CS Grad Students Win Best Sustainability App Award by ENGIE at HackIOWA 2023

UWM team at HackIowa 2023

Congratulations to the following Computer Science graduate students who won the “Best Sustainability App Award by ENGIE” at HackIOWA 2023:

  • Pranay Mandadapu, advised by Rohit Kate, associate professor, computer science
  • Yogitha Palukuri (also President of Google Developer Club student organization), advised by Susan McRoy, professor and chair, computer science
  • Siddartha Pullakhandam, advised by Susan McRoy, professor and chair, computer science
  • Lakshmi Sai Kartheek Surabhi, advised by Christine Cheng, associate professor, computer science

The hackathon took place at the University of Iowa on September 23, 2023, and was comprised of 60 teams, 30 of which specifically worked on a challenge presented by ENGIE North America, focusing on sustainability and energy systems. The UWM team used a highly complicated data set to optimize Electric Vehicle Charging Station Array (EVCA) and CAMBUS Array (CA) degradation to help determine future solar installations and to enhance sustainability at University of Iowa.

More info.

Spiegelhoff Wins First Place Poster Award at PEC

Yuting Spiegelhoff

Congratulations to Yuting Spiegelhoff, PhD candidate in Electrical Engineering, who earned first prize at the 83rd Annual Physical Electronics Conference (PEC) for her poster entitled, “Fabrication and Characterization of Zinc-Phosphate-Hydrate Crystals Hydrothermally-Grown on Cu Metal Substrates”. The conference took place from July 31-August 3, 2023, at UW La Crosse.  

Spiegelhoff studies with Professor Nikolai Kouklin.

U.S. DoE awards excellent IAC proposal to Amano, Kada, Maache and Saadeh

Students and faculty at UWM’s College of Engineering & Applied Science have for the third time in a row been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy as national leaders in the areas of manufacturing and industrial energy efficiency, waste and water use reduction, smart manufacturing, energy management systems, productivity improvement and cybersecurity.

Led by mechanical engineering graduate student Walaa Saadeh and including mechanical engineering graduate students Mohamed Maache and Cheikh Kada, UWM’s team wrote a research proposal that took high honors in the 2023-24 Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) Awards for Excellence in Applied Energy Engineering Research competition, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office.

Ryo Amano, professor and Richard & Joanne Grigg Fellow, mechanical engineering, was the team’s advisor.

The team will receive a grant of $25,000 to conduct their project, “A Promising Approach for Clean Energy: Harnessing Organic Waste Streams for Efficient Hydrogen Production and Water Treatment” and will present it at the DoE webinar in spring.  

The highly competitive, nationwide competition drew over 30 proposals submitted by the DoE-funded, university-based industrial assessment centers, or IACs, for emerging research projects with novelty for new technologies. Eight were awarded high honors this year. These IACs conduct energy assessments for small and mid-sized companies and identify opportunities to improve productivity and competitiveness, reduce waste, and save energy.

About the IAC

UWM’s DOE IAC—under the direction of Amano—is the only one in Wisconsin. The IAC provides free, in-depth energy assessments to small- and medium-sized manufacturers and utilities. The goal is to increase their productivity and competitiveness by reducing energy and water consumption, enhancing cybersecurity, and adopting smart manufacturing technology. To date, more than 600 companies and water treatment plants have used the center’s services. On average, they received energy-consumption recommendations to save about $150,000 annually, higher than the national IAC average of $130,000.

Learn more about applying for an energy assessment.

Naderi Wins 2023 ASME Computers and Information Division Poster Session Award

Forouzan Naderi, Mechanical Engineering Student

Congratulations to Forouzan Naderi, graduate student in Mechanical Engineering, on winning the 2023 ASME Computers and Information Division Poster Session Award for the poster titled “Physics-Informed Deep Learning for Chemical Source Localization and Characterization.” The event took place at the ASME International Design Engineering & Computers and Information in Engineering Technical Conference August 20-23, 2023.

Naderi is advised by Associate Professor Roshan D’Souza, Alan D. Kulwicki ’77 Faculty Fellow.

Associate IPIT Director, Mark Gottlieb, provides insights on what Milwaukee without I-794 bridges would be like

Mark Gottlieb, associate director of UWM’s Institute for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation, discussed the pros and cons of removing I-794s east-west bridges with several media outlets in September.

According to Gottlieb, “It’s a question of land use, it’s a question of connectivity, but it’s also a question of safe and efficient movement of people and goods. That’s where the tradeoff really is here, between making some improvements to the existing freeway or taking it down to grade.”

TMJ4 broadcast

WUWM 89.7FM broadcast

IPIT Director Xiao Qin featured expert on safety of roundabouts in multiple news outlets

In September, Xiao Qin, UWM Institute for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation director and Lawrence E. Sivak ’71 Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, explained why roundabouts have increasingly become popular, their safety benefits and the history behind them.

