KYLE JANSSON
Director of the UWM Prototyping Center
Kyle has spent his career so far developing technical products in research and design roles as a Mechanical Engineer. He has a background designing components and systems in industrial, medical, and consumer industries for private, public, consulting companies and research institutions. His keen awareness of the product development process lets him know when to apply the next steps to efficiently and effectively design a component or system while ultimately knowing how to get to the finish line.
With a several generations in his family as fabricators, Kyle now combines his own passion and lifetime of hands-on fabrication skillsets with the world’s most advanced prototyping machines available at his fingertips. This will allow him to bring any idea to reality through design and prototyping. With 4 patents and 22 publications so far in his career, he is eager to continue to innovate and discover new technological breakthroughs through collaborating with brilliant minds. In addition to fabricating parts, Kyle’s goals are to engineer ideas into a reality to develop tools and technology for researchers and developers to yield scientific breakthroughs.
JD LANG
Advanced Model/Instrument Maker
JD’s entire professional career has always been related to designing, prototyping and building custom projects. His founding education started with learning traditional work skillsets at Milwaukee Tech High School. He has evolved step-for-step with the rapid pace of fabrication technology to compliment his hands-on talents to design in CAD and then fabricate complex parts with our advanced CNC machining centers. His role beyond fabricating parts is in evolving the competencies of our machining centers through programming and operating our CNC equipment and to weld anything that comes our way.
After starting out his career at the Milwaukee Science Museum, he continued on making models and prototypes for many Fortune 500 companies – which you’ve likely encountered in your life without knowing it. With a history of interesting career experiences, he is comfortable manually or automating fabrication using a wide range of materials ranging from metals, to plastics, to wood. With keen mindfulness of nearly every fabrication process in the industry, he brings a broad perspective to plan the best way to produce creative, inventive, and professional prototypes. Now his skill sets will fulfill the needs of the innovators, designers and engineers he works with to make their novel ideas and projects come to life.
Benjamin Engel
Design Engineer
Ben is a versatile Design Engineer with expertise in design, fabrication, prototyping, and project management. He specializes in transforming concepts into fully realized products, overseeing the entire development process from initial design to final fabrication. With a strong background in machining, composite and metal fabrication, and 3D modeling, Ben ensures precision and functionality in every project. He leverages industry-standard CAD software to create detailed, production-ready designs and optimizes them for accuracy and cost-effectiveness.
Throughout his career, Ben has taken on various technical roles across multiple industries, including residential, commercial, and trade show environments. He excels in managing all aspects of product development, including project scheduling, budgeting, and coordinating cross-functional teams. His ability to navigate complex design challenges and streamline manufacturing processes makes him an asset to any team.
Ben holds a BFA in Furniture Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design, combining his creative foundation with a practical, solutions-driven approach. His adaptability and expertise across multiple fabrication disciplines allow him to bring innovative ideas to life with precision and efficiency.