News

American Family Insurance and UW–Madison: Queuing up quantum computing research

GIE Board Member Glenn Fung, chief research scientist in machine learning and director of data science research at American Family Insurance, is excited about the collaboration between UW-Madison and American Family.   As the field …

Ludwig lands $2 million grant as part of NIH effort to combat opioid abuse

Kip Ludwig will lead a more than $2 million NIH grant to test a novel liquid metal electrode as an alternative means of treating chronic back pain. “Right now there is a huge market for …

Hai lands NIH grant to use new brain sensors to study epileptic seizures

Aviad Hai, GIE Fellow and Assistant Professor of biomedical engineering, will use a new grant to develop sensors for brain imaging to provide new insights into brain seizures in epilepsy.

Madison home to at least 10 stem cell companies

Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics Inc. is one of at least 10 stem cell companies in Madison, most started by UW-Madison researchers. GIE Lead Bill Murphy created Stem Pharm, a spinoff from his lab, which sells materials …

Electric tech could help reverse baldness

Xudong Wang, GIE Lead for Energy and Sustainability, leverages his wearable energy-harvesting technology for reversing hair loss. The small nanogenerators have a variety of exciting applications.

Modern medicine: Electrical bandage zaps wounds

We have electric cars, razors and now an electric bandage? Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have developed an electrode-dressed bandage to help the body heal itself. Electrical currents are created when the body moves. …

From the big red to the big apple: Line Roald lights the way toward reliable renewable power

Blackouts can trigger additional chaos—for example, in both New York and Madison, people were trapped in elevators for hours and traffic lights went dark across each city. That’s one reason Line Roald, GIE Fellow and Assistant …

Focus on new faculty: Chu Ma has an ear for interdisciplinary acoustics research

Grainger Institute is excited to welcome new Fellow, Chu Ma! The Grainger Institute and UW’s cross-disciplinary efforts will help Chu Ma and her research.

Focus on new faculty: Kangwook Lee uses deep learning to solve its own problems

Kangwook Lee, a new GIE Fellow and assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, uses information coding to improve understanding and performance of machine learning across large-scale systems.

Zayas-Caban, Alagoz to use NSF grant to guide care transitions

WIHSE Associate Director Oguzhan Alagoz is part of a team that landed a three-year NSF grant to develop solutions for patients who transition from hospitals to nursing facilities.

Target acquired: Using magnets to help medicines deliver a more powerful punch

GIE Fellow Jiamian Hu is part of a team that hopes to reduce the side effects of medicines and boost their efficacy by delivering them only to their intended targets within the body. His research …

Smart screening: A personal approach to mammography for women with Down syndrome

For most women, turning 40 brings an age-related preventative care dilemma: when, and how often, to get a mammogram to screen for breast cancer. Luckily, their doctors can advise them by drawing on recommendations from …

Min earns NSF CAREER Award: Cutting ceramics loose from their difficult reputation

GIE Fellow, Sangkee Min was awarded a prestigious NSF CAREER grant for his work investigating properties of ceramics. Min’s research will help expand ceramic applications to new fields like biomedical, manufacturing, and even smartphones!

UW Madison Researchers Win Presidential Award

Four promising young University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have been named winners of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, including GIE’s lead of energy and sustainability research efforts, Xudong Wang. Xudong’s groundbreaking work …

Thoma Presents at Vail Symposium

GIE Director, Dan Thoma’s enthusiasm for technological advances in manufacturing and his optimism about the future were infectious during his presentation at Colorado Mountain College. Read about Dan’s presentation and learn more about the Vail …

Kim earns NSF CAREER Award: Energy savings through approximation

An innovative strategy to reduce power usage by embedded systems while still maintaining acceptable levels of performance has earned Younghyun Kim, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a prestigious …

Not so defective, after all: Demystifying advanced quantum materials

Recently, buzz has been building about a newly discovered variety of quantum emitters consisting of two-dimensional materials (think flat sheets only as thick as a single molecule, similar to graphene). But there’s a hitch: No …

Powerful patterns: Discovery could unlock new abilities for soft materials

Led by Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Stephan Rudykh, researchers discovered a new phenomenon in how soft composite materials rearrange their internal structure at the microscopic scale. Rudykh says this phenomenon can provide a powerful design tool for …

