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article Featured Spring 2024

Progress STEMming from Art

The interweaving of art and STEM topics as shown by the UW-Madison Design Hub and Chemistry Department Is there truly a difference between STEM and STEAM? Topics involving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are often thought of as entirely separate from art. However, art is a fundamental part of the projects that occur in the […]

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article Spring 2024

Breaking Bad: A Chemical Analysis

UW–Madison chemistry experts scrutinize the science behind one of television’s most sensational shows Breaking Bad, a hit crime drama about a chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-cook, is widely praised for the intricate use of chemistry throughout the series. While critics argue that this chemistry is inaccurate or overexaggerated, UW–Madison chemists argue Breaking Bad leaves little room for error when […]

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article Spring 2024

Navigating the Challenges of Autonomous Vehicle Testing

 As self-driving cars transition from futuristic concept to imminent reality, engineers face a monumental challenge, requiring a balance of innovation and caution: ensuring the safety of passengers and pedestrians where any failure could result in significant damage.  Looking to the future of transportation, autonomous vehicles may hold the potential for safer, faster journeys. But, assessing […]

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article Featured Spring 2024

Saying Goodbye to 1410 Engineering Drive

After 85 years, 1410 Engineering Drive will soon be demolished and replaced by a state-of-the-art engineering building. The UW-Madison College of Engineering announced in early 2024 their decision to demolish 1410 Engineering Drive, one of the oldest buildings on the engineering campus, this autumn. Over the upcoming summer, its occupants, including engineering research labs, Computer […]

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Trailblazing: The many legacies of Wisconsin Engineer’s first woman editor

Written by Mike A. Shapiro Our magazine’s first woman editor was also one of the first women to graduate UW–Madison with an engineering degree. When June Hartnell began editing Wisconsin Engineer in August 1944, she had a co-editor, a boyfriend with a red and white single-seat airplane, and the top GPA in the electrical engineering […]

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article Fall 2023

Open-Source, Linux, and UW-Madison: A Story of History and Increasing Relevance

Niche and confined to technical discourse, Linux and open-source technologies shoulder the responsibility of maintaining life in the modern digital age. On a global scale, from governments to multinational corporations, world leaders invest in the immense power of one technology. This exceedingly powerful tool is known as open-source. Open-source computing makes Linux, an operating system […]

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article Fall 2023

An Investment in the Future: The Legacy of the Washburn Observatory

143 years after being built, the Washburn observatory continues to offer a view of the cosmos to the public. See how dedicated engineering and innovative techniques contributed to the extraordinary lifetime of this UW-Madison icon. Outlasting its namesake, former governor C. C. Washburn, by over half a century and remaining scientifically relevant for decades after […]

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article Fall 2023

Revolutionizing the Run: How the Use of Carbon-Fiber Plates in Long Distance Running Shoes is Making Runners Faster 

First included in running shoes in 2017, carbon-fiber plates greatly increase running efficiency. Most professional runners now use this technology because of the advantage it provides. Alex Marrione, a long-distance runner for the Wisconsin Track Club, purchased a new pair of Nike running shoes for training during his senior year of high school. These shoes, […]

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article Fall 2023

ECB Resurfaces after a Flood… Again

The curse of the Engineering Centers Building strikes again! After two fires and two floods over the lifetime of the building, how will the community of the College of Engineering recover from yet another disaster? History repeats itself. That’s the saying. While usually applied to large-scale societal events – war, epidemics, famine, natural disasters – […]

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article Fall 2023

C-Motive’s New Electric Avenue

Electric motors have relied on the same fundamental technology for nearly two centuries until two UW-Madison Electrical Engineering graduate students returned to one of Benjamin Franklin’s early designs. In 2009, Dan Ludois was a UW-Madison Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate student. In the laboratory of Giri Venkataramanan, he spent his Friday afternoons attending seminars held […]