His research found a significant reduction in serious crashes in more than two-thirds of the places where traditional intersections were replaced by roundabouts. Qin also shared that in addition to safety benefits, roundabouts also better for the environment, make traffic more efficient and ultimately cost less to maintain than other intersection types.

This story was picked up by multiple media outlets.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story

TMJ4 Broadcast

WBAY Broadcast

Welcome Rina Ghose: Expert in geomatics and geographic information science

In July, Rina Ghose, professor, joined the UWM College of Engineering & Applied Science’s Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering.  

She is an expert in geomatics, geographic information science, public participation GIS, urban studies, population and health.

Ghose’s research advances environmental and social sustainability through a data-driven and community-engaged approach. She has published over 55 journal articles and book chapters and has received an Excellence in Research award from UWM Foundation. 

She is researching Covid-19 related social media misinformation and its impacts. She already found a direct correlation between locations where Twitter misinformation originated and subsequent spikes in COVID-19 infections and deaths in those areas weeks later.   

Her other research projects include precision epidemiology and the opioid crisis: using next generation geospatial analyses to guide community level responses in diverse and segregated metropolitan areas; and structural discrimination and health outcomes in Milwaukee at the community and individual level.

Ghose’s office is Room 1094 and her email address is rghose@uwm.edu.

Xiaowei (Tom) Shi, expert in future transportation systems, joins college

The college welcomes Xiaowei (Tom) Shi as an assistant professor, civil & environmental engineering.

Shi’s research focuses on evaluating existing emerging mobility technologies, such as automated, connected, and electric vehicles, and developing novel technologies through the utilization of field experiments and hardware-in-the-loop methodologies. His research integrates transportation engineering, control engineering, optimization, and data science.

Prior to joining the UWM faculty, Shi was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Michigan Traffic Lab at the University of Michigan.

“Tom’s expertise in these cutting-edge fields promises to enrich our department’s research and educational endeavors,” said Rani Elhajjar, associate professor and department chair, civil & environmental engineering. “We eagerly anticipate his valuable contributions to advancing our understanding and applications of transportation technologies for a smarter and more connected future in Wisconsin and beyond.”

Shi’s work has published in top transportation journals including the Transportation Science and Transportation Research Parts B, C and D. He serves as a reviewer for leading transportation journals, including Transportation Science, Transportation Research Parts B and C, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, and IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles.

Shi’s many competitive awards include the Anne Brewer Academic Scholarship from ITS Florida and the Neville A. Parker Science & Technology Award from the Council of University Transportation Centers. He was a member of the U.S. finalist team in the ITS World Congress – Global Innovation Competition.

He earned a PhD in civil and environmental engineering at the University of South Florida (2021).

Shi’s office is the Northwest Quadrant, Room 4420 and his email address is xiaowshi@uwm.edu.

Welcome Aditya Akundi, industrial manufacturing and systems engineer

The college welcomes Aditya Akundi as an assistant professor, industrial & manufacturing engineering.

Akundi’s primary research is in complex systems engineering, including model-based systems engineering, cyber-physical systems, and digital quality control. He also pursues research in engineering education. Akundi’s research is funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and industry.

Most recently, Akundi has served as an assistant professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in the Department of Informatics and Engineering Systems, where he was an I-DREAM4D Department of Defense fellow.

He received his PhD from the University of Texas at El Paso (2016) and has published several journals and peer-reviewed conference papers on systems modeling, systems testing, model-based systems, engineering education, and more.

Akundi is a member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE)—where he serves as a core committee member of the IISE Cup—and the American Society for Engineering Education (AASE)—where he serves on the executive board of the ASEE Manufacturing Division. He has received numerous awards, including the outstanding junior faculty award and an award for his service to the manufacturing profession, presented by the ASEE Manufacturing division.

Akundi’s office is Room 990A and his email address is akundivy@uwm.edu. 

Welcome Jerald Thomas: Computer science researcher specializes in virtual and augmented realities

Jerald Thomas joined the UWM College of Engineering & Applied Science in May as an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science.

He brings to UWM research specialties in virtual and augmented reality, redirected walking, human computer interaction, and collaborative virtual environments. His research on redirected walking earned him the Best Paper Award at the ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology in 2020.

Most recently, Thomas was a Computing Innovation post-doc fellow at Virginia Tech’s Department of Computer Science. He earned his PhD in Computer Science from University of Minnesota.

At UWM, Thomas will start a new research lab devoted to human perception and interaction in virtual and augmented reality and is currently looking for graduate and undergraduate students to work with. In addition, he plans to start a line of research in VR-assisted therapy. 

He will teach two classes this Fall semester (COMPSCI 459(G): Fundamentals of Computer Graphics and COMPSCI 657/790: Immersive Technologies and 3D User Interfaces). In addition, he is a member of the UWM Connected Systems Institute’s Academic Advisory Committee.

Thomas’s office is Room 990D and his email address is jeraldt@uwm.edu.