University of Wisconsin-Madison

ENGINEERING

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ANNUAL REPORT 2009

2 2008–2009 HigHligHts

8 College Departments 8BiomedicalEngineering 10ChemicalandBiologicalEngineering 12CivilandEnvironmentalEngineering 14ElectricalandComputerEngineering 16EngineeringPhysics 18EngineeringProfessionalDevelopment 20IndustrialandSystemsEngineering 22MaterialsScienceandEngineering 24MechanicalEngineering

26 interDisCiplinary Degree programs

28 private support

30 College DireCtory

32 College inDustrial aDvisory BoarD

The College of Engineering Annual Report is printed via gift funds administered through the University of Wisconsin Foundation.

©2009 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. Published October 2009.

www.engr.wisc.edu/news/ar

necanarguethatscienceachievedprogressthroughtherelentlesspursuitofdisassemblyoverthepast

150years.Tounderstandtheincrediblycomplexquestionsthatunderliethebiologicalandphysicalsciences,scientistsmeticulouslydividedthequestionsintotheircomponentparts.

Therapidincreaseinscientificdisciplinesoverthelastcenturyprovideduswithanopportunitytomakeinsurmountablechallengesmoreapproachable.Thisspecializationhasservedtheworldextremelywell,givingusinsightintothebuildingblocksofphysicalmatterandoflivingthings,aswellasenablingtremendousadvancesinhumanhealthandqualityoflife.

Thenext150years,ontheotherhand,mightbedefinedbyhowwellwereassemblethatknowledgeinanintegratedway.Leadingthinkersinthepublicandprivatesectorrecognizethatthenextbigdiscoveries,andthenextbigsolutions,willlikelybefoundattheintersectionsofthepowerfuldisciplineswehaveconstructed.

TherapidlydevelopingWisconsinInstitutesforDiscovery(WID),locateddirectlybehindmeinthisphoto,willestablishUW-Madisonasaworldleaderintaking

Message from Dean Paul S. Peercy

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This annual report includes a number of accounts of innovative faculty taking the academic experience in new directions. For example, one professor created animations as powerful tools to help students visualize challenging concepts in statics. Another professor developed a certificate program to help engineering students build meaningful bridges into the arts, humanities and social sciences at UW-Madison.

The concept of transcending boundaries is at the core of UW-Madison values. The century-old Wisconsin Idea holds that the university’s benefits should extend to the citizens of the state, nation and beyond.

In conversations with students, I frequently mention that engineers will play a role in solving every major challenge facing society. Yet these complex problems will not be solved exclusively by engineers. In order to truly make a difference, engineers will need to contribute to culturally and intellectually diverse teams.

Through “Engineering Beyond Boundaries,” we hope to make that diversity come to life for our students.

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Message from Dean Paul S. Peercy Engineering Beyond Boundaries: Education for a rapidly changing world

integrated approaches to science and medicine. When completed in spring 2011, WID not only will support a wide range of interdisciplinary research, but it also will bridge the gap between the public and private sectors to quickly bring essential health advances to patients.

This shift toward more integrated thinking and problem solving has major implications for how we educate future engineers at the UW-Madison College of Engineering. Building on the past five years of progress from the Vision 2010 Initiative, we have put in place a long-term educational transformation called “Engineering Beyond Boundaries.”

This initiative will encourage faculty and staff to rethink our academic culture to address important shifts, including:

• Going beyond traditional engineering boundaries.

• Going beyond the boundaries of the state and nation to prepare students to work and succeed in many different countries, cultures and languages.

• Going beyond the boundaries of the college itself, with programs supporting greater connections across disciplines such as biology, medicine, business and the humanities.

• Going beyond the boundaries of the classroom, with new technology and multi-media strategies that allow faculty to expand their educational approaches.

• Going beyond the boundaries of conventional thinking about engineering education and recasting our content and approaches for a rapidly changing world.

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2008—2009 HIGHLIGHTS

• Wisconsin Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering Rolf Reitz and his students (pictured at right) have developed a novel technique in which an engine can, in real time, blend gasoline and diesel fuels to create an optimal mix, increasing fuel efficiency by an average of 20 percent. If all U.S. cars and trucks could achieve fuel-efficiency levels demonstrated in the research, transportation-based oil consumption would drop by one third. Reitz presented his findings August 3, 2009, at the U.S. Department of Energy Diesel Engine-Efficiency and Emissions Research Conference.

• An experimental approach to wound healing could take advantage of silver’s antibacterial properties, while sidestepping the damage silver can cause to cells needed for healing. Working with John T. and Magdalen L. Sobota Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering Nicholas Abbott, postdoctoral researcher Ankit Agarwal crafted an ultra-thin material carrying a precise dose of silver. In tests in lab dishes, the low concentration of silver killed 99.9999 percent of the bacteria but did not damage cells called fibroblasts that are needed to repair a wound. Agarwal presented his results August 19, 2009, at the American Chemical Society Meeting.

• Turning current nanoscale friction theory upside-down, Materials Science and Engineering Assistant Professor Izabela Szlufarska and colleagues used computer simulations to demonstrate that atomic-level friction occurs much like friction generated between large objects. While the current theories center around the idea that nanoscale surfaces are smooth, in reality, nanoscale surfaces resemble a mountain range, where each peak corresponds to an atom or a molecule. The team, which included materials science and engineering graduate student Yifei Mo and Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Kevin Turner, found that friction is proportional to the number of atoms that interact between two nanoscale surfaces. The researchers published their findings in the February 26, 2009, issue of the journal Nature.

Healthy fibroblast cells (green) in a low dose of silver

REsEaRch advancEs

From left: Reed Hanson, Rolf Reitz, Derek Splitter and Sage Kokjohn

Atom-level view of the nanoscale interface between amorphous carbon and diamond. At such a small scale, the surfaces are rough, although researchers have been treating them as smooth.

• Wisconsin Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering Rolf Reitz and his students (pictured at right) developed a novel technique in which an engine can, in real time, blend gasoline and diesel fuels to create an optimal mix, increasing fuel efficiency by an average of 20 percent. If all U.S. cars and trucks could achieve the fuel-efficiency levels demonstrated in the research, transportation-based oil consumption would drop by one third. Reitz presented his findings August 3, 2009, at the U.S. Department of Energy Diesel Engine-Efficiency and Emissions Research Conference.

• In early April 2009, biomedical engineering PhD student Adam Wilson posted a status update on the social networking website Twitter—just by thinking about it. Just 23 characters long, his message, “using EEG to send tweet,” demonstrated a natural, manageable way in which “locked-in” patients can couple brain-computer interface technologies with modern communication tools. To facilitate the message, Wilson used a simple communication interface he and Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Justin Williams developed with colleagues at the Wadsworth Center in Albany, New York.

Cells die (red) in a slightly higher dose of silver

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Engineering design students affection-

ately call it “team time,” the part of class when they brainstorm topics, discuss applications, organize a game plan and generally take a design idea through its necessary paces.

The one cardinal rule of “team time,” says Engineering Physics Professor Wendy Crone, is that there never seems to be enough of it.

Crone and Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Naomi Chesler decided to tackle this time management challenge by turning to the burgeoning field of online video. Using some of the top experts from both on and off the UW-Madison campus, the team cre-ated a library of two dozen lectures that cover the core principles of design, including communication, design considerations, the design process and patents and literature.

Before each topic is covered in class, students view the corresponding video, slides and resource links. Topics include human factors and ergonomics, codes and standards, oral and poster pre-sentations, achieving FDA approval, working in teams and conflict resolution. They come to class ready to discuss the principles, rather than hear them for the first time.

The 100-plus biomedical engineering students involved in the 2009 pilot project responded positively to the video enhancements—in fact, a post-class survey found that 61 percent of students preferred the video lectures, compared to only 15 percent favoring in-class lectures.

There’s a strong reason for that preference, Crone says. “This video option enables students to gain more flexibility in the classroom through more independent work outside of class. They can now use that valuable class time to its best advantage.”

The flexibility of online delivery is another plus, Crone says. Students not only access the material when and where it’s convenient, they revisit and review the areas where they need more help, and skip concepts they have already mastered. And, as someone who occasionally gets accused of talking

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• With mathematical representations of known virus biology, Chemical and Biological Engineering Professor John Yin and former graduate student Kwang-il Lim showed, with computational models, that simply shuffling the order of the five genes in the vesicular stomatitis virus genome has a huge effect on how well the virus grows and how it interacts with its simulated host cell. The research could help guide efforts to develop vaccines or to study the genetic basis of other viral characteristics, such as how a virus evolves to become drug-resistant. Yin and Lim reported their results February 6, 2009, in the journal PLoS Computational Biology.

• A team of materials researchers developed single-material superlattices from silicon nanomembranes. Essentially, the equivalent of heterojunction super- lattices, the more efficient, easily manufactured strained-silicon superlattices could improve devices that convert thermal energy into electrical energy. Led by Erwin W. Mueller and Bascom Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Max Lagally, the team published its findings in the March 24, 2009, issue of the journal ACS Nano.

Student Leo Walton (wearing the electrode cap), Adam Wilson (foreground) and Justin Williams

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too fast in her lectures, Crone says some students like the option of putting their instructor on “pause.”

“We also hoped the project would build community among students,” she says. “It has done a fantastic job with that because they interact heavily with each other every week. There is less sitting and listening taking place.”

Crone came to the design project with good experience, having developed a series of online guest lectures introducing engineering students to research methodology. That program succeeded not only in her course, but the materials have been

adopted by dozens of other instructors across the nation and world.

The video website has received nearly 3,500 unique visitors since

fall 2008, nearly half from outside of Wisconsin. (View

the site at: mrsec.wisc.edu/Edetc/research/index.html.) A University of Connecticut chemistry professor called the video on applying for

undergraduate research opportunities “essential viewing”

for his students.With that success in hand, Crone

applied for and received an Engineering Beyond Boundaries grant in 2007 to expand into engineering design courses. Her project team includes Chesler; Katie Cadwell, postdoctoral research associate in the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC); and Greta Zenner, director of education at MRSEC.

Through both projects, the MRSEC website features a combined 52 online videos covering research, design and professional opportunities topics—areas that are at the core of the engineering undergraduate experience. Crone is excited about the possibilities of this online library being applied across the spectrum of design and research courses in eight college departments.

Crone notes that as an engineering physics professor, she does not teach design. But that’s part of the beauty of Engineering Beyond Boundaries—giving faculty the incentive to experiment outside of their comfort zone.

“For me, it has been a permission slip to do the next cool thing,” she says.

Wendy Crone: Taking design courses into the YouTube era

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2008—2009 HIGHLIGHTS

• Steenbock Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering James Dumesic is leading the UW-Madison collaborators in the $18.5 million National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals at Iowa State University. The grant supports collaborative research at six universities, three international institutions, and nine industry partners aimed at transforming the petrochemical-based chemical industry to one based on renewable materials.

• The National Cancer Institute awarded a five-year, $8.6 million grant to the Center for Health Enhance-ment Systems Studies. The grant established the Center of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research II, through which a multidisciplinary team of scientists is conducting three studies that focus on interactive cancer communication systems. The center also received a five-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to study ways to reduce relapses. Industrial and Systems Engineering Research Professor and center Director David Gustafson is the principal investigator (PI) on both grants.

• With funding totaling $7.4 million, Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Justin Williams is a co-PI or collaborator on two National Institutes of Health projects that will enable him and his colleagues to develop technology that could help people with conditions such as ALS, high spinal-cord injuries or brain-stem strokes to regain their ability to communicate, and ultimately, to move.

• The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded $5.3 million in continued funding for Project HealthDesign, an initiative designed to create a new generation of personal health record systems led by Lillian S. Moehlman-Bascom Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Nursing Patricia Flatley Brennan. The grant brings total project funding to approximately $10 million.

• The Trace R&D Center received $4.75 million from the U.S. Department of Education National Institute on Disability & Rehabilitation Research to establish a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center. The funding will help Trace researchers continue to improve the accessibility of technologies that enable people with disabilities to participate in work, education, travel and the community. Industrial and Systems Engineering and Biomedical Engineering Professor Gregg Vanderheiden directs the center.

sTUdEnT InnOvaTIOn

The College of Engineering offers myriad opportunities for student innovation.

Among them are InnovATIon DAy, the annual UW-Madison event made up of two competitions that reward innovative, marketable ideas and prototypes.

Electrical and computer engineering student Justin Beck and psychology and neuroscience student Daniel Gartenberg won the 2009 Schoofs Prize for Creativity and $10,000 for their sophisticated alarm clock for the iPhone. Mechanical engineering student Michael Deau won the 2009 Tong Prototype Prize and $2,500 for his eco-friendly vending machine.

Another opportunity for student innovators is the Tong Biomedical Engineering Design Competition (bottom photo). Each May, nearly 150 biomedical engineering students showcase novel devices that address real-world medical challenges. The students developed the devices in biomedical engineering design classes.

