UWM Today

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts that climate change will accelerate the intensity of hurricanes in the coming century. Already the maximum sustained winds of hurricanes are getting stronger, and 2020 was the most active hurricane season on record.

On today's Chancellor's Report we'll take a look at UWM's spring 2021 term and how UWM is leading positive change out of the coronavirus pandemic. UWM's Chancellor Mark Mone discusses opportunities awaiting the university in 2021 and beyond.

If you open up your cell phone or iPad you will find lithium-ion batteries powering the units. The same goes for electric vehicles you see on the road. The lithium-ion batteries work far better than the standard nickel-cadmium batteries and the inventors of the lithium-Ion units won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their discovery. But there are still limitations on how well the lithium-ion batteries perform. Now two UWM scientists have created a material that may dramatically increase the energy storage capacity of the batteries. And they have raised more than a million dollars and started a company to bring their product to market. UWM physics professors Carol Hirschmugl and Marija Gajdardziska-Josifovska are behind the discovery and they join us on this edition of UWM Today.

As a top tier research university faculty at UWM are engaged in groundbreaking discoveries every day. We feature many of their stories on this program each week. But the impact of that research goes far beyond the confines of the campus. On this edition of UWM Today we are going to focus on the many ways businesses and community organizations partner with UWM researchers to develop new products and services. Coordinating those relationships between the university and industry is the job of our guest on today’s program — Jennifer Abele is the Senior Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships.

This week the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump for the second time. The historic event followed the tragedy in the U.S. Capitol last week when groups of Trump supporters staged an insurrection — storming the symbol of American democracy in an unsuccessful attempt to stop Congress from certifying the election of Joe Biden as president. Today thousands of national guardsmen are stationed in and around the U.S. Capitol, bracing themselves for potentially more violent demonstrations when Biden is inaugurated on Wednesday.

On today’s Chancellor’s Report we take a look at what UWM is doing to eliminate the higher education equality gap. Our guests will discuss UWM’s Moon Shot for Equity program and the role that the Higher Education Regional Alliance in Milwaukee works with the Moon Shot program. Our guests today are UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone, MATC President Vicki Martin and Georgia State University Senior Vice President for Enrollment and Student Success Tim Renik.

Giant kelp is usually found thousands of miles from Milwaukee. It’s known for being an incredibly fast-growing seaweed in the Pacific Ocean. But recently, scientists have learned that the kelp could be a huge source for biofuel. That’s where a UWM scientist, Filipe Alberto, comes into the picture. He is a biologist in UWM’s College of Letters and Science and has received millions of dollars in federal funding to help unlock the secret of how this amazing plant can be engineered to become an important source of energy.

All of us know the power of the internet to connect people across the world. But there is another type of internet that is designed to optimize the way millions of machines operate. It’s called the Industrial Internet of Things. At UWM there is a new unit on campus working with dozens of companies to learn how the Internet of Things can make manufacturing more efficient and productive. The Connected Systems Institute recently opened its doors and its executive director, Mary Bunzel is our guest today. Also joining us on this edition of UWM Today is Jennifer Abele, Senior executive director of Strategic Partnerships for UWM. Both have been instrumental in creating the Connected Systems Institute.

On today’s Chancellor’s Report we take a look at what UWM is doing to retain students that have been affected by the on-going pandemic, especially students of color. We will also explore the recently completed education survey conducted by Strada Education Network and the perils of delaying college and the value of UWM in a post-pandemic world.

Climate change, pollution and over demand are just a few of the challenges that are forcing us to rethink how we use and conserve water. Both globally and in the water-rich Great Lakes region, there's also a need to train the next generation of scientists and technicians to work in the water industry.