L. (2012). "Burned area mapping time series in Canada (1984-1999) from NOAA-AVHRR LTDR : A comparison with other remote sensing products and fire perimeters," Remote Sensing of Environment, 117, 407-414, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2011.10.017.

Shuchman, R.A., Roussi, C., Kerfoot, W.C., Green, S., Meadows, G., Erickson, T., Brooks, C., Endsley, A., Wienert, M., Sayers, M., Jessee, N., Anderson, J., Abbot, M. (2012). "The Lake Superior Water Monitoring and Information System," Limnotech Webinar Presentation, January 28, 2012. *** Link to the Limnotech Use of Nearshore Monitoring Buoys in the Great Lakes webinar site and to the YouTube video of the presention (presented by Dr. Robert A. Shuchman).

Read All MTRI Patents, Publications, and Presentations >>>

View all of the posters presented on the Husky’s campus on October 7, 2011. >>>

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Focus

Focusing on education, research, and development of technology to sense and understand natural and manmade environments.

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In the News >>>

CBS DETROIT: Following Phragmites Home: MTU Uses Satellite Data to Map Invasive Species in Great Lakes
December 17, 2012 >>>

Michigan Tech News: Following Phragmites Home: Scientists Use Satellite Data to map Invasive Species in Great Lakes Wetlands
December 17, 2012 - Phragmites australis, an invasive species of plant called common reed, grows rapidly into dense stands of tall plants that pose an extreme threat to Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Early treatment is the key to controlling Phragmites.>>>

Tech Tour Day Two: Solar Power, Star Trek Replicators, New Drugs At Michigan Tech
October 15, 2012 - CBS Detroit
Solar power, Star Trek replicators, new antiviral drugs, more green energy, and a research showplace for the Great Lakes. >>>

MTRI: Michigan Tech Research Institute (Ann Arbor) Research Projects Posters Presented at Michigan Tech’s Campus October 2012
October 12, 2012 - MTRI Poster Session
MTRI: Michigan Tech Research Institute (Ann Arbor) poster presentations were on display in the Atrium of the Dow Environmental Sciences and Engineering Building where numerous faculty and students had the chance to study them. >>>

MTRI Senior Research Scientist, Nancy H.F. French, was recently published in American Geophysical Union's (AGU) Earth and Space Sciences (Eos) international newspaper
McKenzie, D., French, N.H.F. and Ottmar, R.D. (2012), "National database for calculating fuel available to wildfires," EOS, 93, 57-58. >>>

MTRI Research Scientist, Jessica McCarty, participated in the International Meeting on Open Burning and the Arctic:  Causes, Impacts, and Mitigation Approaches
St. Petersburg, Russia, 8-9 November 2010 (Released, January 2012)
In early November 2010, over seventy policymakers, scientists, activists, and academics from Russia, Europe, and North America met in St. Petersburg, Russia for a two-day conference to discuss the causes and impacts of set fires in forests, peatlands, croplands, and steppe in Northern Eurasia and North America. >>>

STATE: Conservationists from EMU, state officials discuss invasive plant species Phragmites
November 5, 2011 - The Ypsilanti Courier
Laura L. Bourgeau-Chavez of Michigan Tech Research Institute in Ann Arbor spoke about mapping the plants in the coastal Great Lakes by using satellite imaging radar. >>>

Michigan Tech Researchers to Study Atmospheric Aerosols at PICO Mountain Research Observatory

October 18, 2011 - Michigan Tech News
In 2001, an atmospheric research station was established on the top of Mt. Pico, an extinct volcano in the Azores.  Mt. Pico is the highest point in the Portuguese island chain and the only spot in the mid-Atlantic where the air is high enough to escape the effects of the ocean environment.  >>>

MTRI Researchers Study Distribution and Expansion of Invasives

Michigan Tech Research Institute Image Analyst Receives Top Honor in Field

Dr. Chuck Olson has been doing image interpretation and analysis for more than half a century.  Now the senior image analyst at MTRI in Ann Arbor has been recognized for his contributions with one of the highest honors his professional society can confer: Honorary Member of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS). >>>