GIE Collaborators Win UW2020 Awards

Congratulations to our colleagues and collaborators on their UW2020 awards! Check out this year’s winners. Developing the Next Generation of Quantum Emitters in 2D Materials Jason Kawasaki, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering From …

UW Changes Lives: Building a biomanufacturing hotbed

From February through June, we will be highlighting the ways that UW–Madison changes lives for the better throughout the state of Wisconsin. May’s theme is helping Jobs and the Economy. Watch for more at #UWChangesLives …

Hands-on learning in the Rockwell Automation lab

Not many undergraduates have the chance to get their hands on top-of-the-line industrial control equipment. But in late-spring 2019, University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering juniors and seniors in the class Computer Control of Machines and Processes (ME …

Clearing the fog: Interdisciplinary effort targets traumatic brain injuries

UW-Madison is leading an effort that aims to drive scientific advances that will enable better detection, treatment and prevention of traumatic brain injuries.   Increasingly, concussions prematurely end the careers of athletes young and old, …

Focus on new faculty: Jennifer Choy, taking precision to new levels with quantum systems

Extremely precise quantum sensors promise to be a transformative technology with a variety of potential applications. For example, quantum sensors could advance neuroimaging by allowing researchers to detect nanoscale changes in electromagnetic fields in the …

Learning by doing: Undergrad embraces innovation in nuclear

Fast-moving startups are shaking up the nuclear industry with new energy and ideas, and their innovations are inspiring the next generation of nuclear leaders to embrace an entrepreneurial mindset. “Startups are a very new development …

Papailiopoulos earns NSF CAREER Award: What can cellphone clarity teach machine learning?

“For applications that involve human lives you want to be very confident in the decisions these predictive models make,” says Dimitris Papailiopoulos, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. …

Xudong Wang among medical and biological engineering elite

The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) honored Materials Science and Engineering Professor Xudong Wang as one of the nation’s top-two percent of medical and biological engineers by electing him a fellow. The election is among the …

Keegan to lead Forward BIO Institute’s public-private partnerships

As Wisconsin continues to establish its role as a nationwide leader in biomanufacturing, the Forward BIO Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison continues to grow, with the addition of Philip Keegan as its public-private partnership lead. …

Using a Human Factors and Systems Engineering Framework to Build Safer Patient Care Processes

Human factors and systems engineering, or the science of how to design and manage complex human-centered systems, has long been used in high-risk industries such as manufacturing and aviation to promote better safety.  AHRQ-funded researcher, …

Aviad Hai on Probes for Directly Recording Neural Activity | ApplySci @ Stanford

Watch Aviad Hai’s talk from the Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Silicon Valley Conference that was held at Stanford University on February 21 & 22, 2019.

College recognizes the work of eight outstanding faculty and staff

Our college accomplishes great things, and that is in no small part due to the contributions of every one of our faculty and staff. On Feb. 20, 2019, Dean Ian Robertson recognized eight of those …

Mind’s Eye: Hai Builds Tools to Expand our Understanding of the Brain

Hai is developing those next-generation tools—ones that can work wirelessly, that don’t require major surgery, and that can reveal a more comprehensive account of neural activity across regions of the brain. Hai creates electrical, magnetic …

Dimitris Papailiopoulos earns Sony innovation award

Sony, the multinational electronics, entertainment and financial services corporation, honored Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Professor Dimitris Papailiopoulos with a faculty innovation award for distributed deep learning. The award is designed to accelerate and expand the creation of new …

Min aims to advance understanding of ceramics with NSF CAREER award

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program research will create a fundamental understanding of ceramic material removal during nanoscale machining. Congratulations, Sangkee Min!  Read about the award here. 

