Liao talks about new opportunity for WEP on WUWM

Qian Liao, professor, civil and environmental engineering, talked about UWM’s part in the new National Science Foundation-funded Great Lakes Water Innovation Engine based in Chicago that will pull in expertise from the region to help create water technology to stimulate jobs and protect the Great Lakes. The Water Equipment and Policy Center, a university-industry research collaboration that Liao directs, is one of dozens of regional partners involved.

The Water Equipment and Policy Center (WEP) brings expertise at both UWM and Marquette University together with industry partners to create new devices, novel materials and innovative systems that will help the world manage its stressed water resources.

The new Great Lakes Water Innovation Engine will provide new funding opportunities for collaborative research in water technology, while attracting more diverse talent to STEM fields. Listen

18 CEAS student athletes named to Fall 2023 Horizon League Honor Roll

Some all 2023 Horizon League Honor Students

Congratulations to the 18 students from our college who were among the 151 UWM student athletes on the 2023 Horizon League Fall Academic Honor Roll. Each has earned at least a 3.2 GPA in engineering or computer science while participating in at least one collegiate-level sport during the most recent season. Our students represented nine different sports last semester.

It takes a special kind of student to make this happen. These high-achieving students know how to balance the demands of the classroom and team sports and we are proud of their commitment to hard work, time management, athleticism, and academics. Congratulations!

Baseball

Women’s Basketball

  • Anna Lutz, R-So., Mechanical Engineering & Physics

Men’s Soccer

Women’s Soccer

Men’s Swim & Dive

Women’s Swim & Dive

Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country

Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country

Women’s Volleyball

College’s new research spaces featured on Spectrum News

young women working on equipment

Spectrum News recently visited the college’s newly renovated research spaces on the ninth and tenth floors of EMS and met some of the people working there. The story quotes Andy Graettinger, associate dean for research, and Jerald Thomas, assistant professor, computer science.

But a large piece of the broadcast featured students.

Zhiqin Qiang, a doctoral student in assistant professor Xiaoli Ma’s materials science and engineering lab, talked about isolating the toxic substance PFAS using membrane technology created in the lab. Graduate students Ho-Kuan Yu and Rahul Sampat Khandge also appeared in the segment. Alec Brookens, an undergraduate working with Thomas, described research that could advance the use of virtual reality for industrial and other uses. Graduate students, including Zarif Ishrak, from the lab of Mohammad Habib Rahman, associate professor, mechanical engineering, were also shown, demonstrating their robotic arm.

Spectrum News is a statewide media outlet available to subscribers of Spectrum television and internet services. Watch

Amano awarded $975,000 to expand expertise in clean-energy workforce development

group of people touring a factory to assess industrial and systems engineering processes

The College of Engineering & Applied Science is among 10 colleges and universities across the U.S. funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to launch a Building Training and Assessment Center (BTAC), in which technical college students will learn to identify ways to reduce carbon emissions and conserve energy in industrial facilities and commercial buildings.

Led by Ryo Amano, professor and Richard and Joanne Grigg Faculty Fellow in mechanical engineering, UWM’s BTAC will work with five Wisconsin technical colleges and state agencies to facilitate the energy assessments. These will help mainly disadvantaged communities save money and energy while training students for clean energy careers that don’t require a four-year degree.

Most of UWM’s funding, $900,000, comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law through the DOE. An additional $75,000 was given by Focus on Energy, a consortium of utilities in Wisconsin that educates the public about energy conservation and renewables.  

BTAC funding also expands the existing network of DOE-supported Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) from 37 to 54. IACs operate at four-year colleges and universities, using students to conduct free evaluations of manufacturers and utilities to help them save money and energy and reduce their carbon footprint.

UWM has operated the only DOE Industrial Assessment Center in Wisconsin for the last 28 years. Because the assessments are carried out by UWM students, the IAC trains the next generation of energy-engineering professionals. UWM’s IAC completes about 20 assessments a year.  

The new BTAC sites will extend the services to build a clean energy workforce at technical colleges and provide assessments that serve disadvantaged communities.

“We were selected because the college has a long and successful history as a DOE Industrial Assessment Center, where many talented students become well-qualified to conduct energy assessments at a nearly professional level,” said Amano.

He will oversee training at five junior or technical colleges in Wisconsin – Milwaukee Area Technical College, Madison College, Southwest Technical College, Northeast Technical College, and Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University, a tribal college in Hayward. He also will work with a long list of state and regional partners to identify commercial and institutional buildings that could benefit from energy assessments.

