Archive for 'Economic Impact'
Sustainability master’s helps professional engineers grow in new directions
Posted on 02. May, 2013 by perspective.
As energy & CO2 leader for Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Steve Skarda spends most of his time working on renewable energy issues. But even on his own time, he thinks about sustainability. “It’s a personal passion for me,” he says. “I love it a lot. I took a car and converted it to an [...]
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Silicon Valley Badger Engineers: How the West was won
Posted on 02. May, 2013 by perspective.
Here’s a story that could aptly be titled, “Only in Silicon Valley.” Three young entrepreneurs come to Inspovation—a Los Altos, California, venture firm—with a cool idea to create a cheaper alternative to renting cars at airports. The team has an impressive lineage from Harvard, MIT and Princeton. As the conversation continues, the investors find the [...]
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Advanced manufacturing research conference in Madison, June 10-14, 2013
Posted on 01. May, 2013 by perspective.
The largest manufacturing research gathering in the Americas will take place June 10-14, 2013, at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison. The event will draw nearly 500 international academic and industrial leaders to two conferences: the 41st North American Manufacturing Research Conference, sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and the 2013 [...]
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Talent assessment and training give company competitive edge
Posted on 29. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
Through an ongoing partnership with the Johnson Controls North America building efficiency business, Engineering Professional Development Faculty Associate Carl Vieth (left) and Faculty Associate Thomas Smith have created a benchmarking tool called a competency model that will enable the business to make more informed, strategic talent-management decisions. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the business focuses on [...]
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A quasi-optical Internet backbone
Posted on 29. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
Trunks of fiber optic cable make up most of the Internet’s backhaul–the network that links smaller networks across the globe together into the World Wide Web. But installing fiber between remote locations can get expensive. Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Akbar Sayeed (left) and Assistant Professor Nader Behdad (right) have developed a new communication architecture [...]
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For alum, innovation is a full-time hobby
Posted on 27. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
Although he grew up on a dairy farm in a tiny, central-Wisconsin community—rather than a small coal-mining town in West Virginia—Dennis Bahr sees elements of his childhood in the movie October Sky, a film based on the true story of Homer Hickam, a coal-miner’s son who ultimately became a NASA engineer. Hickam’s passion was rocketry; [...]
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Innovation: Forward thinking
Posted on 27. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison will formally recognize 2012-13 as the Year of Innovation. As the engineering dean at a major research university, I recognize the importance of innovation in moving research discoveries into society to improve our quality of life and the economy. Innovation is where great ideas and discoveries are put to work for [...]
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Insights on innovation
Posted on 27. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
UW-Madison is recognizing 2012-13 as the Year of Innovation, offering a chance to reflect on what this concept means to the university and to society. With $136 million in research and more than 100 patent disclosures annually, the College of Engineering has worked to cultivate innovation as standard operating procedure in our classrooms and labs. [...]
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Creative energy: In new building, microgrid lab will spark practical solutions
Posted on 20. Apr, 2012 by perspective.
When the Wisconsin Energy Institute building opens on the UW-Madison campus in early 2013, it will include a high-power microgrid that will combine real and simulated power sources capable of reproducing the inherent technical challenges associated with intermittent energy sources. “We want to be able to create all of the different operating conditions that are [...]
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New engineering podcast series launches with e-business, sustainability experts
Posted on 20. Apr, 2012 by perspective.
In the inaugural edition of the Badger Engineering Perspective podcast, Industrial and Systems Engineering Professor Raj Veeramani talks about how new information technology can allow businesses to implement innovative new processes for getting work done. He also discusses the role of the University of Wisconsin E-Business Consortium in allowing companies to share their innovations and [...]
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Freight consortium picks up speed
Posted on 19. Apr, 2012 by perspective.
The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded a $3.5 million grant to the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE). Led by researchers at UW-Madison, CFIRE is a partnership among 10 U.S. universities and encompasses a geographical area that serves the majority of freight traffic in the United States. The new grant will [...]
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Casting a nano future for the metals industry
Posted on 06. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
Aluminum and magnesium alloys hold great potential for manufacturers, as these alloys are much lighter than traditional high-strength materials such as iron and steel. However, most high-strength aluminum and magnesium alloys are difficult to cast because these materials tend to crack as they solidify in casting molds. This “hot tearing” is a major barrier to [...]
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Strengthening bonds with the welding industry
Posted on 06. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
An engine block cast from aluminum or magnesium-matrix nanocomposites can be much lighter than one cast from aluminum alone. Similarly, a power-plant pressure vessel made from advanced steel that can withstand higher temperature and pressure without deforming could burn more efficiently and produce less pollution. Researchers continue to create new materials with properties that promise [...]
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Bringing best practices to Wisconsin manufacturers
Posted on 06. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
Wisconsin is home to approximately 10,000 small to medium manufacturers, which provide approximately 430,000 jobs. UW-Madison has a long history of manufacturing research, education and outreach, and the UW E-Business Institute (UWEBI) and its corporate membership arm, the UW E-Business Consortium, are especially active with the manufacturing industry. Directed by Robert A. Ratner Undergraduate Chair [...]
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Keeping U.S. transportation investments on track
Posted on 05. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
In the finance world, ROI, or return on investment, is a common performance measure that essentially tells investors whether their money was well-spent, or not. In Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Teresa Adams’ case, the investors were U.S. citizens, and the money they spent funded transportation projects via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. On [...]
