About
Our beginning
The Grainger Institute for Engineering (GIE) was established as a multidisciplinary research institute in 2015 with a gift from The Grainger Foundation and a bold vision for the future of the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
We’re honored to have received this investment, enabling us to cultivate a future in which engineering researchers, industry, government labs, policy experts, and communities are creating transformative societal change together. Guided by the college’s Associate Dean for Corporate Engagement and Entrepreneurship, we deliver resources, support creativity, and foster tenacity to advance the College of Engineering’s tradition of excellence. We will continue to strategically invest in our faculty, the passion they have for seeking knowledge, and their capacity to pioneer new technologies that resonate far into the future.
Our people
Ranjana Mehta
Interim Director
In her research, Dr. Mehta uses the mind-motor-machine nexus to understand, monitor, and predict human performance under fatigue and stress. Her lab then develops closed-loop human augmentation technologies for safety-critical applications. As GIE director for one year, she will oversee the launch of the CoE Moonshot Initiative: ambitious, transdisciplinary research challenges that aim to make a transformative impact on society.
Peggy Sullivan
Project Manager
Peggy joined the Grainger Institute for Engineering in 2021 with experience working in higher education, customer service, supervision, and management. She earned her MBA in Project Management in 2018 and enjoys supporting researchers, faculty, and staff to move their ideas forward throughout all stages of innovation.
Maddie Lux
Administrative Manager
Maddie is a proud fourth generation Badger and earned her bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison in 2009. After working in sales, customer service, supply chain, and office management, Maddie joined the Office of Research Innovation in 2024. She is passionate about process improvement, strategic problem solving, and building collaborative consensus across teams and departments to deliver support solutions for the innovative work of the Grainger Institute for Engineering (GIE), the Office of Corporate Relations (OCR) and the Technology Entrepreneurship Office (TEO).
Jamie Valentine
Project Manager
With over a decade of experience in clean energy, engineering research, and community-driven planning, Jamie has supported complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives that translate technical goals into actionable strategies. Building on a graduate degree in Urban and Regional Planning and an Energy Analysis and Policy certificate from UW–Madison, she is committed to collaboration across disciplines—partnering with researchers, communities, governments, and businesses to advance environmental justice, workforce development, and long-term resilience. Her work centers on supporting communities as co-designers in the energy transition and working to connect community priorities with technical innovations and deliver meaningful benefits across Wisconsin.
Liz Gebhardt
Project Coordinator
Liz joined the Grainger Institute for Engineering in 2025 with a background in nonprofit research publishing and project management. She is passionate about the impact of research and enjoys working with the academic community to support collaborative projects that build connections between academia, industry, and the community. Liz is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and a proud Badger alumna.
Our partnership
Under the leadership of the College of Engineering’s Associate Dean for Corporate Engagement and Entrepreneurship, the Badger Tech Foundry, Technology Entrepreneurship Office, Grainger Institute for Engineering, Office of Corporate Relations, and Research Impact and Outreach team are working together to cultivate a comprehensive support network for engineering researchers. Uniting across disciplines and competencies, we are pooling our resources to provide guidance, support relationship-building, and champion research along the paths to discovery, entrepreneurship, industrial engagement, and societal impact. By leveraging the unique strengths of each office, we provide both depth and breadth of expertise, helping faculty reach their individual goals.