LISTEN: WPR Covers Negative Emissions with Grainger Fellow Greeshma Gadikota

Researchers are working on new technologies that can remove carbon from the atmosphere, but are they viable? Listen to Greeshma Gadikota and Gregory Nemet as they are interviewed on Wisconsin Public Radio. Find the full …

Accelerating materials development to advance clean energy production

A group of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers has received a $1.8 million grant to develop new materials for multiple uses, including the ability to withstand the corrosive environment within a molten salt nuclear reactor. The …

Constructing More Sustainable Concrete

Concrete is the most produced material and the world?—?it is also one of the most damaging for the environment. Bu Wang and researchers at CO2NCRETE are looking to change that. Read the full article and …

The Next Dimension

Remember when Captain Picard commanded the replicator on the Enterprise to make a cup of Earl Grey tea?“Well, we can’t make the tea, but we can [print] the cup,” Thoma says. The concept is simple enough, Thoma says. Conventional …

Implantable device aids weight loss

More than 700 million adults and children worldwide are obese, according to a 2017 study that called the growing number and weight-related health problems a “rising pandemic.” New battery-free, easily implantable weight-loss devices developed by …

DOE PROJECT ON HYBRID HYDRAULIC-ELECTRIC ARCHITECTURE FOR MOBILE MACHINES

The hydraulic systems used in today’s off-road vehicles (think construction and farm equipment) are only 20% efficient. The Severson Group is part of a multi-institution team that has received funding from the United States Department …

Rasmussen Joins Forward BIO Institute as Assistant Director

Cathy Rasmussen, an accomplished regenerative medicine and biomanufacturing researcher, has joined the recently established Forward BIO Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as assistant director. Read more about Cathy and the Forward BIO Institute here.

It’s not a shock: Better bandage promotes powerful healing

A new, low-cost wound dressing developed by University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers could dramatically speed up healing in a surprising way. The method leverages energy generated from a patient’s own body motions to apply gentle electrical …

Project plots safe passage for patients

The Wisconsin Institute for Healthcare Systems Engineering (WIHSE) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison hopes to help safeguard older adults after trips to the emergency room through a four-year, $2.5 million grant from the Agency for Healthcare …

THOMA NAMED MINERALS, METALS & MATERIALS SOCIETY FELLOW

In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the practices of metallurgy and materials science and technology, the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society honored Dan Thoma, a professor of materials science and engineering and director of …

Automatic, and Anything but Ordinary: Partnership with Rockwell Prepares Engineers to Excel

Thanks to a partnership with industrial automation giant Rockwell Automation, engineering students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison can get their hands on today’s most advanced industrial manufacturing technologies. That’s one reason the Rockwell Automation Industrial …

Forward BIO Institute awarded $5 million NIH grant

UW-Madison’s Forward BIO Institute has been awarded $5 million from the National Institutes of Health for tissue manufacturing. The grant was announced yesterday at the Biohealth Summit by Professor Bill Murphy, the institute’s director. “This …

Breaking the Nuclear Box: What Frank Lloyd Wright Can Teach Us About Engaging the Community to Successfully Deploy Advanced Nuclear Technologies

As the nuclear energy industry vies for its place in the clean energy industry, it has plenty to learn from Frank Lloyd Wright. The basic tenet of Wright’s work was that architecture should change to …

Focus on New Faculty: Line Roald is Reshaping the Power Grid for a Renewable Energy Future

The energy infrastructure that powers our world was largely built to transmit electricity from traditional sources like coal-fired or nuclear power plants. As more and more electricity comes from renewable sources like solar and wind, …

Grainger Fellow to Represent UW on Multidisciplinary Research Effort

Greeshma Gadikota, faculty fellow of the Grainger Institute for Engineering and assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, will be representing the UW-Madison College of Engineering on a new multidisciplinary, multi-institute collaboration led by the …

Initiative Focuses on Advanced Technology Innovations in Biomanufacturing

A $750,000 grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. announced today (Sept. 6) establishes the Forward BIO Initiative, a collaborative effort to make Wisconsin a recognized center of excellence for biomanufacturing. The new initiative “leverages …

$100M Foxconn Gift Launches Major New Partnership with UW-Madison

AGREEMENT SIGNED TO ESTABLISH FOXCONN INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND TO PURSUE FURTHER COLLABORATION IN RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC OUTREACH Foxconn Technology Group and its Chairman and Founder, Terry Gou, today announced …

ML4MI Pilot Research Grant Winners Announced

The UW’s Machine Learning for Medical Imaging Initiative (ML4MI) selection committee recently announced the winners of the ML4MI Pilot Research Grants. These grants are expected to expand the scope of Machine Learning activity on campus …

UW-Madison and Argonne partner on advanced manufacturing technologies and entrepreneurship

Through its Grainger Institute for Engineering, the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering and Argonne National Laboratory are partnering on ways to accelerate technology development that fuels growth in the $1.2 trillion manufacturing sector, while …

LISTEN: WTMJ covers 3D Printing with Dan Thoma

How do 3D printers really work? How accessible are they to the average person? Listen to Dr. Dan Thoma as he is interviewed on WTMJ and answers these questions.

