CSI connects engineering, business and industry partners around the industrial internet of things and recently became home to Microsoft’s first higher-ed AI Co-Innovation Lab focused on manufacturing. The collaboration supports a shared goal of preparing the next generation of manufacturing talent as the industry shifts toward AI, robotics, and software-driven automation.

Rockwell’s renewed support comes as it expands its own manufacturing footprint in Southeast Wisconsin and emphasizes the need for skilled workers.

In the past year, CSI involved more than 500 students, many of them from the college, in expanded courses and research. The institute also launched an engineering master’s degree program and completed industry-directed projects with major companies. Read the full press release.

The post Rockwell Automation makes a new gift of $1 million to the Connected Systems Institute appeared first on College of Engineering & Applied Science.

He comes to the college from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where he was a faculty member in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and a Provost Fellow with both the Dearborn campus and the Energy Institute at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

“His expertise reinforces the already significant growth potential of CSI,” said Joe Hamann, executive director of the institute. “Alex has a proven track record of capturing significant funding from federal agencies and industry partners. We are excited for him to join the team and look forward to continued research advancements he will bring in optoelectronics, solid-state electronics, and advanced manufacturing.” 

His areas of research include intelligent solid-state electronics, integrated devices for artificial intelligence, and smart energy-related optoelectronic devices.

Yi has applied nano-optoelectronic devices to applications in energy, solid state lighting, biomedicine, photonic sensors, and autonomous driving. Because they can manipulate light at the atomic scale, integrating optoelectronics can improve performance in devices, compared to larger-scale solutions.

Some of his other research highlights include:

• Pioneered textured nanomaterials that interact with light and electricity, advancing thinner, more efficient solar panels and other renewable energy technologies.
• Developed a compact Lidar system for , enhancing safety testing of self-driving and connected vehicles.
• Created semiconductor-based sensors that detect particles or molecules as small as those in air pollution.

Yi received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a post-doctoral associate with MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratory.

A fellow of the Optical Society of America, Yi has had leadership experiences with the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Air Force Research Laboratory, and the 3M Corporate Research Laboratory. He holds 18 issued U.S. patents.

The post Yi named CSI’s Director of Research and joins the EE faculty appeared first on College of Engineering & Applied Science.

Coursework includes topics that are increasingly relevant to manufacturing, such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, the digital supply chain and more.

The interdisciplinary major will be offered by the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department in collaboration with 51����’s Lubar College of Business and 51����’s Connected Systems Institute.

This master’s program is designed to attract and empower students who seek to upskill or reskill to prepare for current and future careers in the advanced manufacturing and service industries.

Eighty-three percent of 400 executives recently surveyed for the  stated they were having difficulty finding the right talent in manufacturing data analytics, AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, robotics and automation, among other key skills related to Industry 4.0.

“We believe this interdisciplinary master’s program is a critical step to closing the current industry knowledge gap and preparing a pipeline of future industry leaders,” said Michael Cook, Rockwell Automation’s director of global industry-academia and engagement. “We fully support this program.”

The degree requires 31 credits, consisting of a set of core courses in connected systems engineering that will involve students working on case scenarios using the CSI’s automated manufacturing testbeds.

One major focus of CSI, which has onsite manufacturing testbeds and a digital twin lab, is to understand business challenges faced by manufacturers and work with them to incorporate AI and other smart technology solutions to improve their business operations.

Students may select electives representing focus areas including industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, enterprise resource planning, digital supply chain management, mechatronics and robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cybersecurity.

The program is designed to be completed in three semesters of full-time enrollment with students taking 10 to 11 credits per semester. Part-time students can complete the program in as few as five semesters.

The post New master’s degree in connected systems engineering prepares students to ‘future proof’ their careers appeared first on College of Engineering & Applied Science.

The NAOB develops policies and provides strategic direction for the effective operation of IISE’s regions and chapters in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Among Akundi’s duties are providing regional conference support, planning of student-focused events at the IISE annual conference – including relevant student competitions – and assisting NAOB in planning for Volunteer Leadership Training (VoLT) at IISE.