“This center will collaborate with energy offices in state government, non-profit organizations, and energy stakeholders throughout Wisconsin and other neighboring states to work on greenhouse gas reduction,” Amano said.

Other partners include Wisconsin Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy, American Indian Chamber of Commerce-Wisconsin, Leidos, Wisconsin Association of Energy Engineers and Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.

Welcome Feng Guo, researcher in technologies to electrify transportation

The college welcomes Feng Guo, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, who also is a new member of the Center for Sustainable Electrical Energy Systems.

Guo specializes in high-efficiency and high-power-density multilevel converters, fast-charging technology, high-speed motor drives – technologies needed for electrified transportation applications.

Air travel, for example, uses conventional fossil fuel, hampering efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change and nitrogen oxide emissions that threaten air quality. Electric aircraft could offer a cleaner alternative to help net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, Guo said. Renewable sources of power, such as hydrogen and biomass fuel-cell batteries, can feed the high-efficiency and high-power-density motor drives that enable electric propulsion powertrains.

Guo also will focus on a major obstacle with electric vehicles – the time it takes to charge them. One of the bottlenecks that limit charging capabilities is input voltage, he said. Today’s EV batteries are usually 400-volt systems. Moving to an 800-volt system would provide quicker charging, increased efficiency and better performance, but there are myriad challenges to overcome.

Guo is working on a different solution. By using the modular architecture of wideband-gap-based power converters, the current flowing into the battery pack will be increased, enabling a higher input power.

“All those developments rely heavily on state-of-the-art design, prototyping, and implementation of power electronics converters as key enablers,” he said, “together with intelligent control systems.”

At the Center for Sustainable Electrical Energy Systems, Guo fills a gap in controls, hardware and firmware design for power electronic converters, said Rob Cuzner, director and associate professor of electrical engineering.

“He also brings a background and interest in motor drives, EV charging systems and power converters design for battery storage, solar cells and wind energy,” Cuzner said. “Now that Feng is part of the center, we are able to cover research in every area – from the utility grid to distribution to the power electronics that directly interface loads and sources to the grid.”

Guo received his master’s degree in electrical engineering from Northeastern University, Shenyang, China, and his PhD in electrical and electronics engineering from the University of Nottingham, U.K., where he worked in the Power Electronics, Machines and Control Research Group. Most recently he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Power Electronic Systems Laboratory at the University of Arkansas.

Guo was the recipient of the 2022 Transactions Second Place Prize Paper Award from the IEEE Industry Applications Society. He is an associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications and IEEE Open Journal of Industry Applications.

Guo’s office is at the USR building, room 201P. His email is guof@uwm.edu.

Two faculty members giving UWM’s Science Bag shows this semester

Junjie Niu and Prasenjit Guptasarma will each present a show for UWM’s Science Bag series, a live show for older kids and adults that gets into the popular science behind everyday life. In February, Niu, associate professor, materials science & engineering, tackles the topic of energy in his show, “Lithium-Ion Batteries: Making Mobile Magnificent.” In March, don’t miss Guptasarma, associate dean, when he asked the question of the year, “Artificial Intelligence: Friend or Foe?”

Niu will introduce the principles of how li-ion batteries store electric energy and how to improve the energy density of the battery by designing better parts – the electrode materials and electrolyte. He will answer questions like: How can a battery power your cell phone for a week? How can scientists extend the distance an electric car can travel before it needs to be charged? What happens to the battery’s performance in very cold weather?

Niu’s show runs Fri., Feb. 9 at 6 p.m.; Fri., Feb. 16 at 1 p.m.; and Sun., Feb. 18 at 3 p.m.

In his show, Guptasarma will explore the history, basic principles and potential future directions of AI, which has a real potential of becoming almost human. Since AI has the capacity to learn both the best and the worst of human behavior, how we can we bolster the technology’s beneficial uses and minimize the harmful ones? How might it affect human beings today, and in subsequent generations? 

Guptasarma’s show runs on Fri., March 1 at 6 p.m.; Fri., March 8 at 1 p.m.; and Sun., March 10 at 3 p.m.

All shows are free and held in Lapham Hall, 3209 North Maryland Ave., Room N103. See all the details here.

Engineering firm GRAEF promotes two UWM alums to leadership roles

Two alumni from the college have been promoted to leadership roles at GRAEF – a Milwaukee-based engineering, planning and design firm – in the company’s structural engineering arm.

