Category: Business/Technology

An effort to replace an aging radio tower on the southeastern edge of the UW Arboretum has some wondering about moving it out of the environmentally sensitive area altogether.
Last year, officials learned the WHA-AM tower, which broadcasts Wisconsin Public Radio throughout Dane County, is in an “unsafe and unreliable condition” due to internal corrosion. As a result, the state plans to build a new tower in the same vicinity, just south of Martin Street, and tear down the tower.

Duke University received $30 million in grants this month to fund its DukeEngage program, which will allow students to participate in civic engagement service learning projects.

VIROQUA, Wis. â?? A former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter will host a writing workshop in Viroqua in the fall.Patrick Strickler, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize while at the Post-Dispatch, lives on a 40-acre farm in Avalanche since retiring in July from communications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

THE ONLY real surprise in this week’s announcement that the UW-Madison Center for Real Estate will be renamed in honor of the late James Graaskamp is that it took this long for it to happen.

….Graaskamp’s students revered him. Time and again I come across news accounts of projects all over the country in which the developer lists Graaskamp as a mentor.

An oft-heard complaint about UW-Madison, justified or otherwise, is that its academic and research fruit falls close to the tree. It has world-class scientists and well-developed mechanisms for turning their best ideas into products or services, but most of that commercialization takes place within a half-hour drive from campus.

Economic development in south central Wisconsin is getting a multi-million dollar shot in the arm.

The Capital Region Collaboration Council, a group of volunteer leaders from business, government, education and nonprofit organizations, surpassed its goal of $2.4 million in contributions by raising $2.6 million to be used for improving the economic quality of life in the region.

Public schools are gaining ground as CEO factories. Here’s a trend sure to humble private-school alumni clubs everywhere: The University of Wisconsin churns out more big-time CEOs than Yale.

Are you looking for a new genetically engineered mouse? Maybe you are seeking a new imaging technique to detect heart disease.

Entrepreneurs or large companies seeking inventions to drive the next blockbuster product and scientists seeking to advance their research have a new way to discover these and other intriguing technologies.

An offshoot of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation on Tuesday unveiled a revamped version of its iBridge project. At the heart of the initiative is a Web site, www.ibridgenetwork.org, that provides searchable and clear descriptions of university innovations and how they can be used to advance other research or develop commercial products.

The Regent Street-South Campus area is settled by both student and non-student residents. City officials and residents discussed future plans for the uniquely-arranged neighborhood Monday night.

Meriggioli is on the board of directors of United Way and Second Harvest and on the advisory board for the UW-Madison School of Business Center for Brand and Product Management.

Madison, Wis. – In a move that could bring additional investment partners to Wisconsin deals, Venture Investors of Madison will open an office in Ann Arbor, Mich. after receiving money from a Michigan venture fund.

The Madison venture capital firm, which recently moved into a larger space in the MGE Innovation Center in University Research Park, was one of three venture firms selected to receive funding through a competitive bidding process conducted by Venture Michigan Fund I. The three firms, which also include Arboretum Partners of Ann Arbor and Nth Power of San Francisco, will receive investment commitments of $95 million over the next three years.

“We’ve had tremendous success, especially with companies spun out of the nation’s fourth largest research institution (UW-Madison),” Neis said. The University of Michigan is the nation’s third largest research institution, he said, calling it “fertile territory.”

The Corporation for Enterprise Development’s conclusions are also a good argument for continued emphasis on university research – at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Medical College of Wisconsin – and for mining that research for start-up companies. The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation in Madison, long a licensing powerhouse, is paying more attention to spinning out start-ups. And that’s a good thing.

Scott Converse, director of technology programs for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is part information technologist, part futurist, and part ââ?¬Å?anti-change agent,ââ?¬Â as he demonstrates in Part II of this interview. In Part I, he addressed information technology workforce development issues. In Part II (below), he addresses creating a culture of innovation and finding IT talent.

Burying a portion of a controversial proposed power line along the Beltline more than doubles the cost of the project, American Transmission Co. said today.

ATC said its yearlong analysis of burying portions of its proposed Rockdale-West Middleton line determined that underground construction adds between $9 million and $15 million per mile to the cost compared with overhead lines.

The University of Wisconsin has reaped $850 million from technology transfer successes over the years. A large portion of that came after one of its leading scientists, Harry Steenbock, discovered a way to add vitamin D to food in the 1920s.