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With second company, laser researchers are seeing new light
Posted on 04. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
Two professors have formed a startup company to commercialize a nanoscale laser structure that could benefit a wide range of industries. Intraband LLC was co-founded in 2008 by Philip Dunham Reed Professor Dan Botez and Professor Luke Mawst and has received recent funding from the U.S. Army and Navy Small Business Technology Transfer Programs. Botez [...]
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Friction stir welding fuses engineering research and Wisconsin industry
Posted on 22. Jun, 2011 by perspective.
Economic impact: 10 naval ships 10 years 5,000 jobs American naval ships usually conjure images of aircraft carriers or other large vessels far out to sea. The USS Freedom (LCS 1), however, is able to enter water as shallow as 14 feet, giving sailors unprecedented access to regions where the U.S. military is present, such [...]
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Monroe manufacturer partners with UW-Madison on electric truck
Posted on 22. Jun, 2011 by perspective.
Monroe, Wisconsin, is a small city with a big reputation for its cheese. Now, a partnership between manufacturer Orchid Monroe and UW-Madison engineers may expand the city’s expertise to include clean vehicle technology. Orchid Monroe is providing support for researchers from the Wisconsin Electric Machines & Power Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC) to develop a particularly rugged [...]
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Engineers team up with Trek for cycling research
Posted on 22. Jun, 2011 by perspective.
During a long bike ride, it’s not unusual for cyclists to experience hand or finger numbness, a very common condition known as cyclist’s palsy. The condition ranges from mild tingling to, sometimes, long-term nerve damage and hand muscle atrophy over time. A team of UW-Madison engineers has scientifically measured hand pressure during cycling and studied [...]
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UW-Madison economic impact statewide hits $12.4 billion
Posted on 21. Jun, 2011 by perspective.
UW-Madison’s profound impact on Wisconsin’s economy—one that totals $12.4 billion annually—is detailed in a late-March report that underscores the importance of the university to the state’s economic well being. The findings indicate that UW-Madison, along with its affiliated organizations and startup companies, supports 128,146 Wisconsin jobs and generates $614 million in state tax revenue. The [...]
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The chemistry of memory: New strategies for battling brain disease
Posted on 18. Oct, 2010 by perspective.
It has taken more than a decade for Regina Murphy and her colleagues to determine that sometimes it’s actually better to rush things. At least that’s the case when those things are protein processes in the brain that can lead to devastating neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s. Murphy, the Smith-Bascom Professor of Chemical and [...]
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Mentor for innovators
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Erwin W. Mueller Professor and Bascom Materials Science and Engineering Professor of Surface Science Max Lagally serves as a bridgebetween the UW-Madison laboratories where cutting-edge technologies are developed and the companies taking those devices to market. “When I was in graduate school during the Sputnik era, the motivation in academia was to create more academics,” [...]
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Get the skinny on lean
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
After 10 years of working with various manufacturing firms, Industrial and Systems Engineering Professor Leyuan Shi has produced a software tool that will help manufacturers implement quantitative management strategies for significant results. Shi, an optimization expert, says quantitative management is about matching tasks, such as custom orders, with available resources, such as idle machines. She [...]
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Manufacturing a bright future
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
In the early 2000s, Milwaukee-based Phoenix Products was facing a host of challenges, including increasingly slow deliveries to customers,out-of-control inventory and high employee turnover. By 2004, the issues had reached a crescendo for the special-purpose lighting equipment manufacturer. “We had been running overtime every Saturday for a year and a half,” recalls Phoenix Chief Executive [...]
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Less pain, more gain
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Silver-lined bandages prevent infection and promote healing A scientist trained for eight years in the medical field and a native of developing India, Ankit Agarwal has seen his fair share of pain. Shadowing numerous doctors, Agarwal has witnessed firsthand patient pain and discomfort, especially in those suffering from chronic wounds—burns or ulcers that could take [...]
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Breathing room
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Technology idea will treat lung ailments Teaching his first course in spring 2008 on biomedical engineering entrepreneurship, Matt Ogle quickly learned the downside of scheduling a class for three hours on a Friday afternoon. Competing against an early weekend, Ogle’s class began with six students and eventually settled into the semester with a die-hard roster [...]
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Improving the cutting edge
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Tiny tools—small enough to poke an individual lens on a ladybug’s eye—are getting more durable, thanks to ultrathin nanocrystalline diamond coatings developed by materials science graduate Patrick Heaney (MS ‘07, PhD ‘09) and his new company, NCD Technologies. Heaney is refining techniques he developed and patented as a graduate student to enhance the performance of [...]
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Fusion for energy—and medicine
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
The UW-Madison Fusion Technology Institute and Middleton, Wisconsin-based Phoenix Nuclear Labs (PNL) share an ambitious long-term goal: clean, abundant and affordable nuclear fusion power. To fund the pursuit, PNL is developing nuclear technologies into near-term solutions for modern-day global problems, including mitigating the risk of nuclear attack, producing state-of-the-art high-voltage power systems, and generating critical [...]
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Nano coatings show big potential for energy storage
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Sitting in his office, Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Marc Anderson picks up a small vial of clear liquid and shines a laser pointer through it. A deep green line bisects the vial, evidence of nanoparticles suspended in the liquid. This liquid is Anderson’s platform technology. With it, he can dip or spray oxide-based nanoparticle [...]
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Fast fix
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Bioactive coatings promote cell growth For people who suffer excruciating back pain due to injury or disc degeneration, relief often comes in the form of spinal fusion and disc replacement. Metallic implants are the current standard, and while these devices mechanically fix tissue or replace vertebrae, they don’t heal the problem. Responding to patients’ need [...]