Sponsored by electrical and computer engineering alumnus Peter Tong and the Tong Family Foundation, the competition recognizes the students’ efforts to design and create prototypes and pursue business opportunities in biomedical industries.

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Promoting entrepreneurship through competition

REsEaRch FUndIng

(continued)

Michael Deau

From left: Justin Beck and Daniel Gartenberg

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With a wide grin, Engineering

Physics Professor Mike Plesha proudly holds up a thick textbook. Inside, the wide margins, neatly formatted text and myriad figures evoke the idea of engaging, understandable information. Together, design and content fill an important role: helping students master statics, the study and analysis of structural equilibrium. Published via McGraw-Hill in 2009, Engineering Mechanics: Statics (and its companion, Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics) is the result of an eight-year collabora-tion among Plesha and co-authors Gary Gray and Francesco Costanzo of the Penn State University Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics.

Statics is a required course for nearly two-thirds of UW-Madison engineering undergraduates. For Plesha, the textbook is only the first step in his unique approach to teach-ing this difficult-to-master subject. With funding through Engineering Beyond Boundaries, Plesha and PhD student Jonathan Fleischmann developed animations of free-body diagram construction—and other difficult concepts—that enable statics students to visualize the phenomena they study. “This course is a course in which the math isn’t challenging,” says Plesha. “It’s the visualization—taking a real-life problem and replacing it with a mathematical idealization. That’s where they struggle.”

Students draw free-body diagrams to help them analyze the forces acting on a free body: a structure removed from its environment. Vectors in their drawings show the direction and magnitude of forces, such as contact, friction, weight due to gravity and others, that act on the structure. Based on their free-body diagrams, students then write, solve and interpret the results of equations that govern the structure’s equilibrium. “The ability to draw free-body diagrams—this is something that they’ll do in a good number of their courses after this,” says Plesha. “It’s an essential skill, and if they don’t develop that skill, it’ll adversely affect them in a lot of coursework to follow—and in their professional practice.”

• Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering and Pharmacology Assistant Professor William Murphy is PI or a collaborator on four research grants from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation totaling more than $4 million. The grants focus on various aspects of biomaterials research. Among Murphy's collaborators is Materials Science and Engineering Assistant Professor Padma Gopalan.

• John T. and Magdalen L. Sobota Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering Nicholas L. Abbott and Chemical and Biological Engineering Associate Professor Eric Shusta will work with Professor Paul Bertics from biomolecular chemistry and Professor Ron Raines from biochemistry on a five-year, $2.5M grant from the National Cancer Institute of the NIH to pursue the development of novel molecular analysis tools based on liquid crystals.

• Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Hongrui Jiang is leading a multi-university, multidisciplinary research program to develop biologically inspired intelligent micro-optical imaging systems. This project earned $2 million over four years from the National Science Foundation through the prestigious Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation program.

• Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Kristyn Masters received $1.67 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to use tissue-engineering techniques to produce physiologically relevant in vitro models of diseased heart valves, and then use those disease models as platforms for testing therapeutic treatments such as statin drugs. Among her collaborators is Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Kevin Turner.

• Biomedical Engineering Professor David Beebe and collaborators received $1.4 million over three years from the National Institutes of Health for their project, “Microchannel cell-based assays to enable cancer research.”

• Industrial and Systems Engineering Professor Leyuan Shi has received a four-year $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how to improve the quality of radiation treatment planning for cancer patients, which could benefit the 60 percent of U.S. cancer patients who receive radiation therapy.

Some free-body diagrams are relatively straightforward; others create more confusion, says Plesha. The anima-tions, which last about

a minute, demonstrate the process for drawing a free-body diagram and help students ensure they don’t miss—or misinterpret—forces.

One animated structure has a pin at one point, a roller at another point, and includes a pulley and cable. Because it includes multiple components, says Plesha, this is the kind of problem that’s difficult for students. The animation begins by taking a cut that separates the structure from its environment; next,

arrows glide into place to indicate the appropriate forces. Then, the roller goes away and the force-vectors for it appear. Next, the cable is cut and the

pulley drifts away, while arrows move in to show the forces

at those locations. Other animations demonstrate force reactions for various structure supports, behavior of springs, mechanisms in

truss structures, and others.While the animations are

important to student understanding of free-body diagrams, they also

are key instructional tools, says Plesha. “This subject will be taught in increasingly larger courses, without blackboard and chalk,” he says. “It’ll be whiteboard and a place to plug in a computer. Effective lecture materials are kind of a challenge—and also an opportunity—because there are some things that are hard for students to visualize and hard for instructors to convey.”

Plesha and Fleishmann aim to develop 20 animations that instructors can incorporate into statics courses in technology-rich classrooms and lecture halls. Plesha also envisions an additional benefit to students. “Longer range, I would like to see the animations be a resource for students on a class website that they can con-sult independently of the lectures,” he says.

Michael Plesha: Animations bring

statics concepts to life

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Conventional wisdom might

suggest that engineer-ing and the arts and humanities are at polar ends of the academic spectrum—with one dealing in exacting, technical and applied science, and the other in creativity, beauty and human expression.

Jeffrey S. Russell argues that some of the most visionary engineers of the 21st century will be the ones who successfully integrate the best of both academic worlds. “Engineers need to be broader and deeper today,” says Russell, professor and chair of civil and environmental engineering. “How do engineers address major chal-lenges in a proactive and meaningful way, as opposed to being viewed as a technician? The answer is to be literate in the social, economic and cultural issues, and still have the technical depth to address them.”

Putting this together in a four-year undergraduate experience is a formidable challenge for engineering programs, which also face higher required levels of rigor in math, chemistry, physics and biology.

To help, Russell and colleagues created “Integrated Studies in Science, Engineering and Society” (ISSuES). The certificate program provides a structure for students to maximize the impact of their outside-of-engineering coursework and glean more meaningful engagement in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Launched in fall 2009, the certificate received lead support from Engineering Beyond Boundaries and expects to enroll 25 students each year over the first four years.

Russell teamed on the project with Sarah Pfatteicher, assistant dean in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and Daniel Kleinmann, director of the Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies and chair of community and environmental sociology.

The Holtz Center provides the perfect academic partner for the certificate. Robert Holtz, a Wisconsin native and successful engineer, and his wife Jean formed the center in 2001 to help people better address the social and cultural ramifications of technological change. Students in the certificate

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Five College of Engineering faculty received prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER awards, which recognize faculty members at the beginning of their academic careers who have developed creative projects that effectively integrate advanced research and education. The five faculty award recipients are:

Industrial and Systems Engineering Assistant Professor Oguzhan Alagoz is developing a modeling framework for disease screening

and diagnosis. He will focus on two broad areas of research in breast cancer: optimizing cancer screening policies for various populations of women and optimizing follow-up decisions, such as biopsy and short-term follow-up recommendations. Alagoz’s work is the first study to use stochastic optimization techniques and clinical data to find cost-effective strategies for breast cancer screening. His award totals $430,000.

Electrical & Computer Engineering Assistant Professor Stark Draper will create algorithms that could allow computers to better present

streaming data in real time, thereby addressing a funda-mental problem in digital communication technologies. Computers are designed to handle data delivered in whole, which computers then process and present to users. However, modern communication data is more commonly presented in an instantaneous stream. The central technical question Draper will address is how feedback should be used to transmit delay-sensitive data. His award totals $400,000.

Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Dan Negrut is calculating granular flow dynamics with high-performance parallel

computational hardware, and Negrut’s team has created simulations that can calculate all the collisions between 10 million bodies in as little as four seconds. His work to solve dynamics equations with parallel computers has broad applications, ranging from construction and military vehicle design to looking at the movement of atoms. His award comes with a $408,911 grant.

Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Brenda Ogle will develop a system to accurately analyze and sort cell fusion

products, or “hybrid” cells, and to use the system in conjunction with previously developed technologies to examine the effects of heterotypic cell fusion on hybrid cell function, both in vitro and in vivo. Stem cell fusion with somatic cells is a regulated process capable of promoting cell survival and differentiation and could be important in tissue development and repair or in disease pathogenesis. Ogle’s award totals $400,000.

FacUlTy hOnORswill take one required course, Where Science Meets Society, from the Holtz Center, and have academic advisors from Holtz and engineering.

The certificate is built around four academic tracks—ethics, leadership, design and general—on which students will build their own 16-credit program. “We want the students to own the education,” Russell says. “There are guidelines and suggestions, but what ultimately comes out of this is a theme developed by the student, with the help of faculty, to fit a vision.”

Elise Larson, a biomedical engineering under-graduate and certificate student, created a vision to understand the junction of engineering and art and to use trends in both fields to reflect

the human factor in engineering design. Larson fashioned a

group of courses in art history, studio drawing and material culture that will make her more aware of how her work as an engineer

is used, internalized and interpreted by society.Larson’s example demonstrates

what Russell hopes to see from the certificate—students combining courses that

give added definition and relevance to their professional goals. “We underachieve in the humanities and social sciences in the sense that many students look at them as requirements that must be satisfied—as we say, ‘check off the box’—as opposed to thinking about them in an intentional, integrated development perspective,” he says.

So far, students have entered the program with diverse interests, including ethical questions involving health and medicine, leadership skills and what it means to be an effective leader, and policy issues.

Russell notes that the intersection of engineering and art has long been recognized and says humanities disciplines challenge engineers with a different way of thinking.

“Think about the incredible amount of preparation, organization, creativity, movement, thought and execution that goes into a dance recital,” he says. “There are lots of similarities to engineering, but in a completely different context.”

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Jeffrey S. Russell: Inspiring engineers to think differently

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Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Kevin Turner is studying the underlying physics and mechanics of

adhesion during micro-transfer printing—a process that “prints” with solid materials rather than ink. A silicon stamp is designed with a smooth side that is used to pick up nano- or microstructures in a substrate and set them down in another substrate. Turner will research how to improve micro-transfer printing manufacturing techniques, which eventually could produce a host of innovative technologies as the process becomes more common. His award totals $430,000.

the Global Environment. Other courses include ECE 356: Electric Power Processing for Alternative Energy Systems, which fills the first day it

appears in the timetable. Another popular course, taught by Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Mike Oliva, delves into the challenge of zero-energy home design. Also on the list are courses on biorefining, electric power systems, and energy conversion technology.

Creativity and independence will shape the three- to six-credit capstone portion of the certificate, where students develop research or applied projects

around their own sustainability themes. “These types of opportunities are really important because our students learn faster when they are

engaged with real-world problems,” says Venkataramanan.

Mechanical engineering student Scott Tovsen is enrolled in the program. His interest in sustainability increased after watching the

global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth. His abilities

in math and science will enable him to develop useful innovations. “The

most interesting challenges relate to making the technology more efficient and cost-effective, because I believe that this is the main reason that sustainable technologies are not more widely used today,” he says. “I think that making the transition to sustainable technology can be very easy with a bit of good engineering and time.”

Venkataramanan says the certificate could be a stepping-stone to work in NGOs or nonprofit organizations devoted to sustainability. In the private sector, there is growth in the solar photovoltaics and wind energy economies. The field also is ripe for entrepreneurship and two of his graduate students are seeking venture capital interest in company ideas related to energy conversion and recycling.

The flexibility also enables UW-Madison students to explore how they might lead this cultural and technological change in ways they can’t imagine today. “We have the Wisconsin Idea and it’s an identity that students pick up on as they go through their experience here,” Venkataramanan says. “I think sustainability will be another part of that tradition.”

H aving lunch this summer at a

downtown Madison coffee shop, Giri Venkataramanan overheard an animated conversation among a group of graduate students about sustainability. That’s hardly surprising fodder for conversation in a major university town. But the group’s unique take on the subject grabbed Venkataramanan’s attention. “They turned out to be nutritional science students who were organizing a conference about the sustainability of the global food supply,” says the professor of electrical and computer engineering. “It really reinforced to me how much campus-wide interest there is in this topic—and how no one person can rightfully say what sustainability is or should be. Sus-tainability pervades everything.”

That sustainability, as a social ideal, can be so broadly applied might be its greatest strength from a scholarly perspective. It’s also the guiding force behind a new certificate program in sustainability. Developed by Venkataramanan, Chemical and Biological Engineering Associate Professor Thatcher Root and Energy Institute Director Paul Meier, it debuted in fall 2009 with the help of Engineering Beyond Boundaries funding.

Core themes in the 16-credit program include strategies for addressing carbon reduction and climate change, minimizing resource utilization, and developing restorative processes for land, water and air. “We modify the air, water and soil—we harvest it, we use it but we don’t always restore it and put it back in the same place,” he says. “To completely restore is impossible—there will always be some impact humans make but we can go much further in improving the cyclic processes that govern how we harvest and consume resources.”

