Resources and Production Engineering News

Engineers harness muscle power for healing

Bioengineers have developed biocompatible generators that create electrical pulses when compressed by body motions. The generators are made up of self-assembling “piezoelectric wafers” which can be made rapidly and inexpensively to enable broad use of …

UW researchers join three national artificial intelligence institutes

University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers across campus will harness artificial intelligence to promote sustainable food systems and advanced wireless networks as part of three national AI institutes that were announced July 29. The three institutes are …

Self-powered implantable device stimulates fast bone healing, then disappears without a trace

In 2017, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers broke his right collarbone in a game against the Minnesota Vikings. Typically, it takes about 12 weeks for a collarbone to fully heal, but by mid-December fans …

Roald to use NSF CAREER Award to optimize risk mitigation in electric distribution grids

The resilience of the power grid has been in the news a lot in recent years: Transmission equipment, for example, sparked some of the largest fires in California history in 2018, leading to rolling blackouts, …

Experts Say Cold Is Unlikely To Cause Power Crisis In Wisconsin, But There Are Still Lessons From Texas

More than half a million Americans from Oregon to Virginia dealt with power outages Thursday as winter storms continued in parts of the country. Earlier this week, Texas was hit particularly hard. Frigid temperatures caused …

New solvent-based recycling process could cut down on millions of tons of plastic waste

Multilayer plastic materials are ubiquitous in food and medical supply packaging, particularly since the specific properties of layered polymers can keep moisture from fouling sterile syringes or light and oxygen from making potato chips stale. …

2020 WARF INNOVATION AWARD FINALISTS

Bridging Biology and Electronics for “Hybrid” Biosensing | Watch Video Bhuvana Krishnaswamy (Electrical & Computer Engineering) Megan McClean (Biomedical Engineering) High-Energy Plasma Generator for Medical Isotope Production, Nuclear Waste Disposal & Power Generation | Watch Video Cary …

Gross wins best-of-the-best paper award at IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting

A paper co-authored by UW-Madison Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Professor Dominic Gross received a best paper award at the virtual IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting held in August 2020. Of the 1,200 conference papers submitted, 66 …

$11.5M army funding supports aircraft hybrid-electric engine research at UW-Madison

University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers are leading an extensive research effort that aims to enable innovative propulsion technologies for future U.S. Army air and ground vehicles. With an $11.5 million cooperative agreement from the U.S. Army …

Small changes, big impact

“How do you convince people there’s a big idea?” According to Zhenqiang “Jack” Ma, the Lynn H. Matthias Professor and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in electrical and computer engineering, questions like these are fundamental to …

New 3D-printed artery can monitor blockages from the inside

When surgeons replace part of a blood vessel — something they do in 450,000 patients per year in the United States to treat blood clots, coronary disease, stroke damage and more — the grafted vessel …

Bringing Research to the Grid: Overcoming Renewable Energy Challenges

As energy demands continue to grow, clean and sustainable energy sources become forefront in global efforts to reach ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2050 [1]. While these standards may seem lofty, researchers across disciplines at …

Andrea Hicks Earns 2020 Distinguished Teaching Award

The Distinguished Teaching Awards recognize the university’s finest educators. This year, thirteen faculty members were chosen to receive this honor. Among those is Grainger Institute for Engineering Faculty Scholar, Andrea Hicks. Andrea is an Assistant …

Focus on new faculty: Lianyi Chen, taking metal additive manufacturing to the next level

When it comes to producing metal parts with very complex geometries, additive manufacturing (also known as 3D printing) beats conventional manufacturing methodshands down. And additive manufacturing offers the potential to create metallic parts with desirable …

Bu Wang Earns 2019 Faculty Scholar Award

Atmospheric CO2 has reached its highest point in three million years and doesn’t look to be slowing down. This is a major cause of concern and the public is desperate for resolutions. Engineers like Bu …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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!

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, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …