Overview of the Area : Michigan Tech, Houghton, Michigan

National Geographic Adventure Magazine (July/August 2001) recently named Houghton as one of our Nation’s “Top Ten Summer Sports Meccas.”

Michigan Technological University is located in Houghton, MI, on the shore of Portage Lake, (shown in the photo to the left), which cuts through the Keweenaw Peninsula on the south shore of Lake Superior. This rural area is known for natural beauty, pleasant summers, heavy snowfall, and abundant all-season outdoor activities. Michigan's Upper Peninsula is rural, with a population of only about 300,000 people and many outdoor activities. Michigan Tech is large in terms of the number of engineering degrees granted (similar to many Big 10 schools), but since it is primarily a science and engineering degree-granting institution, its size is small (about 6,600 students). The weather in the Upper Peninsula during the summer is fantastic (warm but not hot, few humid days, cool nights). In the winter, Houghton receives ample lake effect snow, which is great for downhill and cross-country skiers, snowboarders, and snowshoeing. In fact, the university maintains its own downhill and cross-country skiing facilities.

There are a variety of recreational and cultural opportunities at and near Michigan Tech. Students have easy access to Lake Superior, the Sylvania Track Wilderness Area, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Boundary Waters Canoe Area, several National and State Forests, Seney National Wildlife Refugee (the largest wildlife refugee east of the Mississippi), and two National Parks (Isle Royale and Pictured Rocks Lakeshore). It is also easy to walk safely around town and campus (Michigan Tech is rated as one of the safest universities in the US) and a bike path runs behind our building along the lake.

In addition, there are numerous cultural and sporting activities available on and off campus. The Michigan Tech Fine Arts Department presents cultural events and activities for the campus and community, including music, theatre, and visual arts. The University Cultural Enrichment Office sponsors a broad variety of cultural activities, including art exhibits, dance and theater touring companies, musical ensembles, performing artists, and lectures by topical, and often controversial, speakers. Recent speakers have included consumer activist and former Green Party Presidential candidate Ralph Nader, political activist Robert Kennedy Jr., Winona LaDuke (author and environmental/Native American activist), Dr. Cornell West (author and professor of African-American Studies, Harvard) David Breashears (mountaineer and filmmaker), Patricia Schroeder (former congresswoman), and Marc Nteturuye (Burundi Ambassador to the United Nations). More information on all these campus happenings can be found at: the MTU Ticket Office.

Performances are typically held on campus at the new 1,100-seat Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts or off campus at the historic Calumet Theatre. Students also have opportunities to attend other cultural events, such as the Pine Mountain Music Festival (held every summer, with classical and opera music), the Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival (held every summer in nearby Marquette), and Native American Pow Wows which are held both on campus and off campus at the nearby Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.

A wide variety of sporting activities are also available. Michigan Tech competes in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey and at the NCAA Division II level in sports such as football, men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, and tennis.

Housing, Campus, and Community

Michigan Technological University
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, Michigan, 49931 - 1295, USA
Department Phone: 1-906-487-2520
Department Fax: 1-906-487-2943
Department E-mail: cee@mtu.edu

By Richard E. Honrath