The program begins with a robust list of 22 courses that can be applied to a certificate, but Venkataramanan expects it to grow and evolve with the field. One early example is a new fall 2009 course called Why We Conserve, taught by Associate Professor Tracey Holloway through the Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and

Giri Venkataramanan: Harnessing the

sustainability movement

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The Council of the National Academy of Sciences has named Industrial and Systems Engineering Professor Emeritus Stephen Robinson (top) and Steenbock Professor of Engineering Physics Ray Fonck (bottom) national associates

of the National Research Council of the National Academies. Robinson was a member of the National Research Council Board on Mathematical Sciences and Their Applications, and the National Research Council Committee on Modeling and Simulation for Defense Transformation. He currently is a member of the National Research Council Committee on Experimentation and Rapid Prototyping in Support of Counterterrorism. Fonck was a five-year member of the National Research Council Board on Physics and Astronomy, co-chair of the National Research Council Burning Plasma Assessment Committee, and a member of the National Research Council Fusion Science Assessment Committee.

John P. Morgridge Professor and E. David Cronon Professor of Computer Sciences and Electrical and Computer Engineering

Gurindar (Guri) Sohi was among 65 engineers and nine foreign associates elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2009. His research on high-performance computer system design has led to papers and patents that have influenced both research and commercial microprocessors.

Electrical and Computer Engineering Associate Professor Zhenqiang (Jack) Ma received a Presidential Early Career Award

for Scientists and Engineers in December 2008. Ma is a leader in flexible electronics, devices created with extremely thin sheets of semiconductors, called nanomembranes, only a few atoms thick.

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www.bme.wisc.edu

Fused cells promising for tissue regeneration

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BIomedIcaL enGIneerInG

T apping a leukemia virus for both inspiration and function, Assistant Professor Brenda Ogle and her collaborators are studying the biological effects of fusing adult stem cells with cardiac muscle cells, or cardiomyocytes. With funding from the National Institutes of Health, the researchers hope to learn more

about cell fusion processes and, ultimately, to use that knowledge to develop therapies for heart attack patients.During a heart attack, cardiomyocytes die. Afterward, the body replaces those cardiac muscle cells with fibroblasts,

cells that form scar tissue instead of muscle tissue. At best, says Ogle, the heart pumps inefficiently; at worst, it fails completely. Fused with cardiomyocytes, stem cells could help restore lost heart muscle function.

Researchers generally acknowledge that cell fusion happens, yet they have just begun to study the mechanisms through which stem cells fuse with mature cells, and how, genetically, they form a single, functional cell.

Viruses are “experts” at fusing with other cells. Ogle’s collaborators include virologists Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a professor of pathobiological sciences, and Stacey Schultz-Cherry, a visiting associate professor of medical microbiology, both of whom have extensively studied virus fusion proteins. Already, the researchers have shown that by adding a viral fusion protein to the stem cell, they can dramatically increase the incidence of fusion between stem cells and cardiomyocytes.

Now, looking at both cardiac and stem cell microenvironments, they are studying the fused cells’ phenotype, or observable characteristics. Drawing on Cardiology Professor Timothy Kamp’s expertise in cardiac electrophysiology, the group will examine the cells’ mechanical and electrical function, as well as their ability to proliferate. Finally, the researchers will induce an artificial infarction, or heart attack, in animals and inject stem cells expressing the fusion protein into the affected region to investigate how the cells engraft and to study their phenotype and function. Throughout the research, the team also will monitor the fused cells for uncontrolled proliferation. “If there is a way of controlling cell fusion, and if cell fusion is biologically relevant in a beneficial way, then it will have implications for tissue regeneration beyond myocardial infarction,” says Ogle.

Assistant Professor Brenda Ogle with PhD student Nicholas Kouris

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Currently, the team is studying statin effects on three-dimensional models that represent varying levels and types of heart-valve calcification. Someday, their realistic in vitro disease models could be useful for high-throughput drug screening.

While the researchers hope to learn how statins and other agents can stop or slow heart-valve disease, they also aim to increase their understanding of how cells become diseased.

Additionally, their knowledge could benefit people who are engineering healthy heart-valve tissue. “A lot of what we’re doing is identifying what not to put in your heart-valve culture,” says Masters.

and Laboratory Medicine Professor Andreas Friedl, Professor David Beebe, with Kevin Elicieri)

• Clinical assays for circulating tumor cell analysis (David Beebe, Medicine Associate Professor Doug McNeel, Medicine Assistant Professor Amye Tevaarwerk, with Mark Burkhard and Gleen Liu)

• Orthopedic implant surfaces for enhanced healing (Assistant Professor William Murphy, Orthopedics and Rehabilitation Associate Professors Richard Illgen and Ben Graf and Assistant Professor Matthew Squire, and Orthopedics and Rehabilitation and Veterinary Medicine Professor Mark Markel)

• A closed loop neural activity triggered stroke rehabilitation device (Assistant Professor Justin Williams, Radiology and Neurology Assistant Professor Vivek Prabhakaran, Senior Lecturer and Researcher Mitch Tyler, Neurology Assistant Professor Justin Sattin, with Dorothy Edwards)

Biomedical engineers, clinicians collaborate on translational research

The W.H. Coulter Translational Research Partnership in Biomedical Engineering

oversight committee has selected its fourth round of proposals for funding:

• Targeted, accelerated MR spectro-scopic imaging for treatment planning to maximize neural function in stroke patients (Medical Physics, Radiology & Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Sean Fain; Radiology Researcher Krishna Kurpad, with Josh Medow of neurosurgery)

• HYPRFLOW magnetic resonance angiography (Medical Physics, Radiology and Biomedical Engineering Professor Charles Mistretta; Radiology, Neurology and Neurological Surgery Professor Patrick Turski; Biomedical Engineering, Radiology and Medical Physics Associate Professor Walter Block; and Medical Physics Assistant Scientist Yijing Wu)

• Nonlinear optical histopathology for clinical use (Biomedical Engineering and Clinical Pharmacology Associate Professor Patricia Keely, Pathology

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Popular worldwide for their cholesterol-lowering effects, statin drugs also show promise for treating or preventing heart-valve disease. Yet, prominent recent research

both supports and refutes that claim. “Right now, it’s an area of great debate about statins and heart valves,” says Assistant Professor Kristyn Masters. “Do they stop the progression of heart valve disease or not?”

Masters, Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Kevin Turner, University of Pittsburgh Biomedical Engineering Professor Michael Sacks and their graduate students received nearly $1.7 million from the National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to study tissue disease processes. They are designing diseased heart- valve tissue in the lab and plan to use the tissue as a platform to learn whether they can prevent heart valve disease, stop its progression, or cure it.

Statins figure heavily into their research. Initially, the group created two-dimensional diseased tissue models. The researchers treated the cell cultures with agents that increase calcification in the models, and with statins they showed disease inhibition and even regression. “On a molecular level, we’re understanding a lot more about what’s happening to these cells as they’re becoming more calcified,” says Masters.

Based on their newfound knowledge of cell-signaling mechanisms, the researchers also identified other agents that, in theory, also could prevent, stop or slow heart valve calcification. “This may lead us toward potentially identifying other drug classes that may or may not exist right now,” says Masters.

Diseased tissue could provide clues to heart valve health

• Development of a biomimetic microlens array for improved medical imaging in lap-aroscopy and endoscopy (Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Hongrui Jiang, Surgery Associate Professors Jon Gould and Charles Heise, and postgrad trainee Carter Smith)

The Coulter Translational Research Partnership in Biomedical Engineering fosters early-stage collaborations between UW-Madison biomedical engineering researchers and practicing physicians. The collaborations will enable researchers to deliver advances more quickly to patients. The Biomedical Engineering Center for Translational Research promotes and facilitates these collaborative efforts.

The center develops partnerships, cultivates new translational research projects based on clinical practice needs, identifies and supports promising biomedical engineering collaborative research projects, and rapidly translates solutions into the clinic by fully using UW-Madison campus resources for technology transfer and commercialization.

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Interdisciplinary center facilitates connections via nanotechnology researchconduct basic research on communication and public opinion related to how lay audiences make sense of complex information conveyed through the Internet. An ambitious and unique education and outreach program cultivates the next generation of nanoscale science and engineering experts with diverse and interdisciplinary backgrounds.

“My faculty colleagues and I are very excited to have garnered the resources to continue to expand interdisciplinary research on campus, break down college and departmental barriers, provide shared facilities to internal and external users, build connections to regional industries through our advanced materials industrial consortium, offer opportunities for under-graduates in the research enterprise, and increase campus diversity,” says Milton J. and A. Maude Shoemaker Professor Paul Nealey, NSEC director.

Beyond borders: Puerto Rican partnership piques interest in science At UW-Madison, co-PIs on the effort are

NSEC Director and Milton J. and A. Maude Shoemaker Professor Paul Nealey and MRSEC Director and Howard Curler Distinguished Professor Juan de Pablo, while University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Chemical Engineering Professor Nelson Cardona Martinez directs the effort, with Chemistry Professor Juan López Garriga and University of Puerto Rico Cayey Chemistry Professor Luiz Fernandez Torres. “This partnership demonstrates that to preserve our long-standing relationship with partner institutions, including Puerto Rico, it is essential that we develop personal ties and professional connections to the new faculty at such institutions,” says de Pablo.

An essential component of the partnership relies on MRSEC Director of Education Greta Zenner and NSEC Education and Outreach Coordinator Andrew Greenberg. “This strategic partnership expands and strengthens our educational and outreach innovations to a much broader audience, reaching beyond Wisconsin and Puerto Rico,” says Nealey.

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Capitalizing on a long-standing relationship with the University of Puerto Rico, a research, educational and outreach initiative aims to broaden participation of underrepresented

groups in the science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, disciplines.To date, the Partnership for Research and Education in Materials has received $1.2

million in National Science Foundation (NSF) funding. It has now grown to include three University of Puerto Rico campuses: Mayaguez, Cayey and Rio Piedras. At UW-Madison, partners in the effort hail from two interdisciplinary NSF-funded centers, the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) on Nanostructured Interfaces and the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC).

Combining both experimental and theoretical approaches, these centers focus on developing and characterizing novel materials, such as beta-peptides and poly-beta-peptides, engineered nanoparticles, liquid crystals, and multifunctional nanoporous materials. Innovative applications for their research include developing antimicrobial agents, minimizing potential environmental effects of engineered nanoparticles, engineering liquid-crystal-based materials for chemical and biological sensing or cell-culture applications, and constructing nanostructured materials that can chemically transform sustainable biological feedstocks into fuels and specialty chemicals.

The partnership exposes kindergarten through 12th-grade students to state-of-the-art materials science via educational and outreach efforts that include the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Science on Wheels Educational Center. At the college level, the initiative includes programs that increase Hispanic and female undergraduate student participation in STEM disciplines and ultimately, in materials science and nanotechnology graduate programs and in the workforce. For young underrepresented and female faculty, the team has implemented a mentoring program that enhances their retention and success rate.

The UW-Madison Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC)

addresses grand challenges associated with directed assembly of nanoscale materials into functional systems and architectures through self-assembly, chemical patterning and external fields.

Recently, the National Science Foundation renewed NSEC funding for five years, bringing the total investment in nanotechnology at UW-Madison through this mechanism to nearly $30 million. On campus, more than 100 faculty, staff and students participate in NSEC activities.

The NSEC includes three interdisciplinary research teams. In the first, researchers explore new materials and processes to improve the performance of advanced materials using self-assembling block co-polymers. Another team studies directed assembly of synthesized biologically inspired organic nanostructures in which

functional side-chains display unique ordering, both in sequence along a back-bone and in three-dimensional arrangement in space. A third group explores, harnesses and uses non-equilibrium processes, including external fields, to manipulate nanoparticle and macromolecule assembly.

Outcomes of these transformative and interdisciplinary activities are to revolutionize nanomanufacturing and discovery and control of new materials and material architectures. Applications include, for example, data storage and integrated circuits, new materials with anti-fungal properties, development of optical mapping platforms for high-throughput analysis of entire genes, and development of liquid-crystal plasmonic-based sensors for toxicants and biomolecules.

NSEC research teams also investigate the biological effects and environmental fate of engineered nanoparticles and

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AExploiting E. coli for producing ethanol

giant vat of plant material covered in E. coli may not be appetizing, but it does

hold promise for producing abundant, renewable energy. The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) is supporting researchers in a variety of disciplines working to convert cellulosic biomass into advanced biofuels.

For two years, the GLBRC has funded Assistant Professors Christos Maravelias (left) and Jennifer Reed (right), who are developing computa-tional approaches to help increase the amount of ethanol that E. coli can produce.

Every plant synthesizes a type of carbohydrate called cellulose, making it the most abundant organic material

on the planet. Found in inedible parts of plants, cellulose is composed of a high-energy sugar called glucose, which can be fermented in tanks with E. coli or other bacteria. Enzymes in the bacteria break down glucose, producing ethanol as a byproduct of the fermentation process.

Reed’s and Maravelias’ models help narrow the field for researchers searching for an optimal ethanol-producing strain of E. coli. Reed and her team start by looking at the E. coli genome and identify the enzymes and the biochemical reactions particular enzymes can catalyze. She then models how cells re-route metabolism when particular enzymes are added or removed. Maravelias and his team are working to include regulatory networks into the models. Regulation determines which enzymes are expressed in certain conditions, such as increased or decreased oxygen environments, which in turn affect bacteria cell behavior.

Thousands of modified bacteria strains are possible, and Reed and Maravelias can make hypotheses about which strains would make the most ethanol. This narrowing of the field saves time and resources for their GLBRC collaborators experimenting with actual bacteria.

Reed says the partnership with GLBRC is mutually beneficial. “This is a great opportunity to work with people who are experts in microbiology and understand regulation and metabolism in E. coli,” she says.

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as climate changes, team explores new ways to manage stormwater

n recent years, climate change has sparked more intense rainfalls and severe floods—both of which have displaced residents and caused millions of dollars in damage across the United States and around the world.

Here in Wisconsin, Professor Ken Potter (left) views those events as an opportunity to engage stakeholders—people who design, regulate and manage water systems—in university research that could help them make more informed water-related decisions.

Potter is leading an interdisciplinary team of researchers who, in part, are analyzing climate model projections for Wisconsin to improve stormwater-related infrastructure design and management methods. Such infrastructure includes storm sewers, stormwater detention ponds, bridges, and wastewater treatment plants. “I think flooding problems are going to continue,” says Potter. “The public is very frustrated. They want to see things designed better. When things are underdesigned, it’s the homeowner who gets stuck.”

The team is combining traditional university-based research with regular meetings that seek input from water engineers, regulators and managers. Potter hopes this two-way problem-solving approach leads not only to positive policy and methods changes, but also establishes a roadmap for similar collaborative efforts across the country. “This interdisciplinary process ensures that we use leading-edge university research to develop relevant, up-to-date stormwater infrastructure design tools and strategies our stakeholders are willing and able to put into practice,” says Potter.

His collaborators include Engineering Professional Development Professor David Liebl (right), Agronomy and Environmental Studies Assistant Professor Chris Kucharik, and Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences Senior Scientist Stephen Vavrus and Assistant Scientist David Lorenz. A $247,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is funding the project.

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Middle East air quality study bridges borders and transcends science

An unprecedented effort to collect air pollution data in the Middle East

has united researchers in a region mired in conflict.

Scientists in Israel, Jordan and Palestine initiated the four-year project with funding through the U.S. Agency for International Development Middle East Regional Cooperation Program. Research partners included the Jordanian Society for Sustainable Development, Al-Quds University, and the Arava Institute of Environmental Studies. A world leader in developing tools to identify the sources of atmospheric aerosols and from the data, assess the effects on health, climate and the environment, Professor Jamie Schauer served as their advisor.

The study area spans three inter- national boundaries within an area the size of the Los Angeles air basin, and

Environmental road trip: Rating system to assess ‘green’ highways

Professors Tuncer Edil and Craig Benson are leading an effort they hope will turn many U.S. highways green. The team, which includes PhD student Jin Cheol Lee,

Professor Jeffrey Russell and Engineering Professional Development and CEE Assistant Professor Jim Tinjum, is developing a system to assess, rate and recognize highways based on their environmental impact. The researchers liken their rating system to the U.S. Green Building Council LEED certification for high-performance green buildings. “There is no such equivalent for highway systems,” says Edil.

The rating system will include “targets,” such as reduced construction-related greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and landfill waste. Assessors will score highways based on stormwater management practices and other environmental considerations, as well as life-cycle cost and recycled materials content. “We think that one way to have a major impact on improving the greenness of highways is to substitute recycled materials as much as possible,” says Edil.

For decades, he and Benson have studied industrial byproducts, including coal- combustion byproducts, foundry sand and slag, reclaimed asphalt shingles and pavements, scrap tires, and other materials for beneficial use in construction. A few years ago, with colleagues at the University of New Hampshire, the two established the Recycled Materials Resource Center, which focuses on increasing wise and safe use of recycled materials for transportation infrastructure. Among their advances, the researchers have studied recycled materials’ environmental effects and established their technical equivalencies to traditional construction materials. They have made technical recommendations for using such materials in highway construction to transportation agencies and are developing standards and specifications.

The researchers currently are developing software that will enable highway designers to compare the benefits of choosing standard or recycled materials. They hope the rating

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system will encourage innovation and environmentally sensitive practices in the road-building industry.

The team is developing the system in consultation with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Edil hopes departments of transportation nationwide will adopt it. “I think it’s going to encourage more use of recycled materials, resulting in sustainable construction and sustainable growth. This is our way of approaching sustainability, though highway construction,” he says.

Funding for the industrial byproducts research comes from a variety of sources, including the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the Wisconsin and Minnesota Departments of Transportation, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Electric Power Research Institute, the foundry and electric power industries, and byproducts marketing firms, among others.

mitigation. “The project was wildly successful in the sense that we’ve collected detailed chemical data about aerosols and particulate matter that has never been collected in the region before,” he says.

In addition, the project was personally meaningful for Schauer, who is deeply committed to sharing his tools and knowledge with researchers worldwide. “It’s amazing to be involved in research that transcends just science and engineering. The broader impacts of this study are beyond anything that I had anticipated to participate in within my research efforts,” he says.

has air-pollution levels that do not meet World Health Organization standards. In 11 locations, the researchers set up air-monitoring sites and collected samples every sixth day for a year. They chemically analyzed the samples and studied the data to identify and better understand particulate matter sources.

Schauer helped the researchers design the study, choose sampling devices, train staff to operate the sample collectors, develop chemical analysis strategies and quality-control measures, and analyze the data. He says the project goals were very focused on capacity-building and bringing the groups together.

From a scientific standpoint, Schauer says the research forged new ground and paved the way for future cooperation among Israel, Palestine and Jordan for environmental research and air-pollution

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Curved photodetectors sharpen images

New framework yields robust circuits

new generations of powerful integrated circuits, which drive most electronic devices, are produced every few years, and in each generation, the circuit components

become smaller and smaller. The ever-decreasing size of components presents new design challenges for developers that can result in fabrication imperfections, especially as circuit components approach the nanoscale and become less tolerant of these imperfections. The low tolerance may mean the variations in the performance level could be too significant, making the circuits difficult to mass-produce and send to market for use in products ranging from computers and cell phones to television sets and cars.

Correcting imperfections is difficult because circuits include as many as billions of tiny components that may execute billions of commands per second—meaning developers are challenged to pinpoint exactly where and when imperfections occur. It is important, then, to prevent manufacturing imperfections early in the design process.

Assistant Professor Azadeh Davoodi has developed a mathematical framework for fabricating integrated circuits that are robust with respect to manufacturing imperfections. The framework gives developers a chance to prevent some imperfections before even creating a prototype, which could improve the integrated design process overall. Her framework is unique because it requires very little information about the manufacturer’s processes to make robust predictions. Often, manufacturers do not keep or release detailed data on their processes, and the new framework will allow designers to create circuits with fewer manufacturing errors—without knowing details about those errors.

In the next year, Davoodi plans to expand her research to creating “debugging” tools that could reduce the number of circuit prototypes developers have to create. Davoodi will research the root causes of component failures and generate predictions about future failures. This work could help developers more quickly advance circuit designs to mass fabrication. A grant from the National Science Foundation supports Davoodi’s research.

Professor Zhenqiang (Jack) Ma, Erwin W. Mueller and Bascom Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Max Lagally and University of Michigan Professor Pallab

Bhattacharya have developed a flexible light-sensitive material that could revolutionize photography and other imaging technologies.

When a device records an image, light passes through a lens onto a photodetector array— a light-sensitive material like the sensor in a digital camera. However, a lens bends the light and curves the focusing plane. In a digital camera, the point where the focusing plane meets the flat sensor is in focus, but the image becomes more distorted the farther it is from that focal point. That’s why some photos can turn out looking like images in a funhouse mirror. High-end digital cameras correct this problem by incorporating multiple panes of glass to refract light and flatten the focusing plane. However, such lens systems—like the mammoth telephoto lenses sports photographers use—are large, bulky and expensive. Even high-quality lenses stretch the edges of an image somewhat.

Inspired by the human eye, Ma’s curved photodetector could eliminate that distortion. In the eye, light enters though a single lens, but at the back of the eye, the image falls upon the curved retina, eliminating distortion. “If you can make a curved imaging plane, you just need one lens,” says Ma. “That’s why this development is extremely important.”

The team creates curved photodetectors with specially fabricated nanomembranes— extremely thin, flexible sheets of germanium, a very light-sensitive material often used in high-end imaging sensors. Researchers then can apply the nanomembranes to any polymer substrate, such as a thin, flexible piece of plastic. Currently, the group has demonstrated photodetectors curved in one direction. Ma plans next to develop hemispherical sensors.

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A The Vestas/UW-Madison partnership already yielded a major grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for developing a new wind energy curriculum. In addition to Jahns, Professors Chris DeMarco (right) and Giri Venkataramanan (center), and Associate Professor Bernie Lesieutre and Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences Assistant Professor Ankur Desai are participating in this initiative.

“The Vestas partnership is an exciting addition to the range of energy research and education at the college,” says Dean Paul Peercy. “Once we solve energy storage issues, wind power could supply as much as 20 percent of the nation’s energy needs by 2030. Our students will be highly motivated to participate in this growth industry.”

vestas partnership powers wind energy research

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recent partnership between the College of Engineering and Vestas, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines, promises to propel wind energy research and education at UW-Madison. Under the partnership,

which began in spring 2009, Vestas will provide funding to support as many as 10 graduate and undergraduate students working on wind technology projects. The company also is establishing a research and development office in Madison that will enable its researchers to work with faculty and students to conduct sponsored research projects and assist with technology transfer.

“Wind energy is a rapidly growing source of new power generation around the world,” says Professor Thomas Jahns (left), who co-directs the Wisconsin Power Electronics Research Center and helped establish the partnership. “Key partnerships such as this one provide win-win opportunities for our faculty, students and industry partners to accelerate the development of advanced wind power technology.”

Vestas plans to support professorships at UW-Madison that will encourage innovative research and development of new curriculum materials in the alternative energy field. The ultimate objective is to use this new partnership as a foundation for launching a new multidisciplinary research center focused on integrating wind power and other renewable energy sources into the electric utility grid.

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The eyes have it: analysis improves artificial lens design

D uring cataract surgery, an ophthalmologist generally replaces a cloudy lens with

an artificial one that—in theory—should help a patient see more clearly.

Made of plastic, acrylic or silicone and available in either flexible or rigid varieties, current artificial lenses aren’t designed to mimic natural lens function. Consequently, patients gain unobstructed vision but require glasses to help them focus on objects up close.

The problem has bothered medical doctor Gerald Clarke for some time. Based in Appleton, Wisconsin, Clarke and

colleagues own OptiVision Laser Centers and offer eye-care services, including LASIK vision-correction and cataract surgeries, in three Wisconsin cities.

About five years ago, Clarke developed a biomimetic artificial lens design, which takes into account the way eye muscles control lens curvature to adjust focus. He submitted a patent application for the design and asked Professor James Blanchard (left) and Researcher Carl Martin (right) to evaluate it before he prototypes it.

The two are conducting a finite-element analysis, but the process is anything but straightforward. Optics researchers lack a clear understanding of eye muscle forces, so Blanchard and Martin are applying assumed forces in their calculations. In addition, Clarke’s design incorporates a silicone oil “pocket” in the center of a solid lens, and few researchers have experience in finite-element models of materials that combine liquids and solids. Blanchard and Martin, however, recently applied similar techniques in a study of safe nuclear reactor design.

Although their analysis of Clarke’s lens is still underway, Blanchard’s and Martin’s initial calculations showed there’s room for

improvement. “We’ve already made some design decisions based on what they’ve showed us,” says Clarke.

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Nuclear research and development earns major DOE support

Fusion researchers demonstrate self-organizing plasmagoes around the torus and one that goes up,” he says. “The magnetic field lines are like a helix—they just spiral up from the bottom of the machine to the top.”

Using the plasma torches, the group injects current from below, along those helical magnetic field lines. The current spirals up and hits the top of the machine. Under appropriate conditions, it becomes unstable and naturally collapses into a lower-energy state. “The lowest-energy state under those conditions is a standard tokamak plasma,” says Fonck. “So, the plasma organizes itself into a tokamak, which is a relatively complex system.”

It stays that way until the group turns off the current, he says.

The technique has become one of the group’s main focus areas. Locally, it provides a path for the researchers to deliver current to Pegasus and someday achieve the high-pressure plasmas they’re aiming for. Globally, the technique may scale up to full-size reactors. “That’s a big deal in the international spherical tokamak community,” says Fonck.

