Congratulations to UWM alumnus Christopher Genthe (MS ’09), who in October was awarded the 2020 Engineer of the Year by Rockwell Automation. This prestigious award honors outstanding engineers whose technical contributions, innovation and business impact exemplify the very best in engineering excellence.
As this year’s award recipient, Genthe—who has made significant contributions to the Milwaukee-based, Fortune 500 company’s accelerated corrosion testing program—joins an elite group of innovators.
At Rockwell, Genthe is a principal engineer in the Chemistry & Materials Engineering group. He joined the company and its Chemistry & Materials Engineering group in 1999, taking on widening and changing responsibilities ever since.
At UWM, he is an adjunct instructor in UWM’s College of Engineering & Applied Science—where he has taught environmental degradation and corrosion since 2012—and is a longtime member of the Materials Engineering Department’s Industrial Advisory Board (IAB).
“My career path has been influenced by my involvement with the college’s materials program,” he says. “The work with the IAB has allowed me to help guide the department’s path and keep up to date on educational trends.”
UWM’s engineering students have benefitted from Genthe’s involvement with the college. He has helped make available many co-ops and internship positions at Rockwell and recruited several to full-time positions.
One of the aspects he enjoys most about teaching is bringing his real-world experience to his classroom. “While studying at UWM, I appreciated learning the practical side along with the theoretical,” Genthe says. “It heavily influenced how I teach environmental degradation and guided the methods I have used developing accelerated test environments.”