Adrien Couet Investigates Materials for Making Nuclear Energy Cleaner and Safer

It’s safe to say that the world would be lost, both figuratively and literally, without electricity. About 11% of the world’s electricity is currently generated by nuclear energy. But for this energy to continue to …

Shiva Rudraraju Explores Materials to Make Metal 3D Printing a Reality in Manufacturing

In the global economy, manufacturing is a central pillar that drives innovation and competition. It’s a fast-growing sector and a vital source of opportunity, which has only increased since metal additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, …

3D Printed Bucky Badger!

Air Force-backed center to make machine learning more independent, predictable, secure

MADISON – Artificial intelligence has become so smart and commonplace that most people accept computer-generated restaurant recommendations or movie suggestions without blinking an eye. Underneath the virtual surface, however, much remains mysterious in the realm …

Robert Nowak Leads Machine Learning and Optimization Activities at the Grainger Institute for Engineering

Focus on new faculty: Bu Wang, studying materials for a safer, more sustainable world

Bu Wang has always been drawn to engineering. Whether it was building model planes as a child or roasting his own coffee beans after he moved from China to the United States for graduate school, …

WATCH: Nowak Leads Machine Learning for Medical Imaging Seminar

Watch this Machine Learning for Medical Imaging Seminar led by Rob Nowak!

GRAINGER INSTITUTE FOR ENGINEERING ANNOUNCES NEW PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS

GRAINGER INSTITUTE FOR ENGINEERING ANNOUNCES NEW PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS New approach to simplify collaboration among industry and academia Monday, January 22, 2018 MADISON – The Grainger Institute for Engineering (GIE) at the UW-Madison College of …

Focus on new faculty: Greeshma Gadikota, using green chemistry to close elemental loops

As a toddler, Greeshma Gadikota was drawn to chemistry by the smell of acidic fumes from her father’s company. While they may not have been the healthiest exposure, those fumes became some of her earliest and …

William Murphy Testifies before Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Science and Technology

William Murphy—Grainger Institute for Engineering’s biomanufacturing thrust leader, Biomedical Engineering & Orthopedics professor, and Co-Director of the Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center—was invited in October to testify before the Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Science and Technology. Murphy and five other speakers had the opportunity to share with policymakers what biomanufacturing is, what it isn’t, and why …

Focus on new faculty: Eric Severson, finding ways to reduce energy consumption

Faster. Smaller. Smarter. For new faculty member Eric Severson, these three qualities are the key to reducing wasted electrical energy. Severson, who joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Grainger Institute for Engineering in fall 2017, …

WATCH: Thoma Speaks on High-Tech Manufacturing in Honor of Manufacturing Month

The WMC video shows the bright, clean and technology-filled floor of the John Deere Horicon Works facility. Specifically, the video highlights John Deere’s use of robots that automatically drive from stop to stop on the …

One step closer to market: Renewable energy flooring makes debut in Union South

As tens of thousands of visitors each day walk across a new flooring installation in UW-Madison’s Union South in fall 2017, they might not realize they’re participating in what could very well represent a leap …

Andrea Hicks investigates environmental impacts of novel technologies

Most of us are not fond of stinky feet, so the idea of adding antimicrobial nanoparticles to socks to reduce odor seems great. But what are the societal and environmental costs and benefits of lacing …

Younghyun Kim aims to make our interconnected world a safer place

In our modern interconnected world, we rely on cyber infrastructure in our daily lives. We have phones, medical devices, and cars that are connected to the internet—and this rise of interconnectedness creates vulnerability. Younghyun Kim works to …

