Connection and collaboration blossom on and off campus this spring

The Office of Business Engagement had a busy month in April, with a collection of on-campus meetings and events bringing together university and corporate partners across multiple industries and disciplines.

On April 12, OBE hosted global human resources personnel from Fiskars, who are seeking to build greater connections between the company and the university. Representatives from Fiskars, which has U.S. headquarters based in Middleton, WI, are working with OBE to explore the talent pipeline at UW–Madison.

Anna Mindelöf, Chief People Officer; Patty Glines-Kotecki, Senior HR Director, Sales Americas; and Christian Hellberg, HR Director – Digital Tech attended the Design Thinking Roundtable lunch led by Trudy Watt, Academic Director, MS in Design and Innovation at the School of Human Ecology.
Fiskars global HR executives attended the Design Thinking Roundtable lunch led by Trudy Watt, Academic Director, MS in Design and Innovation at the School of Human Ecology.

OBE was also pleased to bring together representatives from American Family Insurance and campus partners for a bi-annual steering committee meeting to share updates and achievements across the multi-faceted partnership. In 2015, UW–Madison and American Family Insurance formalized their wide-ranging partnership through a holistic arrangement to streamline contact, create efficiency and strategic focus, maximize impact, and enhance collaboration.

Members of the American Family Insurance Steering committee met for the bi-annual meeting on April 25th.
Members of the American Family Insurance Steering committee met for the bi-annual meeting on April 25th.

In the final week of April, OBE and the UW–Madison College of Engineering co-hosted Gabriele Librandi, University & Research Institute Manager at Fincantieri Marine Group. During his visit, Dr. Librandi provided a comprehensive overview of ship construction to more than 60 attendees at the Advanced Materials Industrial Consortium (AMIC) Lunch Seminar Series. OBE also welcomed Fincantieri Marine Group’s U.S.-based CEO to campus this spring.

Dr. Librandi presented the AIMC Lunch series seminar during his April visit. In his role at Fincantieri Marine Group, Dr. Librandi oversees relationships with universities to incorporate the latest research in shipbuilding technologies. Photo by AMIC.
Dr. Librandi presented the AIMC Lunch series seminar during his April visit. In his role at Fincantieri Marine Group, Dr. Librandi oversees relationships with universities to incorporate the latest research in shipbuilding technologies. Photo by AMIC.

OBE staff also welcomed Schweid & Sons’ Chief Administrative Officer Brad Schweid ’98 back to campus. The fourth-generation family firm supplies fresh, premium burgers to restaurants and grocers across the U.S., including at Madison’s Pick n’ Save and Metro Market. Brad made several stops during his visit, including to the Wisconsin School of Business Marketing Department (where he majored as an undergraduate) and the Food Research Institute to tour the state-of-the-art Meat Science and Animal Biologics Building. As a proud alum and passionate Badger sports supporter, Brad also made sure to visit with campus Athletics, touring Camp Randall with W Club Director Nic Pasquarello.

Brad Schweid’s visit to campus included a tour of Camp Randall.
Brad Schweid’s visit to campus included a tour of Camp Randall.

Additional visitors to campus this spring included representatives from Procter & Gamble; PPG Industries; IBM Research; Hy Cite Enterprises and Uline.

In addition to on-campus visits, OBE staff also participated in numerous off-campus partner connections.

OBE staff was honored to meet with representatives at the Global R&D Center at Kimberly-Clark and tour the FTI/EnTech Solutions Lakeside Vision Center. Assistant Vice Chancellor for Industry Engagement Chris Kozina joined Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin for dinner and conversation hosted by Consul-General of Japan Hiroshi Tajima. The evening included discussion of mutual opportunities with representatives from JETRO, Kikkoman Foods, Japan Information Center, Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics, and Komatsu North America.

Asst. Vice Chancellor for Industry Engagement Chris Kozina joined Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin for dinner and conversation hosted by Consul-General of Japan Hiroshi Tajima.
Asst. Vice Chancellor for Industry Engagement Chris Kozina joined Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin for dinner and conversation hosted by Consul-General Hiroshi Tajima.