The post Akundi named to leadership role in IISE appeared first on College of Engineering & Applied Science.

In 2019, the doctoral student was looking for an activity that could stir up interest in foundry education, while also involving the 51���� student chapter of the American Foundry Society (AFS).

His idea ultimately sparked a passion for introducing the public to the metalcasting industry.

Metalcasting is a highly modern industry with ancient roots and is the backbone of the U.S. manufacturing economy. It is the process in which high-temperature molten metal is poured into a mold made of sand, metal or ceramic, to form geometrically complex parts.

Help from a national organization

Behera’s first step in was to work with the (FEF), a nationwide organization whose mission is to work with universities to encourage and recruit engineering degreed talent to enter the metalcasting industry.

Since 1996, 51���� has been part of the FEF university network and the organization has provided 51���� with scholarships and program support, along with connecting students to jobs and internships in the industry.

FEF provided a table-top demonstration that shows all the steps needed to produce a metal souvenir from molten metal and a mold. Called Foundry in a Box (FIAB), the activity uses tin, which can easily be melted on a small stove, so it could be set up outside of the .

FIAB became a hit with 51���� metalcasting students who, as a group, learned how to perform the demonstration and guide onlookers in creating their own metal souvenirs.

“We started doing FIAB at open houses for 51���� freshman coming in, for Enquest, a camp for high school girls over the summer, Party on the Plaza and at other big events around campus,” Behera said.

A perfect show for middle and high schools

In 2021, Rohatgi, the FEF Key Professor at 51����, applied for and won the FEF’s Overture Grant, which allowed Behera and the 51���� student organization to begin outreach to middle and high school students.

“With this, we began to think of different ways we could increase enrollment in materials science,” Behera said. “We bought supplies to put together FIAB sets that we could donate to middle and high schools. We got in touch with science teachers so they could bring in groups of high school students to show them materials science laboratories and have them experience foundry in a box.”

In 2023, the group engaged 95 students with FIAB, he said, almost the same number as 2021 and 2022 put together.

The FEF has been so impressed with these outreach efforts that the organization’s leadership created a graduate fellowship specifically for the 51���� College of Engineering & Applied Science.

Behera was selected as the first recipient in recognition of the work he has done outside the demands of his own research and his duties as foundry lab manager. The fellowship is expected to pay $25,000 a year for three years.

“He embodies the mission of the FEF, especially now when the Baby Boomers are retiring and industry needs to replace that workforce,” said Maureen Gerard, director of resource development for FEF. “The foundry industry is robust, especially in Wisconsin. And foundries are very at the cutting edge of using new techniques and technology coming from research in areas like advance sensors and machine learning.”

“I believe the FEF outreach program at 51���� will also help increase enrollment in the Materials Science Department in our College,” Rohatgi said. “That reflects the goals of both FEF and 51����, and Swaroop Behera played an important role in this effort.”

For his part, Behera said the credit is shared.

“I could not have done this by myself,” he said. “We had built the structure, and it was all of us together who made it happen.”

The post Doctoral student’s outreach efforts recognized with a unique FEF fellowship appeared first on College of Engineering & Applied Science.

The lab will give students hands-on learning with artificial intelligence and connect them to Wisconsin manufacturers and Microsoft AI experts. There are only in the entire world. This will be the first one on a college campus.

Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, made the announcement at a news conference at the company’s data center complex in Racine County that featured remarks from President Joe Biden and Gov. Tony Evers.

Corporate leadership at Microsoft has strong Wisconsin ties. Smith was born in Milwaukee and grew up in Appleton. Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella is an alum of the College of Engineering & Applied Science (’90 MS computer science).

The lab is part of Microsoft’s $3.3 billion investment in southeast Wisconsin.

“There’s not so many schools that get the opportunity to work with Microsoft and we are one of them,” Anisha Tasnim, a PhD student in computer science, told TMJ4 News. “It’s so amazing and we will be able to work with them very closely when the project starts.”