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The lens design, shown in two halves

reactors under development will operate much more efficiently, but at the same time, must withstand higher temperatures, pressures and radiation ranges. Research in these and other areas lays the groundwork for building more efficient reactors over the next 20 years.

“The Wisconsin Institute of Nuclear Systems and the faculty and staff involved in the funded projects are uniquely positioned to provide both basic science and applied engineering research studies for generation IV nuclear reactor technologies and their associated materials and fuel cycle development,” says Wisconsin Distinguished Professor Michael Corradini.

The research projects fall primarily under two DOE thrusts: the advanced fuel-cycle initiative and next-generation nuclear plant/generation IV nuclear systems. The research includes studies of nuclear fuels and fuel coatings, nuclear waste separation technology, reactor analysis, reactor cooling technologies, advanced reactor concepts, and advanced reactor materials.

Researchers involved in the projects include Associate Professor Todd Allen, Senior Scientist Mark Anderson, Research Associate Guoping Cao, Materials Science & Engineering Professor Emeritus Y. Austin Chang, Professor Michael Corradini, Professor Wendy Crone, Assistant Professor Dane Morgan (also materials science & engineering), Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Greg Nellis, Distinguished Research Professor Kumar Sridharan, Assistant Professor Izabela Szlufarska (also materials science & engineering), Adjunct Professor Tim Tautges, Associate Professor Paul Wilson and Research Associate Yong Yang.

When Steenbock Professor Ray Fonck and his students built Pegasus, a tokamak-

style, or donut-shaped, fusion science experiment nearly 12 years ago, they hoped

it would show the potential of a very-low-aspect-ratio design that may allow researchers to develop smaller fusion systems in the future.

Now, they have demonstrated a technique that enables them to start Pegasus and create a stable plasma without using a solenoid. “There’s always

been a need to find a way to start these tokamak plasmas without inductive current

from a solenoid magnet down the center, and to hold them together without inductive current

drive,” says Fonck.The researchers published details of their advance

in the June 5, 2009, issue of Physical Review Letters. They refer to their method as “lighting the match.” The method, which

incorporates a plasma torch developed by UW-Madison physics researchers, addresses limits on magnetic field capacity in low-aspect-ratio tokamaks and could scale up to some of the world’s largest tokamak experiments.

For its method, Fonck’s group turns on the magnetic field that encircles Pegasus around the long, toroidal direction. Next, the researchers turn on the vertical magnetic field that holds the plasma in place—somewhat like how a tire confines an inner tube. “And so you end up with a magnetic field that spirals, because it’s got a component that

W ith more than $5 million in U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

funding, UW-Madison engineers are leading 10 cutting-edge research projects that will advance next-generation nuclear energy technologies.

Under the Nuclear Energy University Program, the DOE awarded three-year funding to 71 projects at 31 U.S. universities. In addition to their lead role on 10 projects, UW-Madison engineers are collaborating with Texas A&M University on two other projects.

According to the DOE, advanced nuclear technologies research and development is key to addressing the global climate crisis and moving the nation toward greater use of nuclear energy.

Nuclear reactors are a near-zero-carbon energy source. The advanced

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Assessment will help international company train the ‘ideal’ energy engineer

Founded nearly 125 years ago and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Johnson Controls Inc. is a global leader in automotive interior systems, building efficiency, and

power solutions. Also a global leader in energy efficiency and sustainability, the company has an aggressive growth strategy that calls for scores of specially trained energy engineers. Yet, demand for these project development engineers far outpaces the current and projected supply, says Suzanne Sherry, director for learning and development for the Johnson Controls North America Building Efficiency business. “Compounding the shortage of engineers is the dynamic state of engineering,” she says. “Rapidly changing technologies, new methods and emerging discoveries require frequent ‘retooling’ of the workforce.”

With the company’s professional education needs in mind, Sherry and her team collaborated with Faculty Associate Tom Smith and Associate Faculty Associate Carl Vieth on a study that could increase Johnson Controls’ understanding of the “ideal” energy engineer’s core knowledge, behaviors and skills.

Smith and Vieth conducted a needs assessment and identified eight key performance attributes: personal effectiveness, academic preparation, technical knowledge, business acumen, leadership, innovation, managing change, and ability to work globally. “What we’re providing is an independently validated model that Johnson Controls can use to determine training needs,” says Vieth, who is EPD director of corporate education.

The assessment results will provide Johnson Controls with a baseline of where the entire project development engineer group currently resides in relation to the model UW-Madison has constructed, says Sherry. “Johnson Controls will collaborate with EPD to design and develop a curriculum path to assist the project development engineer organization in achieving its goals,” she says.

ike giant flowers with sleek, breeze-ruffled petals, wind turbines have multiplied in recent years on landscapes across the country. U.S. government leaders are committed to continuing that growth, pledging some $3 billion in July 2009 for renewable-energy projects they hope will stimulate the economy and double alternative-energy production by 2012.

Wind power will play a major role in this expansion, and with its newly announced suite of wind-energy courses for engineers, utility employees, contractors and technicians, UW-Madison is poised to train the people who will design, site, build and maintain wind farms. “They’re out there, they’re practicing, they’re shifting from other areas in engineering and construction into this— and they need the training,” says Assistant Professor James Tinjum (below, left).

With startup funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, the new courses build on a successful existing offering that largely covers electrical engineering aspects of wind energy. Assistant Faculty Associate Mitch Bradt (below, right) leads the course Fundamentals of Wind Power Plant Design, which culminates with a tour of a Wisconsin wind farm.

He and Tinjum will develop and program the new courses. The first, scheduled for November 2009, will cover civil engineering aspects of wind energy project design and construction. Featuring 16 national experts in areas ranging from engineering and construction to law and government policy, the course will tackle wind energy from a broad range of perspectives.

Designed for industry professionals, a second course will teach attendees how to evaluate and plan wind energy sites, while a third—delivered via webinar—will address wind farm and wind turbine operations and maintenance.

In addition, Tinjum and Civil and Environmental Engineering Assistant Professor James Schneider will develop and teach a three-credit, semester-long design course for undergraduate and

Wind courses fuel green economy

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Capitalizing on technology: Multitude of courses engages and educates distance learners

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graduate students. The class capitalizes on Schneider’s expertise in foundations and Tinjum’s experience in civil design and will include guest lecturers discussing wind energy project design, construction and operation.

Overall, the offerings highlight a growing area of expertise in wind energy at UW-Madison. Several electrical and computer engineering faculty also actively pursue wind-related research and, in April 2009, entered into a long-term research, development

and educational partnership with leading wind-power technology company Vestas. “We are good at addressing the multidisciplinary aspects of wind energy,” says Tinjum.

“We cover all the bases.”

At UW-Madison, a busy practicing engineer can receive the “right” distance education in as little as a couple of hours or as long as a few years, with myriad options between.

Building on several successful, internationally recognized distance-degree programs, the department is increasing the number and variety of educational offerings for students in Madison and around the world.

“We’re rapidly using some of our existing platforms and tools and reconfiguring those into a more digitally friendly learning environment,” says Associate Faculty Associate Carl Vieth, director of corporate education. “From what we hear from our customers, that’s going to be much more where we need to be. And it allows us to serve more people.”

For the shortest educational time frame, one-hour webcast courses cover a specific technical topic. Divided into a series of one- or two-hour sessions totaling about 20 hours, short courses at a distance explore a topic in more depth and combine webcast, teleconferencing and videoconferencing technologies with self-directed readings and problem-solving exercises.

Recorded in on-campus classrooms, credit courses at a distance mirror the structure and flow of campus courses such as those in power engineering, polymer engineering or biomedical engineering. Some 250 students annually enroll in credit courses at a distance, which fill a particular educational need or combine into an entire degree program.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2009, the Master of Engineering in Professional Practice distance-degree program has received numerous national and international awards. Nearly 250 students have graduated from this two-year program, which offers a blend of technical and management expertise and prepares them for engineering leadership roles. A 2009 United States Distance Learning Association best practice award recipient, the Master of Engineering in Engine Systems is a three-year applied degree program for early- to mid-career engineers who work in the internal-combustion engine industry. For more than 30 years, students have studied technical Japanese through UW-Madison, and those who enroll in the Master of Engineering in Technical Japanese distance-education program can complete the degree at their own pace, from any location.

Vieth cites these programs’ success as evidence students can complete technically rigorous courses online. He says distance opportunities will continue to play a key role in educating students at all levels. “I think the requirements of the current and future economic environment will necessitate that not only EPD, but the campus, really think about how to engage learners in different ways, using technology,” he says. “We’re in good shape here in EPD, looking forward.”

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InduSTrIaL and SySTemS enGIneerInG

Selling a product isn’t the only way manufacturers can generate income. Many also rely heavily on revenue from after-sale service plans, which are maintenance plans

to prevent and fix product malfunctions. After-sale service care can make up as much as 50 to 70 percent of a company’s total revenue, and accurate tools to help manufacturers develop appropriate maintenance schedules are crucial. Associate Professor Shiyu Zhou is researching fundamental, cost-efficient methodologies for manufacturers to deliver optimal after-sale service care to their customers.

Zhou has developed techniques for GE Healthcare to help the company conduct after-sale service for complex medical equipment such as MRI or CT machines. These types of machines generate data logs that record everything that happens, from turning on the machine and taking an image to a critical failure in a specific mechanical component. Zhou, in collaboration with University of Iowa Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Assistant Professor Yong Chen, encodes the data from those logs into a mathematical model that can predict a failure. The prediction allows maintenance technicians to either prevent the failure or have a spare part on hand to quickly repair the machine when a failure occurs.

The specific model Zhou has developed is a kind of survival model, which is a statistical technique widely used in reliability engineering. The model can quantitatively describe the relationship between non-failure events, called benign events, and critical failure events recorded in the logs. Manufacturers often assume that benign physical events affect machine failures, and Zhou’s research has proven this to be true. Supported by the National Science Foundation and GE Healthcare, Zhou is currently working to improve the model to identify the exact benign events that affect prediction accuracy. He is also working to identify optimal maintenance strategies based on the model’s predictions.

Facilitating trust between virtual and local ICUs

o woman wants to hear a radiologist say an abnormality has been spotted on her

mammogram, but if an abnormality is present, many radiologists recommend a biopsy. A final determination on whether the abnormality is cancerous can take weeks—an agonizing amount of time for a woman and her family.

Assistant Professor Oguzhan Alagoz is working to give radiologists more information that could alleviate some of this distress and prevent unnecessary biopsies. In collaboration with Radiology Associate Professor Elizabeth Burnside, Alagoz has created diagnostic models that produce a prob-ability of cancer based on a woman’s individual attributes and risk factors.

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For a nurse monitoring patients in an intensive care unit, or ICU, an extra pair of eyes is likely welcome—even if those eyes belong to a doctor or nurse in another room.A virtual ICU is a room either on-site at a hospital or in another hospital or company,

where physicians and nurses monitor computer screens displaying information about patients. Virtual ICU physicians and nurses, who have critical care certification and experience, are connected to patients via video and audio feeds that allow them to carefully watch patients 24 hours a day and alert local ICU staff of any changes. Virtual ICUs, which have emerged in the last decade, act as a supplement to local hospital ICU staff members. Approximately 300 virtual ICUs exist and are connected to more than 2,000 ICUs nationwide.

As the technology continues to gain popularity, virtual ICU producers and users are asking questions about how best to integrate virtual ICUs with local ICUs, especially when one virtual ICU serves multiple hospitals. Procter & Gamble Bascom Professor in Total Quality Pascale Carayon is researching this issue in collaboration with Associate Professor Doug Wiegmann, Professor of Medicine Ken Wood and Research Scientist Peter Hoonakker.

Supported by the National Science Foundation, Carayon and her team from the Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement are gathering data from five virtual ICUs about how virtual and local ICU staff develop trust and share information about ICU patients. Carayon and her team have developed a software tool that monitors ICU tasks, and the team will interview nurses and virtual ICU managers to learn how patient care decisions are made, how the two staffs manage conflict and whether nurses believe patient care is what it should be.

After the data are gathered, the team will evaluate how the use of virtual ICUs can be improved. Examples could include having the virtual and local ICU staffs meet in person or making video and audio feeds two-way to further facilitate communication.

www.engr.wisc.edu/ie

Encoding events improves product service

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Breast cancer prediction tool personalizes treatment Using this model, a radiologist could tell a woman that the abnormality has, for

example, a 10 percent chance of being cancerous, so if the woman is advised to undergo a biopsy, she will understand the realistic likelihood of cancer.

Supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, Alagoz’s model goes beyond calculating cancer probability and actually helps radiologists determine whether to recommend a biopsy. The model relies on sequential decision techniques, which account for decisions that are made multiple times and have a cascading effect, such as an abnormal mammogram prompting a woman to have another mammogram in six months. The model has shown that in general, radiologists recommend far more biopsies and short term follow-ups than necessary, especially for older women, who are more at risk for biopsy complications than are younger women.

Alagoz’s overall objective is to expose medical researchers to engineering tools and techniques to help clinicians tackle complex healthcare issues. Along with the breast cancer model, Alagoz is also researching optimal, personalized screening schedules for women and why certain demographics of women suffer from higher breast cancer mortality rates.

Additionally, Alagoz has begun to develop models for colorectal cancer screening, and, like his breast cancer research, he will investigate how often and with which technologies screenings should be conducted.

“My models will help clinicians provide both evidence-based and personalized medicine,” says Alagoz. “We have to remove inefficiencies from the healthcare system, and I think industrial engineering can play a big role in that. We can truly make a difference.”

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Radiology Associate Professor Elizabeth Burnside, ISyE Assistant Professor Oguzhan Alagoz, and students Mehmet Ulvi Saygi Ayvaci and Turgay Ayer

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www.engr.wisc.edu/msemaTerIaLS ScIence and enGIneerInG

The proton moves through the device while the electron is forced to travel in an external circuit, where it can perform useful work. At the other side of the fuel cell (the cathode) the protons, electrons and oxygen are combined to form water, which is the only waste product.

The degradation of the catalyst used to aid the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen is one of the hurdles in producing commercial fuel cells. Current fuel cells use platinum and platinum alloys as a catalyst, but the metal is expensive and not very abundant. To maximize platinum use, researchers use catalysts made with metal nanoparticles, sometimes only a couple of nanometers in diameter. These tiny structures have a lot of surface area to aid the fuel cell reaction.

Smaller isn’t always better: Catalyst simulations could lower fuel cell cost

Assistant Professor Dane Morgan and Materials Science Program PhD

student Edward Holby have found that smaller isn’t always better. Morgan is researching how particle size relates to the overall stability of materials, and he has developed a computational model to help reduce catalyst degradation, an important step in making fuel cells a viable, widespread technology.

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that facilitate a reaction between oxygen and hydrogen, producing electrical power and forming water. In the type of fuel cells Morgan is researching, called proton exchange membrane fuel cells, or PEMFCs, hydrogen is split into a proton and electron at one side of the fuel cell (the anode).

Permanently polarized materials: Potential power for tiny devices

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However, platinum catalysts this small degrade very quickly. This means the fuel cell doesn’t last long, and current estimates project that fuel cells have to function for 5,000 hours to be practical. Morgan’s model shows that if the particle size of a platinum catalyst is increased to 4 or 5 nanometers, which is still only approximately 20 atoms across, the level of degradation significantly decreases. This means the catalyst and the fuel cell as a whole can continue to function for much longer.

Morgan is working in collaboration with Professor Yang Shao-Horn from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 3M and the U.S. Department of Energy fund the model, which will be especially useful to scientists exploring platinum alloy catalysts.

Assistant Professor Michael Arnold

For his PhD at Georgia Institute of Technology, Assistant Professor Xudong Wang created a piezoelectric nanogenerator that potentially could run small devices. Now

at UW-Madison, Wang is continuing his work by researching a new material that could make the nanogenerator more powerful and efficient.

Wang’s nanogenerator currently is composed of zinc oxide nanowires that produce 10 nanowatts per square centimeter with a very low efficiency. With support from the National Science Foundation, Wang is now developing ferroelectric materials that could produce nanowires with 10 times the electric potential of the original zinc oxide ones. The increase occurs because the crystal of a ferroelectric material is made of spatially unbalanced atoms that produce automatic, permanent polarization in the material. When Wang introduces strain inside this unbalanced crystal, the polarization is enhanced, creating a significant electric potential.

This high electrical potential could convert mechanical energy from sources as varied as wind, car engines, breathing or body movements into electricity that could then power a small device. Very little mechanical energy would be needed to power the new nanogenerator because even a small amount of displacement has a large effect at the nanoscale—a theory Wang intends to prove in his lab.

Fabricating the new nanowires is more challenging than fabricating zinc oxide nano-wires. To grow the new materials, Wang uses chemical vapor deposition, which involves vaporizing a source material in a furnace and condensing it over a substrate, and hydrothermal techniques, which involve mixing and sealing crystals in a water solution and heating the solution until it decomposes into the desired crystal.

Despite the complicated processes, Wang has confidence in the new nanowires, each one of which is 10,000 times smaller than a human hair. “The goal is to make a real nano- device to power things like microelectromechanical systems, transistors, biomedical devices, sensors or robots,” he says. “The new generator could serve as an unlimited battery.”

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harvesting sunlight with carbon nanotubes

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new alternative energy technology relies on the element most associated with climate change: carbon. Assistant Professor Michael Arnold (above) is researching how to create inexpensive, efficient solar cells from carbon nano-tubes, which are 1-nanometer sheets of carbon rolled into seamless cylinders. Many researchers are studying how

to use nanotubes for mechanical and electronics applications, but Arnold is one of the first to apply them to solar energy.“We are developing new materials and methods to create scalable, inexpensive, stable and efficient photovoltaic solar-cell

technologies,” Arnold says. “Semiconducting carbon nanotubes have remarkable electronic and optical properties that are ideally suited for photovoltaics, so this is a good starting point.”

Carbon is a promising choice for solar cells because it is an abundant element, and carbon nanotubes have excellent electrical conductivity and strong optical absorptivity. Most current solar cells use silicon, which converts 10 to 30 percent of sunlight absorbed into electricity. This is a good rate, but silicon cells are expensive. Arnold hopes to achieve comparable efficiency for less cost.

To create the new solar cells, Arnold and his students grow nanotube structures and then separate the useful semi-conducting nanotubes from undesirable metallic ones. During the process, they wrap the tubes in a polymer to make them soluble and put them into a solution, which they can spray in a thin film onto transparent indium-tin-oxide coated glass substrates. Then, they deposit an electron-accepting semiconductor and a negative electrode on top of the nanotubes to complete the entire cell.

Arnold, who is funded by the National Science Foundation, is currently studying how charge is generated in the nanotubes in response to light and how different electron-accepting materials affect the efficiency and speed of the separation of that charge.

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www.engr.wisc.edu/memecHanIcaL enGIneerInG

Wii remote as an infrared camera to project text onto any surface, enabling people in wheelchairs to more easily read.

In addition to devices that improve daily life for people with disabilities, Martin and his students also design recreational technologies to enhance quality of life. Their projects include an advanced lightweight, modular wheelchair with a hybrid power system and airbags that could go as fast as 18 miles per hour and a sit-ski used in the 2009 American Birkebeiner national cross-country ski race.

“The objective of our work at UW-Madison is to enhance the interaction between the person and the technology so that the tech- nology will in fact allow a person more choice than they’d have without it,” Martin says.

Multi-university alliance helps STEM students with disabilities

Enabling choice for people with disabilities is at the core of Professor Jay Martin’s work with the Midwest Alliance. People with disabilities are severely underrepresented in

science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields due to perceptions that STEM work is not accessible. To address this issue, three universities are working together to brainstorm system changes that will enable students with disabilities to make informed choices about careers in STEM fields.

The collaboration among UW-Madison, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Northern Iowa is known as the Midwest Alliance. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the collaboration began in 2005 and is the fourth project of its kind in the country. Since the alliance formed, it has offered mentoring, internship and placement support, and enrichment camps to students with disabilities in Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois.

Martin originally joined the collaboration to provide a technological perspective. Martin, who is also the director of the UW Center for Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology, has been the principal investigator for the Midwest Alliance since 2007.

His extensive experience in designing devices for people with disabilities complements the accessible systems and services expertise of the other alliance partners. One recent project he and his students developed is a reading device that uses a Nintendo

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From left: Assistant Professor David Rothamer, Grainger Professor of Sustainable Energy Jaal Ghandhi and Associate Professor Scott Sanders

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‘Laser tweezer’ could assemble the semiconductors of the future nanomembranes are thin, tiny building

blocks that can be moved and assembled by a laser beam that acts like a tiny construction crane—a process called optical trapping or “laser tweezing.” Assistant Professor Ryan Kershner is developing innovative optical trapping techniques to manipulate large-area planar objects with sub-nanometer precision. These techniques could pave the way for a variety of new devices.

Kershner is experimenting with tiny glass beads that he can move and attach by an infrared beam to a nano-membrane suspended in fluid. The attached bead is easier to manipulate than directly moving the nanomembranes

because the silicon membrane scatters the beam of light—a phenomenon that has not yet been explained by optical trapping research.

Kershner is currently working with a silicon nanomembrane developed by Erwin W. Mueller Professor and Bascom Professor of Materials Science & Engineering Max Lagally and his team. Once the bead is attached, Kershner can move the nanomembrane via two techniques: He can fix the bead at the focus of one laser beam and use a second holographically generated beam to move the membrane around it, or he can produce a hologram that makes and controls an array of laser beams that manipulate the membrane in multiple ways.

Kershner’s team uses the array technique to control and manipulate the membranes in three dimensions. To control the laser, Kershner and his students designed an optics system that directs a fiber laser to a spatial light modulator (SLM) and generates a hologram, which controls how the light is propagated in three dimensions. The light is then reflected off the SLM into the microscope where Kershner guides it to the nanomembranes.

Traditionally, laser tweezers are used as a sensitive measurement tool, but Kershner has expanded their use to assembling objects for a variety of potential applications, including nanostructured films, semiconductors, electronics and biological sensors.

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a new view of internal combustion leader in spark ignition and diesel engine research, the renowned UW-Madison Engine Research Center (ERC) includes seven faculty and almost 60 students whose research ranges from in-cylinder

combustion, fluid mechanics and heat transfer to engine aftertreatment systems. One major area of research in the ERC is optical diagnostics, and three ERC

faculty members are using lasers to “view” internal combustion—a traditionally invisible process that is, in many ways, not well understood. Essentially, fuel enters the engine cylinder and burns, producing work and some unintended gaseous emissions. However, researchers don’t know exactly what happens to the fuel during this process since it’s difficult to see inside a cylinder during combustion.

A better understanding of the combustion process could make it possible to design more efficient, low-emission engines. Using advanced laser diagnostics and optical engines—which include parts made from sapphire and fused silica—Grainger Professor of Sustainable Energy Jaal Ghandhi, Associate Professor Scott Sanders and Assistant Professor David Rothamer are obtaining detailed measurements that offer new insights into the combustion process.

One of their approaches is planar laser-sheet imaging, in which they “stretch” a laser beam into a sheet and pass it through a quartz ring that forms part of the engine cylinder. A camera fixed outside the engine images via a mirror and window in the piston as the combustion happens.

They also apply tomographic imaging, a technique widely used in medical imaging. Numerous beams from a custom-built laser (above) form a grid within the engine cylinder, and advanced computers subsequently reconstruct images from the multi-beam data. In addition, the group uses high-speed visualization

techniques to view the natural light from the combustion process and understand its macroscopic properties.

Using these approaches, the group investigates engine processes by measuring gas composition, velocity and temperature, as well as liquid fuel and solid soot properties within the engine cylinder. Currently, their focus areas include ultra-high-resolution imaging and developing novel approaches for temperature imaging using ceramic phosphorescent nanoparticles.

The professors say their work benefits from collaboration with the entire ERC. “We can compare our optical measurements to computations by other ERC faculty and increase the fidelity of available computational models,” says Rothamer.

Sanders agrees. “Our optical work, coupled with the capabilities of the entire ERC, makes us a unique package unlike any other American university,” he says.

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InTerdIScIpLInary deGree proGramS

Mark Anderson (Chair)Water Science & Engineering Laboratory

660 N. Park St.Madison, WI 53706

Tel: 608/263-3264—Fax: 608/262-0454mcpossin@wisc.edu

www.engr.wisc.edu/interd/ect Environmental Chemistry and Technology

This interdepartmental graduate program offers both an MS and PhD. Participating departments include civil and environmental engineering (primary department), chemical and biological engineering, chemistry, soil science, and geology and geophysics. Program activities are centered in the Water Science and Engineering Lab on Lake Mendota, where researchers examine the applications of chemistry to problems in environmental and engineering systems.

The program has four areas of specialization: aquatic chemistry, which studies the chemical processes in lakes, rivers and watersheds, and organic chemicals, trace metals and nutrient elements; environmental technology, which studies the application of chemistry and biotechnology to development of technologies for water and air treatment, sensors, and energy-storage devices; air-pollution chemistry, which studies sources, characterization, reactions and fate of air pollutants, as well as air-water interactions; and terrestrial chemistry, which studies chemical and biogeochemical processes in soils and sediments and their influences on land-water and air-water interactions.

Graduates from this program are prepared for a variety of careers, including teaching, research, pollution control, and resource management.

