Category Archives: Uncategorized

Dahlia Mogahed

Dahlia Mogahed, (BSCBE, ’97) was named the 32^nd most powerful Arab woman by ArabianBusiness.com. The 2012 list includes both businesswomen and activists among others and ranks Arab women according to the number of people whose lives they have touched and influenced. Read more…

Theide and Purity, a star student studying computer science at Nairobi University

“Jill M. Thiede – BS – ECE – 1991, University of Wisconsin-Madison”

That is how my resume describes my time at the UW. The degree I got in engineering from Madison has been critical to my success as a process and controls engineer and more recently as a strategic account manager, but my time at the UW provided lessons far beyond Newton’s Laws and solving differential equations. I developed an understanding of our global connectedness. My roommate was from China, one of my best friends grew up in Iran, and I studied with a young woman from Lebanon. I worked with students in Computer Aided Engineering from Algeria, Pakistan, and Singapore. Growing up in Green Bay, my world was fairly small. During my time at Madison, I developed a passion for understanding different cultures. (more…)

Kirk Lambert graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2000 but soon found a passion for making wine was his true calling. Read more…

One might not think a floor-finish applicator and a surgical tool would have much in common, but to the team of innovators at the Madison-based Design Concepts, the approach to analyzing and innovating them is very much the same. It involves studying and understanding the interactions of people with the tool in the environment the tool is used and then applying theory, principles, data and methods in order to optimize health, safety and productivity. That approach is called “human factors.”

Craig Conner (left) and Curt Irwin

Craig Connor (MSME, ‘94) is director of human factors and a principal at Design Concepts. Curt Irwin (BSME, ’00, MSBME, ’01, PhDBME, ‘07) is the firm’s lead human factors engineer. Together, they bring a level of experience and an understanding of ergonomics to product design that is rare in the industry. Their approaches and work with the Design Concepts team are creating remarkable connections between award-winning product designs and the people who use the products.

The Diversey floor-finish applicator is a perfect example. It earned the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society’s 2009 User Centered Design Award.

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Matt Tobler

Capt. Matt Tobler (BSEM ’90) relieved Capt. Luis Ramirez as commander of PMA-264, which includes sonobuoys, multi-static active acoustic search systems, high altitude ASW, and airborne ASW intelligence programs at a change of command and retirement ceremony September 7. Read more…

Where there is water, there is life, but more than likely, there is also conflict. Sometimes, Bill Mielke will be tapped to help resolve those conflicts. As President and CEO of Waukesha, Wisconsin-based Ruekert/Mielke, Mielke and his firm became known for creatively resolving lawsuits and turf wars that inevitably arise between communities providing basic services such as water and sewer.

Those innovative solutions led to appointments to state and regional commissions and task forces such as the Great Lakes Water Commission. He helped write the law for Wisconsin to join the Great Lakes Compact. (more…)

Civil and Environmental Engineering alumnus and coastal engineering specialist with the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute Gene Clark organized a Real Time Wave Observation System to report wave information in real time, warning potential kayakers and swimmers of dangerous conditions.

The system was first implemented in 2009 at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Bayfield, Wis., where a number of kayaking deaths had prompted officials and scientists into action. Read more