From Tech Today: The Lighting of Detroit Using Forestry Know-How

By Jennifer Donovan, Michigan Tech Director of News and Media Relations
Posted on Tech Today, Nov. 18, 2015
Reprinted with permission

[Editor's Note: New UPDATE: The public seminar "The Lighting of Detroit" has been re-scheduled for 3:30 p.m. today, Thursday, Nov. 19, in Noblet G002, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science (SFRES).

HOUGHTON -- Akemi Mitchell, senior vice president for quality control and continuous improvement for the Detroit Public Lighting Authority (DPLA) and a Michigan Tech alumna ('95 ChemEng) will be on campus today, Nov. 18, through Friday, Nov. 20, for a series of meetings with campus leaders, students and researchers.

UPDATE: Mitchell was scheduled to talk about "The Lighting of Detroit" at a public seminar at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Noblet G002, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science (SFRES), but her flight was cancelled. Michigan Tech is re-scheduling her program.

Mitchell is also scheduled to meet with members of Michigan Tech's Diversity Council and under-represented minority students during her visit.

SFRES Dean Terry Sharik and researchers plan to discuss Tech's possible involvement in managing the DPLA lighting system through the use of wooden transmission poles. SFRES is looking at the entire life cycle of these poles, from planting the trees, harvesting them, manufacturing the poles and recycling them. There would also be an educational component for inner city youth. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is another important component of the proposed system.

Mitchell is also looking for two new employees in this area, so she will participate in SFRES's Career Fair on Thursday.

A forum/discussion on Michigan Tech's involvement in the use of bio-based materials in the "Lighting of Detroit" project is still scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday in SFRES 144.

Sponsors of Mitchell's visit to Tech include the Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI); the  Visiting Women and Minority Lecturer/Scholar Series, which is funded by a grant to Institutional Equity and Inclusion from the State of Michigan's King-Chavez-Parks Initiative; the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science; and NSF-AGEP (National Science Foundation Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate).