On April 20th, professors and students from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Marquette University came together to share their innovative technologies with investors and companies from all over southeast Wisconsin to the Rockwell Automation headquarters in Milwaukee.
Tessa Myers, Senior Vice President of Intelligent Devices at Rockwell and a UWM Research Foundation (UWMRF) board member, welcomed the attendees and spoke on the importance of innovation and community collaboration in Wisconsin. Jessica Silvaggi, Interim President of UWMRF; Landon Olp, Licensing Manager from the Office of Technology Development, MCW; and Kalpa Vithalani, Executive Director of Technology Transfer, Marquette University welcomed and thanked their innovators and collaborators and stressed the importance of area partnerships with companies for economic development.
Left to right: Kalpa Vithalani, Marquette; Jessica Silvaggi, UWMRF; Landon Olp, MCW
Dr. Deyang Qu, UWM Distinguished Professor, Mechanical Engineering
The event then kicked off with seven minute pitches by presenters from each university sharing the problem and their solution followed by five minutes of insightful questions from a panel of responders moderated by Chuck Swoboda, Innovator-in-Residence at Marquette University. The panel included Dana Guthrie, Managing Partner at Gateway Capital Partners; Jennifer Abele, Founder and Managing Partner, VC 414; and Mike Maschek, Inception Health, Director. The topics presented were focused on healthcare, wastewater treatment, construction, and battery recycling spaces.
The event concluded with a social hour with food and drinks to further foster connections and networking within the community. Guests were also welcome to take a tour of the famous clock tower at Rockwell and see many of their updated spaces.
You can read more about each of these technologies on the First Look Forum webpage by downloading the agenda. Thanks again to all that presented and attended and we hope to see you next year.