Tuncer B. Edil (Chair)2228 Engineering Hall

1415 Engineering Dr.Madison, WI 53706

Tel: 608/262-3491—Fax: 608/263-2453gle@engr.wisc.edu

www.engr.wisc.edu/interd/gep Geological Engineering Program

Geological engineering integrates two disciplines: geology and engineering. Geologists study the earth—its origins, composition and evolution. Engineers apply scientific principles to practical ends. Geological engineers help solve earth-related technical problems while protecting the environment.

Although housed in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Geological Engineering Program (GLE) relies on faculty in the College of Engineering, geology and geophysics (College of Letters and Science), and soil science (College of Agricultural and Life Sciences). Specific areas of study include designing structure foundations in soil and rock, dams, tunnels and other caverns; mitigating hazards such as earthquakes, landslides and coastal erosion; and protecting the environment through proper waste disposal, remediation of contaminated groundwater and sites, erosion control and groundwater quality maintenance. GLE offers an accredited BS degree. It also offers MS and PhD programs.

Graduates are prepared for employment with consulting firms, the petroleum industry, federal and state labs and agencies, and others. Most will spend part of their time working outdoors enjoying nature. GLE students can opt for a second major in geology, since required GLE geology credits often satisfy the BS degree in geology. Graduates are eligible for professional engineer and professional geologist licensing.

Chin H. Wu (Chair)Center for Limnology

680 N. Park St.Madison, WI 53706

Tel: 608/263-3264—Fax: 608/262-0454mcpossin@wisc.edu

www.engr.wisc.edu/interd/limnology Limnology and Marine Science Program

UW-Madison is recognized worldwide as a leader in limnology and aquatic ecology. The program continues the university’s 100-year tradition of research on lake ecosystems by combining research and teaching from several fields and departments to develop a greater understanding of oceans and inland waters—their origins, inhabitants, phenomena and impact on human life.

The program offers curricula leading to the MS, PhD or PhD minor in limnology and marine science. Applicants must have at least one year of college-level biology, chemistry, physics and calculus, and substantial preparation in one area of limnology/oceanography. Interdisciplinary in nature, each individualized program provides graduate training in aquatic sciences and integrates many courses in related sciences.

The program is administered by the College of Engineering and sponsored jointly by the College of Letters and Science and the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, including more than 25 faculty members in civil and environmental engineering, botany, food science, geology and geophysics, atmospheric and oceanic sciences, plant pathology, and zoology.

In addition to its nine departments, the UW-Madison College of Engineering has six degree-granting programs with strong emphasis on interdisciplinary studies. Participating UW-Madison faculty members are based in the following schools and colleges:

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Letters & Science, School of Business, School of Education, School of nursing, School of Medicine and Public Health, School of Pharmacy

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Ananth Krishnamurthy (Director)3160 Engineering Centers Building1550 Engineering Dr.Madison, WI 53706

Tel: 608/262-4709—Fax: 608/265-4017mse@engr.wisc.edu

www.msemadison.orgManufacturing Systems Engineering Program

The Master of Science in Manufacturing Systems Engineering (MSE) is recognized internationally as a provider of cross-functional engineers and leaders equipped to manage manufacturing in the global marketplace. More than 400 MSE alumni lead operations and drive change worldwide.

The MSE degree is multidisciplinary, integrating courses in engineering, business, computer sciences and statistics. Alongside a flexible self-designed curriculum, students experience frequent practical interaction with leading manufacturing firms, engaging in team projects in the field, internships, and industry collaborations. MSE students experience:

• Hands-on problem-solving in the areas of design, development, implementation and operation of modern manufacturing systems;

• Computer-aided design, manufacturing and engineering;

• Engineering and management issues via case studies, seminars and guest lectures by leading private-sector executives;

• An integrated learning environment in the capstone course—a unique, team-based project sited on the shop floors and management offices of our corporate partners.

A. Jeffrey Giacomin (Co-Director)Tim A. Osswald (Co-Director)304/317 Mechanical Engineering Building1513 University Ave.Madison, WI 53706

Tel: 608/262-7473—Fax: 608/262-7473Tel: 608/263-9538—Fax: 608/265-2316rheology@engr.wisc.edu

rrc.engr.wisc.edu/PolEngSci.htmlMaster of Engineering (Polymer Engineering and Science)

Organized under the Rheology Research Center (RRC) and affiliated departments of chemistry, chemical and biological engineering, engineering physics, and mechanical engineering, the Master of Engineering (Polymer Engineering and Science) degree is ideal for students wishing to complete a bachelor of science plus master’s degree in a total of five years. All the degree credits required can be taken through the College of Engineering Office of Engineering Outreach.

Many corporations sponsoring research at the RRC are also participating sponsors of the National Technological University. These corporations encourage employees to take polymer courses that are broadcast to customer sites.

In the future, the entire degree will be available to students who cannot attend classes on campus.Practicing engineers and scientists on a short sabbatical leave from their positions in industry will

find the degree an excellent opportunity to advance their knowledge of polymer engineering. At least six approved courses are offered each semester.

Ray Vanderby (Director)Donald Stone (Associate Director)264 Materials Science & Engineering Building1509 University Ave.Madison, WI 53706

Tel: 608/263-1795—Fax: 608/262-8353rhoads@engr.wisc.edu

www.engr.wisc.edu/interd/mspMaterials Science Program

The Materials Science Program (MSP) is a nationally recognized interdisciplinary graduate program in a burgeoning field that applies principles from traditional scientific and engineering disciplines to create advanced materials and devices. Progress in these areas hinges upon controlling the preparation of compounds and interfaces at the atomic level and above to tailor the chemical and physical properties of materials and devices to produce the desired properties and performance.

MSP personnel are at the cutting edge of research in advanced metals and polymers, atomic imaging, surface science and biomaterials. Their research results have had a national impact. Faculty, staff and students have invented nuclear-powered nanobatteries for microelectromechanical devices, used plasma-aided engineering to protect food-industry surfaces from bacteria, boosted the potential of the superconducting material magnesium diboride, developed a technique for cheaply/simply manufacturing DNA chips, and studied the use of nanostructured surfaces on cell behavior.

Students entering the MSP generally have undergraduate degrees in physics, chemistry or an engineering discipline. They design a curriculum from cross-campus offerings with input from their research advisors, and select thesis research topics based on materials and interfaces that involve polymers, superconductors, advanced metals and alloys, semiconductors, ceramics, composites and biomaterials.

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prIvaTe SupporT

2008 Sources of Gifts

University of Wisconsin Foundation 1848 University Ave., P.O. Box 8860, Madison, WI 53708

Expanding the conversationn the UW-Madison College of Engineering, we understand the importance of two-way communication with our alumni about preparing the next generation of engineers for a rapidly changing world. Beginning this year, we’re working to bring that conversation to your community.

2008 Designated Uses of Gifts

17% Foundations

39% Alumni

and other Individuals

46% Departments

andPrograms

24% Scholarships

and Fellowships

12% Buildings

42% Corporations

2% Employer Matching

Gifts

18% Faculty Chairs and

Professorships

$14M$12M$10M$8M$6M

$8,441,490

$11,994,821

$18M$16M

$18,839,133

Contributions to the College of Engineering*

Total value of gifts of cash and appreciated securities. Outstanding pledges and in-kind gifts not included.*

$9,289,676

$14,180,161

2005

2006

2007

2004

2003

2008 $11,101,281

We have organized a series of breakfast meetings around the state and nation with alumni, Dean Paul Peercy and College of Engineering department chairs, giving us a chance to hear from you personally about challenges and opportunities in the field. We also have gathered great ideas about ways we can better prepare our students to be successful leaders.

Two strong impressions resonate from these events. First, the depth and breadth of talent and expertise among UW-Madison engineering alumni is truly inspiring. And second, the meetings reinforce how passionately College of Engineering alumni care about their alma mater and how committed they are to seeing its academic excellence continue to thrive.

The meetings underscore the importance of private giving to our continued success. Alumni generosity has considerably strengthened the transformational work of Engineering Beyond Boundaries and this exciting program will continue to generate many opportunities for private support.

The flexible funding support that comes from an endowment is more critical than ever to our success. Having the ability to respond quickly to challenges or to seize emerging oppor-tunities often hinges on the availability of flexible funds from private sources.

Endowed support enables us to:

• Be competitive with outside offers for our best and brightest faculty;

• Take advantage of once-in-a-life-time opportunities for our students to travel and study abroad;

• Expand upon award-winning student organizations and competitions, including the internationally renowned hybrid vehicle teams;

• Provide a source of need-based scholarship support in a time of increased challenges to affordability.

We hope that you will continue to be a partner in the college success through your time, your expertise and your financial support. And as we continue our breakfast meetings across the country, we also hope you will join the conversation.

www.engr.wisc.edu/services/development

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Kelly De Haven, 608/265-9562Kelly.DeHaven@uwfoundation.wisc.edu

Ann Leahy, 608/265-6114Ann.Leahy@uwfoundation.wisc.edu

The UW Foundation engineering development team (from left): Kelly De Haven, Ann Leahy, Deb Holt, Gillian Fink and Eric Yin

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Gillian Fink, 608/265-9955 Gillian.Fink@uwfoundation.wisc.edu

Eric Yin, 608/265-5913Eric.yin@uwfoundation.wisc.edu

Deb Holt, 608/263-0779Managing Senior Director of Development Deb.Holt@uwfoundation.wisc.edu

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Read detailed information about these entities in the annual report companion publication, the 2009 COLLEGE DIRECTORY. If you would like to obtain a free copy, please contact:

ENGINEERING ExTERNAL RELATIONS433 Wendt Library215 n. Randall Ave.Madison, WI 53706

You can download a PDF of the directory at: www.engr.wisc.edu/news/ar

coLLeGe dIrecTory

cOllEgE cEnTERsBiomedical Engineering Center for Translational Research Robert G. Radwin (Director) Lawrence Casper, Jeffrey Grossman (Assoc. Directors) Tel: 608/263-4660 — Fax: 608/265-9239 bmec.wisc.edu

Center for Health Systems Research and Analysis David R. Zimmerman (Director) Tel: 608/263-4875 — Fax: 608/263-4523 www.chsra.wisc.edu

Center for Human Performance and Risk Analysis Vicki M. Bier (Director) Tel: 608/262-2064 — Fax: 608/262-8454 www.chpra.wisc.edu

Center for NanoTechnology Franco Cerrina (Director) Tel: 608/263-4955 — Fax: 608/265-3811 Paul Nealey (Associate Director) Tel: 608/265-8171 www.nanotech.wisc.edu

Center for Plasma-Aided Manufacturing Noah Hershkowitz (Director) Tel: 608/263-4970 — Fax: 608/265-2364 cpam.engr.wisc.edu

Center for Plasma Theory and Computation Chris Hegna (Director), John Scharer (Co-Director) Tel: 608/263-8142 — Fax: 608/265-2438 www.cptc.wisc.edu

Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES) Thomas A. Lipo (Campus Director) Tel: 608/262-0287 — Fax: 608/262-5559 www.cpes.vt.edu

Center for Quality & Productivity Improvement (CQPI) Pascale Carayon (Director) Tel: 608/263-2520 — Fax: 608/263-1425 cqpi.engr.wisc.edu

Center for Quick Response Manufacturing Ananth Krishnamurthy (Director) Tel: 608/262-4709 — Fax: 608/265-4017 www.qrmcenter.org

Center for Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology (CREATe) Jay Martin (Director) Darryl Thelen (Associate Director) Tel: 608/263-9460 — Fax: 608/265-2316 uwcreate.engr.wisc.edu

Center for Structurally Integrated Micro/Nano-Systems (SIMNS) Xiaochun Li (Director) Tel: 608/262-6142 — Fax: 608/265-2316

cOllEgE cOnsORTIaBiomedical Engineering Student Design Consortium Robert G. Radwin (Director) Tel: 608/263-4660 — Fax: 608/265-9239 www.engr.wisc.edu/consortia/bme-sdc

Consortium for Fly Ash Use in Geotechnical Applications Tuncer B. Edil (Co-Director) Craig H. Benson (Co-Director) Tel: 608/262-3225 — Fax: 608/263-2453

Diesel Emissions Reduction Consortium Rolf Reitz (Director) Tel: 608/262-0145 — Fax: 608/262-6707 2010.erc.wisc.edu

Ergonomics Analysis and Design Consortium Robert G. Radwin (Director) Tel: 608/263-4660 — Fax: 608/265-9239 eadc.engr.wisc.edu

Industrial Hand Tool and Ergonomics Research Consortium Robert G. Radwin (Director) Tel: 608/263-4660 — Fax: 608/265-9239 www.engr.wisc.edu/consortia/ihterc

Industrial Refrigeration Consortium Douglas Reindl (Director) Tel: 866/635-4721 — Fax: 608/262-6209 www.irc.wisc.edu