Kevin Klocko, a senior in industrial engineering was also quoted in the TMJ4 report. Undergraduate biomedical engineering student Abhiroop Reddy Tokala was quoted in the Fox 6 report.

The CSI is a 51����-industry partnership with a mini-factory production line on campus that trains 51���� students and workers in manufacturing in new digital technologies, including those that use AI. The institute also serves as a research hub where academics and industry can work together on optimizing automation.

Read the 51���� Report story

Media coverage includes:

May 8

May 30

interview with Joe Hammes, May 30

The post 51���� to house nation’s first Microsoft AI lab focused on manufacturing appeared first on College of Engineering & Applied Science.

Webster worked with Microsoft’s chief AI officer at 51����’s Connected Systems Institute after getting the idea when ChatGPT was made public a year ago. The tool could help smaller companies more easily transition into next-generation manufacturing.

The chatbox was completed just as Microsoft, led by 51���� alum and Satya Nadella (‘90 computer science), announced its second gift to support CSI – bringing the company’s total support to $2.7 million.

Read more about the manufacturing chatbox.

Read more about Microsoft’s recent gift to 51����’s CSI.

The post Computer science student develops a manufacturing chatbot with Microsoft support appeared first on College of Engineering & Applied Science.

One of the recipients, doctoral student Omid Ghaderi, was recognized with the organization’s competitive Thomas Begel Memorial Scholarship, given to one outstanding student each year.

The award was presented during the annual College Industry Conference which took place Nov. 17 in Chicago.

This event featured more than 100 students from 24 colleges and universities within FEF’s network, along with representatives from 40 companies.

A second scholarship winner, doctoral student Swaroop Kumar Behera, also has secured a one-year fellowship with backing from the organization. In addition to managing the College’s foundry lab, Behera has been actively involved in outreach to high school students. 

Other scholarship recipients include: Graduate students Kaustubh Rane, Masum Bellah, Mehran Zare, David Palmer, and Seyedeh Omranian, and undergraduates Gavin Schmer, Carol Martinez, Sara Huerta, and Setayesh Shalmani.

The FEF program at 51���� plays a crucial role in assisting students with scholarships and job opportunities in the foundry industry. More than 200 51���� students have received FEF scholarships since 51���� became an FEF-affiliated school in 1996. Pradeep Rohatgi serves as the FEF key professor.

The livestream of the Thomas Begel Memorial Scholarship award ceremony can be found .

The post Eleven students awarded scholarships from Foundry Educational Foundation appeared first on College of Engineering & Applied Science.

Peters brings 51���� representation to a very large professional society. With members in 70 countries and a network of hundreds of chapters worldwide, SME influences more than half a million manufacturing engineers, executives and practitioners annually.

“We are thrilled to welcome this group of industry veterans to the team,” said Bob Willig, SME executive director and CEO. “Their thought leadership will produce remarkable advancements for North American manufacturing to drive competitiveness, resiliency and national security. With their expertise, we are confident that SME is positioned to accelerate the widespread adoption of manufacturing technology and build North America’s talent and capabilities. Our leadership team is dedicated to advancing manufacturing as a diverse, thriving and valued ecosystem.”

His two-year term begins in January 2024.

The post Brett Peters elected to 2024 International Directors of the SME Board of Directors appeared first on College of Engineering & Applied Science.

The American Society for Engineering Education Manufacturing Division honored Satya Aditya Akundi, Assistant Professor, Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering, with the 2023 David Wells Service Award. Akundi is the eighth person to receive this award since its 2017 inception.

The award is given annually in honor of Dr. David L. Wells (North Dakota State University), a founding member of the Manufacturing Division, who remained an active contributor throughout his lifetime. Honoring his engagement, awardees have supported and contributed to the manufacturing profession, education, and the ASEE Manufacturing Division management.

.

The post Satya Aditya Akundi honored with ASEE 2023 David Wells Service Award appeared first on College of Engineering & Applied Science.