Rockwell Automation makes a new gift of $1 million to the Connected Systems Institute

A male professor (center) teaches three students - a woman and two men - in a manufacturing setting
More than 500 students, many of them from the college, got instruction at CSI. Here, Aditya Akundi (center), assistant professor, industrial & manufacturing engineering, explains the manufacturing testbed.

Rockwell Automation is renewing its founding partnership with UWM’s Connected Systems Institute (CSI) with a new $1 million, five-year commitment, bringing its total investment to $5 million since 2017.

CSI connects engineering, business and industry partners around the industrial internet of things and recently became home to Microsoft’s first higher-ed AI Co-Innovation Lab focused on manufacturing. The collaboration supports a shared goal of preparing the next generation of manufacturing talent as the industry shifts toward AI, robotics, and software-driven automation.

Rockwell’s renewed support comes as it expands its own manufacturing footprint in Southeast Wisconsin and emphasizes the need for skilled workers.

In the past year, CSI involved more than 500 students, many of them from the college, in expanded courses and research. The institute also launched an engineering master’s degree program and completed industry-directed projects with major companies. Read the full press release.