Power Systems Engineering Research Center (PSerc) Christopher L. DeMarco (Site Director) Dennis Ray (Executive Director) Tel: 608/262-5546 — Fax: 608/262-1267 www.pserc.org

Quick Response Manufacturing Consortium Ananth Krishnamurthy (Director) Tel: 608/262-4709 — Fax: 608/265-4017 www.qrmcenter.org

University of Wisconsin Advanced Materials Industrial Consortium Juan J. de Pablo (Co-Director) Paul F. Nealey (Co-Director) John J. McCarthy (Development Director) Tel: 608/265-3783 — Fax: 608/265-4036 www.uwamic.wisc.edu

University of Wisconsin E-Business Consortium Raj Veeramani (Executive Director) Alfonso Gutierrez (Director, Research & Education) Beth de Garcia (Director, Member Relations) Tel: 608/265-0645 — Fax: 608/262-8454 www.uwebc.org

Wisconsin Consortium for Applied Water Quality Research Gregory Harrington (Director) Tel: 608/263-7773 — Fax: 608/262-5199 www.engr.wisc.edu/consortia/cawpcr

Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC) Thomas Jahns (Co-Director) Tel: 608/262-5702 Robert Lorenz (Co-Director) Tel: 608/262-5343 www.wempec.org

Wisconsin Plasma Processing and Technology Research Consortium Noah Hershkowitz (Director) Tel: 608/263-4970 — Fax: 608/265-2364 www.engr.wisc.edu/consortia/wpptrc

Wisconsin Public Utility Institute Cara Lee Mahany Braithwait (Director) Tel: 608/890-1815 www.wpui.org

Wisconsin Wireless and Sensor Networks (WiSeNet) Consortium Parmesh Ramanathan (Director) Akbar Sayeed (Associate Director) Tel: 608/263-0557 — Fax: 608/262-1267 wisenet.engr.wisc.edu

This list of College of Engineering CONSORTIA, CENTERS and SERVICES is current as of September 2009.

COLLEGE DIRECTORY 2009

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coLLeGe dIrecTory 2009

ENGINEERING Tel: 608/263-5988Fax: 608/263-9259perspective@engr.wisc.edu

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UW Energy Institute Paul Meier (Director) Tel: 608/262-4515 — Fax: 608/263-7451 www.energy.wisc.edu

UW Technology Enterprise Cooperative (UW-TEC) Paul S. Peercy (Co-Director) Molly Jahn (Co-Director) Michael Knetter (Co-Director) Tel: 608/265-4104 — Fax: 608/262-6400 www.engr.wisc.edu/centers/uw-tec

Water Science and Engineering Laboratory James Schauer (Director) Tel: 608/262-2470 — Fax: 608/262-0454 www.engr.wisc.edu/centers/wse

Wisconsin Center for Applied Microelectronics (WCAM) Dan Christensen (Laboratory Manager) Tel: 608/262-6877 — Fax: 608/265-2614 www.engr.wisc.edu/centers/wcam

Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR) Weijia Zhou (Director) Tel: 608/262-5526 — Fax: 608/262-9458 wcsar.engr.wisc.edu

Wisconsin Institute of Nuclear Systems (WINS) Michael L. Corradini (Director) Tel: 608/263-2196 — Fax: 608/263-7451 wins.engr.wisc.edu

Wisconsin Power Electronics Research Center Christopher L. DeMarco (Co-Director) Thomas M. Jahns (Co-Director) Tel: 608/262-5702 — Fax: 608/262-5559 www.engr.wisc.edu/centers/wperc

Wisconsin Structures and Materials Testing Lab Steven M. Cramer (Director) Tel: 608/265-8214 — Fax: 608/265-8213 www.engr.wisc.edu/centers/wsmtl

Wisconsin Traffic Operations and Safety Lab (TOPS) Todd Szymkowski (Deputy Director) Tel: 608/263-2684 — Fax: 608/262-5199 www.topslab.wisc.edu

Wisconsin Transportation Center Teresa Adams (Director) Tel: 608/263-2655 — Fax: 608/263-2512 www.wistrans.org

Computational Mechanics Center Roxann L. Engelstad (Director) Gregory F. Nellis (Associate Director) Tel: 608/262-5745 — Fax: 608/265-2316 cmc.me.wisc.edu

Construction & Materials Support Center (CMSC) Awad Hanna (Director) Tel: 608/263-8903 — Fax: 608/262-1228 cmsc.engr.wisc.edu

Disaster Management Center Don Schramm (Director) Tel: 608/262-5441 — Fax: 608/263-3160 dmc.engr.wisc.edu

Engine Research Center David Foster (Director) Kevin Hoag (Associate Director) Tel: 608/263-1617 — Fax: 608/263-9870 www.erc.wisc.edu

Fusion Technology Institute Gerald L. Kulcinski (Director) Tel: 608/263-2308 — Fax: 608/263-4499 fti.neep.wisc.edu

HSX Plasma Laboratory David T. Anderson (Director) Tel: 608/262-0172 — Fax: 608/262-1267 www.hsx.wisc.edu

HVAC & R Center Douglas T. Reindl (Director) Tel: 608/262-8045 — Fax: 608/262-6209 www.hvacr.wisc.edu

Laboratory for Plasma Science Raymond J. Fonck (Co-Director) Noah Hershkowitz (Co-Director) Tel: 608/263-7799 — Fax: 608/265-2364 www.plasma.wisc.edu

Laboratory for Thin-Film Deposition Max G. Lagally (Director) Tel: 608/263-2078 — Fax: 608/265-4118 www.engr.wisc.edu/centers/ltfd

Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) Juan J. de Pablo (Director) Tel: 608/265-3783 — Fax: 608/265-4036 www.mrsec.wisc.edu

Materials Science Center Jon J. McCarthy (Director) Tel: 608/263-1073 — Fax: 608/262-8353 msc.engr.wisc.edu

Mechatronics Laboratory Erick Oberstar (Laboratory Manager) Tel: 608/262-5026 — Fax: 608/265-2316 mechatronics.me.wisc.edu

Nanoscale Science & Engineering Center (NSEC) Paul F. Nealey (Director) Tel: 608/265-3783 — Fax: 608/262-5434 www.nsec.wisc.edu

Polymer Engineering Center Tim A. Osswald (Co-Director) Tel: 608/263-9538 — Fax: 608/265-2316 Lih-Sheng “Tom” Turng (Co-Director) Tel: 608/262-0586 pec.engr.wisc.edu

Power Systems Engineering Research Center (PSerc) Christopher L. DeMarco (Site Director) Tel: 608/262-5546 — Fax: 608/262-1267 www.pserc.org

Powertrain Control Research Laboratory (PCRL) John J. Moskwa (Director) Tel: 608/263-2423 — Fax: 608/265-2316 powertrain.engr.wisc.edu

Reed Center for Photonics Dan Botez (Director) Tel: 608/265-4643 — Fax: 608/265-4623 www.engr.wisc.edu/centers/rcp

Rheology Research Center A. Jeffrey Giacomin (Chair) Tel: 608/262-7473 — Fax: 608/262-7473 rrc.engr.wisc.edu

Solar Energy Laboratory Sanford Klein (Director) Tel: 608/263-5626 — Fax: 608/262-8464 sel.me.wisc.edu

Solid & Hazardous Waste Education Center Patrick Walsh (Director) Tel: 608/262-0385 — Fax: 608/262-6250 www.shwec.uwm.edu

Trace Research and Development Center Gregg C. Vanderheiden (Director) Tel: 608/262-6966 — Fax: 608/262-8848 trace.wisc.edu

Transportation Information Center Steve Pudloski (Director) Tel: 608/265-2314 — Fax: 608/263-3160 tic.engr.wisc.edu

UW E-Business Institute Raj Veeramani (Executive Director) Tel: 608/262-0861 — Fax: 608/262-8454 www.uwebi.org

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This list of College of Engineering CONSORTIA, CENTERS and SERVICES is current as of September 2009.

32

coLLeGe dIrecTory (continued)

cOllEgE sERvIcEsComputer-Aided Engineering Center Robert Kohlhepp (Director) Tel: 608/263-3075 — Fax: 608/265-4546 www.cae.wisc.edu

Credit Courses at a Distance Helene Demont (Program Manager) Tel: 608/262-5516 — Fax: 608/263-3160 oeo.engr.wisc.edu

Diversity Affairs Office Manuela Romero (Assistant Dean) Molly Davis (Assistant Director) Tel: 608/263-5367 — Fax: 608/262-6400 Libby Lee (Assistant Director) Tel: 608/265-9042 — Fax: 608/265-3501 diversity.engr.wisc.edu

Engineering Career Services (ECS) John Archambault (Assistant Dean) Tel: 608/262-3471 — Fax: 608/262-7262 ecs.engr.wisc.edu

Engineering Development Office Debra M. Holt (Managing Senior Director of Development) Kelly De Haven, Gillian Fink, Ann Leahy, Eric Yin (Directors of Development) Tel: 608/263-4545 — Fax: 608/263-0781 www.engr.wisc.edu/services/development

Engineering External Relations Brian Mattmiller (Assistant Dean for Alumni and Corporate Relations) Jim Beal (Director) Tel: 608/263-0611 — Fax: 608/263-9259 www.engr.wisc.edu/services/eer

Engineering General Resources Office for Student Support and Advising Manuela Romero (Assistant Dean) Tel: 608/262-2473 — Fax: 608/265-3501 studentservices.engr.wisc.edu/advising

Engineering Media Services Robert Perras (Director) Tel: 608/263-9726 — Fax: 608/265-4967 www.engr.wisc.edu/services/ems

Engineering R&D and Technology Transfer Lawrence Casper (Assistant Dean) Tel: 608/265-4104 — Fax: 608/262-6400 www.engr.wisc.edu/services/ortt

Graduate Engineering Research Scholars (GERS) Douglass Henderson (Director) Kelly R. Burton (Coordinator) Tel: 608/263-4583 gers.engr.wisc.edu

International Engineering Studies and Programs Amanda Hammatt (Director) Tel: 608/263-2191 — Fax: 608/263-0839 international.engr.wisc.edu

Kurt F. Wendt Library Deborah L. Helman (Director)) Tel: 608/262-7980 — Fax: 608/265-8751 wendt.library.wisc.edu

Student Leadership Center Alicia Jackson (Director) Tel: 608/265-2899 — Fax: 608/261-1439 slc.engr.wisc.edu

Wisconsin TechSearch Carolyn Tweten (Director) Tel: 608/262-5917 Fax: 608/262-4739 (toll free: 800/514-1423) www.wisc.edu/techsearch

Women in Science & Engineering Leadership Institute (WISELI) Molly Carnes (Co-Director) Amy Wendt (Co-Director) Jennifer Sheridan (Research Director) Tel: 608/263-1445 — Fax: 608/265-5290 wiseli.engr.wisc.edu

IndUsTRIal advIsORy BOaRdMembers of the college Industrial Advisory Board are professionals in government, industry and academia. They provide advice to College of Engineering faculty, staff and administrators on academic programs and cooperative efforts with industry, and assist the dean with strategic planning. They also bring to the college the latest concerns and challenges of industry, information that is vital in preparing graduates for their careers. We thank them for their valuable service to the College of Engineering.

Ian M. Hau CEO Orchestrall Inc.

Mark A. Henning General Manager Dow Microbial Control

Todd Kelsey Senior Vice President Global Customer Services Plexus Corp.

Matthew D. Kuckuk Consultant

James R. Meister Vice President Operations Support Exelon Nuclear

Robert B. Olson Consultant

Tom Still President, Wisconsin Technology Council

Ex-OFFICIO: Paul S. Peercy

Dean, College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Jan R. Acker President and General Manager TriEnda Corporation

Richard Antoine President —National Academy of Human Resources Global Human Resources Officer (retired) Procter & Gamble Co.

William C. Beckman CEO X-nth

John E. Berndt–IAB Chair President (retired) Sprint International

Vincent S. Chan Director Theory & Computational Science, Energy Group, General Atomics

Donna J. Fairbanks Chief Technology Officer GE Sensing and Inspection Technologies

R. Fenton-May Chairman and CEO CarrierWeb / e*freightrac LLC

Message from Dean Paul S. Peercy

Tel: 608/263-5988Fax: 608/263-9259perspective@engr.wisc.edu

eDitorial staff:Jim Beal Sandra KniselyBrian Mattmiller Renee Meiller

grapHiC Design: Phil J. Biebl

WeBmaster: Joyce Tikalsky

proDuCeD By:

Engineering External Relations433 Wendt Library215 N. Randall Ave.Madison, WI 53706

program assistanCe:Cynthia Rothwell

pHotograpHers: All photos by David Nevalaexcept Jim Beal (p. 2, top);Renee Meiller (p. 2, bottom, p. 4, bottom, inside back cover)