Steve Rech (’00 MS and ’98 BS, Civil Engineering) serves as the firm’s director of structural engineering. Kyle Poklar (’15 MS Civil Engineering) was named as structural practice area leader.

After nearly 25 years of contributions as an exceptional engineer, Rech leads the development of structural technical and quality standards and processes and oversee structural projects firmwide.

Rech brings a visionary approach to this new position. He started at GRAEF in 2000 and began to lead the Milwaukee structural group in 2017. A principal of the firm, he has worked on some of GRAEF’s top projects, including the Baird Center expansion, Komatsu South Harbor Campus, Fincantieri Marinette Marine and more.

Poklar has exhibited technical expertise and a keen understanding of the industry’s landscape. As GRAEF’s structural practice area leader, Poklar oversees the Milwaukee structural group and continues to provide expertise to our clients.

Poklar has worked on GRAEF projects, such as the Milwaukee School of Engineering Viets Tower, Marquette University College of Business Administration, Komatsu South Harbor Campus and more. He also is leading the structural team on Milwaukee’s Iron District Development, coming soon to downtown.

Poklar, an associate of the firm, began his career at GRAEF as a college intern in 2013.

GRAEF is led by another alum, president and CEO John Kissinger (’79 BS Civil Engineering). With a legacy of more than 60 years in structural expertise, GRAEF designs across a spectrum of dynamic markets, such as industrial, healthcare, commercial, residential, retail and sports centers.

Computer science student develops a manufacturing chatbot with Microsoft support

two men looking at factory testbed

Shamar Webster, a recent master’s degree graduate in computer science, co-created a factory-specific chatbox that allows workers at manufacturing plants to use natural language to interact with the production line and receive immediate answers to questions.

Webster worked with Microsoft’s chief AI officer at UWM’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 UWM 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 UWM’s CSI.

Welcome Sadia Nowrin, new teaching faculty in electrical engineering and computer science

The college welcomes Sadia Nowrin, Teaching Faculty II in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department.

Most recently, Nowrin was a doctoral research assistant at Michigan Technological University.

Her research focuses on human-computer interaction, user accessibility, and natural language processing. But she also is interested in deep learning, web designing and quantum computing.

Specifically, Nowrin studies building assistive solutions that leverage natural language processing techniques to help people with diverse abilities use technology.

“The aim of this research is to develop a system that allows programmers to speak code in a natural manner, without having to learn prescriptive grammar.” she said. “Programming by voice has enormous potential for helping motor-impaired programmers to input code and continue their careers.”

Decreasing keyboard and mouse usage, can also aid those who are at risk of acquiring repetitive strain injury, she said.

Nowrin is in the process of finishing her PhD in computer science from Michigan Technological University. She earned a master’s degree in computer science and engineering from the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. She is teaching intermediate-level programming courses and advanced courses in operating systems and computer architecture.

Her temporary office is in Room 592 and her email address is nowrin@uwm.edu.

Otieno chosen as fellow of ELATES leadership development program

Associate Professor Wilkistar Otieno is beginning her 2023-24 fellowship in ELATES at Drexel®, a national executive leadership development program. 

ELATES at Drexel® is designed to transform women senior faculty, and faculty allies of all genders, into effective leaders within their universities, dedicated to increasing the representation of women in higher education STEM leadership. It was developed by Drexel University in 2012.

This current cohort includes 40 faculty from 33 different institutions across the U.S. and Canada who are rising leaders in their fields. Nominated by their dean or provost, the fellows have significant administrative experience on top of their scholarly accomplishments in a wide spectrum of fields.

ELATES at Drexel® is an intensive full-year, part-time fellowship facilitated by experts in the fields of STEM research and leadership development. The curriculum includes classroom immersions with experiential modules, virtual instruction, coaching and mentorship, and an applied project at each fellow’s home institution.

Fellows will:

  • Improve their personal and professional leadership skills through professional and peer coaching, personality and leadership style inventories, and evaluations.
  • Learn, through activities, classroom presentations and interviews with their own institutional leaders, how to understand and navigate organizational dynamics.
  • Expand their knowledge of strategic finance and resource management at their institutions.

At UWM, Otieno was the principal investigator of an NSF STEM grant, is an assistant director of the DOE-funded Industry Assessment Center, and serves as a long-term faculty mentor for the UWM Wisconsin Alliance for Minority Participation, also an NSF grant. In October 2022, the Universities of Wisconsin presented Otieno with an Outstanding Women of Color in Education Award.