Manufacturing industries rely on the efforts of factory employees who work daily to make, package, prepare and deliver the products we find on our shelves. That’s a lot of physical effort, and the strain can lead to various injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome or tendonitis in the wrists, arms and shoulders. Risk of injury is hard on workers, and can create costs to employers for workers’ compensation, lost time and reduced productivity.

“We want to solve these problems before people get hurt,” says Rob Radwin, a University of Wisconsin–Madison professor of industrial systems engineering. Radwin has been studying this problem for more than two decades, and he may be able to harness relatively simple technological tools such as smartphones to create a solution that is easy, efficient and economically viable.

UW-Madison engineering student Chris Nguyen of Waukesha, Wisconsin, won GE’s “Unimpossible Missions: The University Edition” competition last fall, receiving a 10-week paid internship at the GE Global Research Center and a scholarship of up to $100,000 to continue his education. The contest challenged students to disprove a catchphrase using GE technology, and Nguyen decided that he could indeed “unring a bell.”

When Money Magazine takes notice of your career services (naming UW-Madison among the top five in public schools in the nation) you must be doing something right. Read this blog entry from Chancellor Blank on the latest tool to help Badgers connect with their future career.

The facility will be able to focus on improving crop nutrient efficiency, evaluating strategies to produce crops better suited for use as biofuels, enhancing crop disease resistance, and improving the yield and composition of crops grown in sustainable production systems.

“We didn’t want to keep this technology in our lab. We wanted to share it and expand the boundaries of its applications.” An amazing research perspective from UW-Madison engineers, Jack Ma and Justin Williams, whose innovative discovery has the potential to impact many lives.

UW–Madison inventors have filed more than 400 disclosures with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) in the last 12 months. The top ideas, demonstrating the most “sensational ideas being developed across disciplines” were honored this week, offering a glimpse into the future of innovation and discovery at UW.

Chancellor Blank:  “Education is changing rapidly, and UW-Madison is leading the charge by developing ever more accessible ways for adults to participate. Just as much as our cutting-edge research, our outreach to the state’s workforce fuels the economy. These flexible programs provide lifelong learners with new job skills and create a whole new group of Badger alumni.”