Student News Update for October 1, 2011

Oct 11, 2011 | Student News

Check out the latest edition of the NMC Student Update, which includes:

  • Get ready to register
  • Find out when you can begin to register for Spring and Summer
  • Spring Semester 2012 Financial Aid
  • Change for Summer Financial Aid
  • Traverse Bay Area College Night is tonight
  • Flu vaccines
  • US Marines offer ROTC Alternative Programs

Get ready to register

Spring term registration starts in November. Are you ready?

  • Watch your mail for a postcard with info about when you can register.   Registration starts November 9 – 11 depending on how many credits you have completed.
  • Check Self-Service for any “holds” you’ll want to clear up before registration.
  • Contact your assigned academic advisor to make an appointment now.  A list of advisors can be found at nmc.edu/spring.
  • Express Advising is available on the following dates in Osterlin 118:
    • Fri, November 4:  11:00 a.m.–4 p.m.
    • Mon, November 7:  12:30 p.m.–4 p.m.
    • Tues, November 8:  12:30 p.m.–3 p.m.
    • Fri, November 11:  8 a.m.–3 p.m

Contact the Advising Center in Osterlin 118 for help, or call (231) 995-1040.

Find out when you can begin to register for Spring and Summer

Students can see your first available time to register for Spring and Summer, by logging into Self-Service, then click Register, and then Select a Semester.

Spring Semester 2012 Financial Aid

We typically award financial aid for Fall and Spring Semesters at the beginning of the aid year.  If you already have Financial Aid in place, you do not have to reapply for Spring Semester.  If you did not attend Fall Semester, we will automatically package financial aid for Spring and Summer Semesters.  Check your Self-Service for the status of your financial aid before contacting our office if you have questions.

Change for Summer Financial Aid

In order to continue Pell Grant at current funding levels during the academic year, congress has eliminated the Year Round Pell Grant Program that was in effect Summer Session 2011.  Pell Grant recipients who attend school full time in the Fall Semester 2011 and Spring Semester 2012 will not have any Pell Grant eligibility for Summer Session 2012. Pell Grant recipients who do not attend full time in the Fall and Spring Semesters may have limited Pell Grant eligibility left for the Summer Session.  If you plan to attend classes during Summer Session, it is recommended that you plan your finances well in advance. Funding for Summer Session is extremely limited and many students must rely on alternative loan options to attend Summer Session classes.

Traverse Bay Area College Night is tonight

Area high school students and parents are invited to meet with representatives from more than 50 colleges and universities at the annual Traverse Bay Area College Night, to be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, October 11, at the Hagerty Center on NMC’s Great Lakes Campus, 715 E. Front Street, Traverse City.

As part of the event, two financial aid seminars will be held, at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

NMC’s Great Lakes Maritime Academy, in partnership with the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District (TBAISD), is sponsoring  the event. More than 1,000 area students and parents from 50 surrounding secondary schools are expected to attend.

Flu vaccines

Flu Vaccine Clinic for Culinary and Maritime students at GL231 on Wednesday, Oct.12th from 1:30pm to 3:30pm

Flu Vaccine Clinic for all students at Student Health Services Tuesday, Oct. 13th from 12pm to 2pm

Cost $15

US Marines offer ROTC Alternative Programs

The United States Marines offer two ROTC-alternative programs: Platoon Leaders Class (PLC), designed for freshmen through juniors in college and Officer Candidate Course (OCC) for seniors and graduates.  Both programs offer leadership training and the opportunity to accept a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corps.  For details about each program, visit http://www.marineofficer.com or contact First Lieutenant Marcus Carlstrom, USMC Officer Selection Officer, East Lansing, (517) 351-5515.

Success Story: Pitch Night prize results from innovation incubation

Oct 24, 1018 | Intercom, Student News

October 24, 2018

NMC students winning a pitch night prize at TC New TechA quartet of NMC student entrepreneurs won the top prize at TC New Tech’s October Pitch Night, bringing their product another step closer to market and bolstering the college’s reputation as an innovation incubator.

Hybrid Robotics, comprised of four students in NMC’s engineering technology and marine technology programs, was the crowd’s “clear favorite” at the October 2 event, said Russell Schindler (on the left), founder of TC New Tech. In a Traverse City version of the Shark Tank TV show, they competed against four other companies seeking the $500 prize decided by a live audience vote at the City Opera House.

Each company got five minutes to pitch their idea and responded to five minutes of questions.

CEO Matt Goddard (second from left) co-presented their innovation, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of floating and deploying a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) into the water. The students built it in an engineering technology class last spring semester by customizing an off-the-shelf drone with everything from unique parts manufactured in the college’s 3-D printers to foam balls from JoAnn Fabrics. They are now refining the unit and concept.

“We’re trying to make a hybrid platform for the marine inspection industry,” Goddard said. “All this is proof of concept and we’re trying to get a production model by early next year.”

The $500 prize won’t get them there, but Schindler said Hybrid Robotics walks away with more than that one check.

“They now have bragging rights. They won the competition. It’s kind of an endorsement of their product, that they’re on the right track and deserve a second look by a serious investor.”

Goddard confirmed he and his colleagues, Ryan Mater, Clayton Harbin and Aaron Bottke have had such conversations since, but couldn’t reveal details.

Keith Kelly at the Maker SpaceHybrid Robotics is now shaping up to be the second viable company to emerge from NMC’s Maker Space. Begun in 2014 at the Parsons-Stulen Building, the Maker Space offers both a place and a process for team-based, project learning that, when evolved to its highest level, can turn students into entrepreneurs. Interactive Aerial, a Traverse City company that specializes in drone inspections of interior, confined spaces, is the first.

“We wouldn’t have been able to build this without the support of NMC,” Mater told college trustees at an August presentation of the drone.

Instructor Keith Kelly (above), who taught the class in which the Hybrid Robotics team formed and developed their first unit, wants to see more.

“How can we make the transition with these teams from the college classrooms into startups?” Kelly asked. “That’s really the exciting stuff.”