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Advancing AI: $647,000 Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. grant will boost CAM-AI

giffeyt — Mon, 19 May 2025 14:50:24 +0000

Advancing AI: $647,000 Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. grant will boost CAM-AIgiffeyt May 19, 2025

University’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Artificial Intelligence to provide support for small, medium manufacturers

Tom Giffey

A $647,000 grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) will allow University of Wisconsin-Stout’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Artificial Intelligence – CAM-AI – to provide advanced manufacturing and AI support to small- and medium-sized manufacturers.

The newly announced grant is the result of ongoing conversations and the preexisting relationship between the WEDC, the State of Wisconsin’s lead economic development agency, and ��Ͽ�, Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University.

“The WEDC financial commitment will allow ��Ͽ� to fully build out the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and AI,” ��Ͽ� Chancellor Katherine Frank said. “This investment will enable ��Ͽ� to expand its delivery of cutting-edge, industry-focused support and services to small- and medium-sized businesses throughout the state.”

��Ͽ�'s Industrial Robotics & Machine Vision Lab, part of the Robert F. Cervenka School of Engineering, is one of the campus labs that will benefit from the WEDC investment.

“Wisconsin has long been a manufacturing powerhouse, especially in the field of precision manufacturing,” said Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of WEDC. “For our state’s small- and medium-sized manufacturers to remain competitive in the global marketplace, it’s absolutely critical for them to be able to harness the power of AI in their daily operations. CAM-AI is in the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea – helping businesses and residents access the knowledge and resources of the Universities of Wisconsin to keep our state moving forward.”

Seth Hudson, ��Ͽ�’s executive director for Corporate Relations and Economic Engagement, said the funding will allow the university to invest in state-of-the-art equipment to expand and enhance the services of CAM-AI. “This investment will allow us to further contribute to the growth of our industry partners through advanced manufacturing techniques and AI-driven solutions,” he said.

Next gen manufacturing: New CAM-AI will leverage resources to support industry in Wisconsin

Small and midsize manufacturers in Wisconsin and Minnesota have a new resource — and ally — in their quest for growth and success.

David Ding, director of the Robert F. Cervenka School of Engineering and an associate dean in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Management, said the grant will allow ��Ͽ� to fully build out an Automated Demonstration line, enabling the university to showcase to its industry partners the applications of automation, robotics, vision inspection and AI-aided manufacturing. “The demonstration system will showcase the new technologies that CAM-AI can help manufacturers implement in their own processes,” Ding said.

CAM-AI was created in 2024 to leverage the broad array of university expertise for solving technical issues and conducting research to support private industry. The center works in partnership with the ��Ͽ� Manufacturing Outreach Center, one of two centers in Wisconsin affiliated with the National Institute of Standards and Technology/Manufacturing Extension Partnership national network. The Manufacturing Outreach Center, which also receives support from the WEDC, delivers comprehensive, proven solutions through consulting, training and workforce development.

Once fully operational, the WEDC investment will allow CAM-AI to serve approximately 20 companies and 100-plus students each year.

A ��Ͽ� manufacturing engineering student works on a program to control a machine in the university's robotics lab.

The goals of ��Ͽ�’s CAM-AI include:

Partnering with the Manufacturing Outreach Center to provide timely academic applied research expertise.
Providing direct assistance in solving time-sensitive industry focused problems.
Providing services, such as additive manufacturing and testing.
Engaging with regional and statewide initiatives that support advanced manufacturing and AI.

“By leveraging the expertise of our faculty, students and advanced technologies as the state’s polytechnic university, we are able deliver timely and impactful solutions to meet the evolving needs of industry partners,” Hudson said.

Manufacturing is one of the largest components of Wisconsin’s economy: With more than 9,000 manufacturing companies employing 480,000 workers statewide, the sector is responsible for $66 billion in economic activity annually, according to the most recent annual report from the Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing & Productivity.

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Advancing AI: $647,000 Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. grant will boost CAM-AI

University’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Artificial Intelligence to provide support for small, medium manufacturers

Next gen manufacturing: New CAM-AI will leverage resources to support industry in Wisconsin

Small and midsize manufacturers in Wisconsin and Minnesota have a new resource — and ally — in their quest for growth and success.

University’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Artificial Intelligence to provide support for small, medium manufacturers An engineering student looks at a computer screen.

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Hero Caption: Engineering students work with a robot in ��Ͽ�'s Industrial Robotics & Machine Vision Lab.

Seth Hudson

Seth Hudson was announced as the new leader on Thursday, July 28, by Chancellor Katherine Frank. He will direct ��Ͽ�’s Discovery Center, including the Manufacturing Outreach Center, Stout Technology and Business Park, and a comprehensive range of industry, applied research, technical assistance and technology transfer efforts of the university.

Hudson has bachelor’s degrees in political science and economics from the University of Southern Maine.

"I am looking forward to growing ��Ͽ�’s existing partnerships in order to expand the relationships between students, faculty, staff and Wisconsin’s business community,” he said.

Full Name: Seth Hudson

Job Title: Executive Director for Corporate Relations & Economic Engagement

Include in Directory: Yes

Area of Expertise: Industry Partnerships Economic Development

Department: Corporate Relations & Economic Engagement

Education:

Chancellor OCREE

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Next gen manufacturing: New CAM-AI will leverage resources to support industry in Wisconsin

polingj — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 18:14:39 +0000

Next gen manufacturing: New CAM-AI will leverage resources to support industry in Wisconsinpolingj October 25, 2024

Center for Advanced Manufacturing-AI aims to draw on university expertise to solve problems, collaborate on opportunities

Small and midsize manufacturers in Wisconsin and Minnesota have a new resource — and ally — in their quest for growth and success.

The Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Artificial Intelligence — CAM-AI — has been created at ��Ͽ� to leverage the broad array of university expertise for solving technical issues and conducting research to support private industry.

CAM-AI will partner with the ��Ͽ� Manufacturing Outreach Center, one of two centers in Wisconsin affiliated with the National Institute of Standards and Technology/Manufacturing Extension Partnership — NIST/ MEP — national network. The centers deliver comprehensive, proven solutions through consulting, training and workforce development.

The new Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Artificial Intelligence at ��Ͽ� will engage engineering faculty and graduate engineering students on industry projects. / ��Ͽ�

“CAM-AI will support Wisconsin’s manufacturers through access to expertise and equipment that are generally not available to small- and medium-size business. Our goal is to collaborate with our industry partners in order to help them be even more competitive in a market that is undergoing constant technological change,” said Chancellor Katherine Frank.

The center will provide the bridge between the MOC and academic departments to bring applied research; modern technical methods; and laboratory, fabrication and testing services directly to private industry.

The goals of CAM-AI include:

Partnering with the MOC to provide timely academic applied research expertise
Providing direct assistance in solving time-sensitive industry focused problems
Providing services, such as additive manufacturing and testing
Engaging with regional and statewide initiatives that support advanced manufacturing and AI.

Manufacturing is one of Wisconsin’s leading workforce sectors, with more than 8,900 companies that employ more than 490,000 workers.

The Robotics Lab at ��Ͽ� is one of the university resources supporting CAM-AI. / ��Ͽ�

More than a dozen ��Ͽ� labs, including robotics, plastics, packaging, cybersecurity and Fabrication Lab — Fab Lab — could be accessed to address manufacturers’ challenges.

��Ͽ� faculty have expertise in automation, AI/machine learning, robotics, additive manufacturing, plastics engineering, packaging, industrial design, fabrication and material properties and testing. In 2023, ��Ͽ� added a first-of-its-kind bachelor’s program, automation leadership.

“Modern manufacturing requires not only all fields of engineering but expertise from computer science, cybersecurity, math and the basic sciences,” said David Ding, director of the School of Engineering and an associate dean in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Management.

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Ding will be the center’s director. He also serves on Gov. Tony Evers’ Task Force on Workforce and Artificial Intelligence.

��Ͽ� is Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University, with a focus on applied learning, business and industry collaboration, and career outcomes.

“��Ͽ�'s ability to supply expertise across these fields to address practical problems is what distinguishes us as a polytechnic university, and CAM-AI will be the entity through which this expertise can be made available to industry,” said Seth Hudson, executive director of the ��Ͽ� Office of Corporate Relations and Economic Engagement.

The center plans to leverage the talent in ��Ͽ�’s Master of Science in manufacturing engineering program, with students working on CAM-AI projects under faculty supervision.

Key elements in CAM-AI success will be rapid response, coordination between ��Ͽ� entities that engage directly with industry and an industry-focused approach that no job is too small, Hudson said. He noted that CAM-AI will not compete with private industry but allow industry partners a place to refer work that isn’t suited for the private sector space.

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Advanced Manufacturing & AI

All Advanced Manufacturing & AI News

Advancing AI: $647,000 Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. grant will boost CAM-AI

University’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Artificial Intelligence to provide support for small, medium manufacturers

Next gen manufacturing: New CAM-AI will leverage resources to support industry in Wisconsin

Small and midsize manufacturers in Wisconsin and Minnesota have a new resource — and ally — in their quest for growth and success.

Small and midsize manufacturers in Wisconsin and Minnesota have a new resource — and ally — in their quest for growth and success. Manufacturing engineering

University Marketing

SACA-aligned automation leadership degree breaks new ground in manufacturing world

Manufacturing is going high-tech — robots, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, analytics and more to help make and distribute products.

Seth Hudson

Hudson has bachelor’s degrees in political science and economics from the University of Southern Maine.

"I am looking forward to growing ��Ͽ�’s existing partnerships in order to expand the relationships between students, faculty, staff and Wisconsin’s business community,” he said.

Full Name: Seth Hudson

Job Title: Executive Director for Corporate Relations & Economic Engagement

Include in Directory: Yes

Area of Expertise: Industry Partnerships Economic Development

Department: Corporate Relations & Economic Engagement

Education:

Chancellor OCREE

Exclude from Internal Site Search: No

Include in Directory: Off

Exclude from Internal Site Search: No

News

Advancing AI: $647,000 Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. grant will boost CAM-AI

Next gen manufacturing: New CAM-AI will leverage resources to support industry in Wisconsin

Advancing AI: $647,000 Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. grant will boost CAM-AI

Next gen manufacturing: New CAM-AI will leverage resources to support industry in Wisconsin

Artificial Intelligence at ���Ͽ� Polytechnic

Seth Hudson

Next gen manufacturing: New CAM-AI will leverage resources to support industry in Wisconsin

Corporate Relations & Economic Engagement

Advancing AI: $647,000 Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. grant will boost CAM-AI

Next gen manufacturing: New CAM-AI will leverage resources to support industry in Wisconsin

SACA-aligned automation leadership degree breaks new ground in manufacturing world

Seth Hudson

Artificial Intelligence at ��Ͽ� Polytechnic