Sangkee Min aims to transcend design constraints in manufacturing

Due to manufacturing constraints, the designs of many consumer products from computers to watches to automobiles haven’t changed much over the years. Sangkee Min wants to alter that, and a Grainger Institute for Engineering Faculty Scholar Award …

New academic-industry effort at UW-Madison aims to improve healthcare through engineering

Technology is also at the heart of the Wisconsin Institute for Healthcare Systems Engineering (WIHSE)—a new effort at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that director Pascale Carayon hopes will become Wisconsin’s next key player in transforming the way healthcare …

Murphy to lead Grainger Institute for Engineering’s biomanufacturing thrust

A January 2017 article in Science magazine called industrial biomanufacturing the future of chemical production. Thus, starting a biomanufacturing thrust within the Grainger Institute for Engineering—an incubator for transdisciplinary research in the University of Wisconsin-Madison College …

Carayon to lead Grainger Institute for Engineering’s smart and connected healthcare thrust

“Healthcare doesn’t just happen during the physical interaction between patient and physician, when both are in the same room at the same time,” says Pascale Carayon, Procter & Gamble Bascom Professor in Total Quality in industrial and …

Nuclear innovation policy guide named one of top 50 policy reports

The University of Pennsylvania Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) has selected a report co-authored by Engineering Physics Professor Todd Allen as one of the top 50 worldwide policy study-reports produced by a think tank in …

Focus on new faculty: Jiamian Hu, using computer models to improve materials for many applications

  For materials scientist Jiamian Hu, the culture of interdisciplinary research collaboration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is a major selling point for the university. “That’s actually one of the very important reasons that I wanted …

Allen to lead Grainger Institute for Engineering energy thrust

January 11, 2017 Given the great scope and complexity of the energy challenges facing society, innovative research collaborations across disciplines hold the most potential to produce transformative technological breakthroughs. Through the Grainger Institute for Engineering, an …

UW-Madison engineers part of $140 million ‘Manufacturing USA’ clean-energy initiative

Several University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers are among leading researchers around the country who will participate in the newly created Reducing Embodied-Energy and Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) Institute. Led by the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Golisano …

Focus on New Faculty: Shiva Rudraraju, Studying Mechanics and Morphology Evolution in Materials

In January 2017, Shiva Rudraraju will join the Department of Mechanical Engineering as an assistant professor. Also an affiliate of the college’s Grainger Institute for Engineering, Rudraraju comes from the University of Michigan, where he’s been a graduate …

Focus on New Faculty: Varun Jog, Mining Big Data for Big Attitudes

Varun Jog puts a modern spin on the old proverb “people are known by the company they keep” by applying advanced mathematical tools to analyze interpersonal connections within social networks. People’s social interactions dramatically shape how …

Focus on New faculty: Dimitris Papailiopoulos, Speeding Up Machine Learning Pipelines

The world of science and technology is currently being reshaped by machine learning. At the heart of machine learning are algorithms whose aim is to mimic the complex processes of human learning, but on a …

Advanced Nano-cutter to Boost Emerging Materials Research at UW-Madison

The University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering is the new home of a unique machine that is capable of 3D milling precise to one nanometer. The machine, called the ROBONANO ?-0iB, is the first of …

WATCH: Thoma Leads Smart Manufacturing Webinar

Grainger Institute for Engineering recently led a smart manufacturing webinar. View the video here (note that this link will open a new browser window and lead you to Box.)

Focus on New Faculty: Sangkee Min, Manufacturing the Future of Innovative Design

Sangkee Min doesn’t merely want to push the envelope of possibility for manufacturing; rather, he hopes to redefine the envelope entirely, ushering in a new era of truly innovative designs. Product development involves an iterative dialogue …

Two-minute Drill: The Future of Manufacturing

In this special edition Two Minute Drill, meet the Wisconsin executive making combat ships for the Navy and the new UW engineer making the next great material. WMC CEO Kurt Bauer presents a look at …

Focus on New Faculty: Xin Wang, Untying Knotty Systems

Where others see hopelessly foundering logistics, Xin Wang sees the possibility of creating sustainable and resilient systems for things like developing biofuels and keeping cities operating when disaster strikes. Wang, assistant professor of industrial and …