MON AM News: EMD Electronics could earn $4.5M for WI expansion; Rockwell report details life science sector’s AI plans

October 5, 2026

— EMD Electronics is eligible for up to $4.5 million in performance-based state tax credits, as officials touted the company’s $200 million investment in the state.

Gov. Tony Evers and WEDC Secretary and CEO John Miller on Friday applauded the opening of the firm’s 38,000-square-foot R&D facility at its site in Sheboygan Falls.

EMD Electronics is the North American electronics business of Germany’s Merck KGaA, a science and technology corporation that had more than $23 billion in revenue last year.

The new R&D space is meant to improve the company’s ability to develop advanced materials for manufacturing semiconductors, a critical component of widely-used technologies like smartphones, computers and vehicles.

Bing Han, executive vice president and head of thin films at EMD Electronics, notes AI is driving “increasing complexity and performance requirements” for the semiconductor industry, which has seen billions of dollars in federal investment given its economic and strategic importance.

“Materials innovation remains at the core of that transformation, but success increasingly depends on combining materials discovery, process expertise, and scale-up capabilities,” Han said, adding the new R&D site will help address customers’ “most complex materials challenges.”

Meanwhile, Evers touted his administration’s business investments through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. and emphasized the project’s impact on the local economy. It’s expected to create 44 new “high-paying” jobs, the guv’s office says.

“Together with EMD Electronics, we’re expanding Wisconsin’s manufacturing capabilities and increasing economic opportunity for folks in Sheboygan Falls and throughout the region,” Evers said in a statement.

As with most projects getting tax credit support through WEDC, the amount the company can claim will depend on hitting certain targets for both job creation and capital expenditures.

The R&D facility has eight specialized laboratories for product development functions, ranging from discovery to development and packaging, the company says. It’s also powered by renewable energy.

The Sheboygan Falls site represents just one of the company’s targets for boosting manufacturing capabilities domestically, as EMD Electronics has announced plans for a $1 billion, five-year investment in its U.S.-based presence.

Along with a further investment in Sheboygan Falls slated for completion next year, the company has recently expanded facilities in California and Oklahoma.

See the release.

— A new Rockwell Automation report found life science firms are planning to roll out AI applications for key functions such as cybersecurity and quality control.

The Milwaukee-based industrial automation business recently issued a “digital maturity” report on the life science sector. Authors note interest in AI is growing quickly among the dozens of companies in the sector that were surveyed for the report.

Among the companies that have already integrated AI and machine learning, 64% plan to expand their use over the coming 12 months, while 49% plan to invest more in the technology over the next five years.

Top applications for AI rollouts in the sector include quality control with 50% of respondents, cybersecurity with 45% and process optimization with 44%. Authors say these priorities “reflect a broader push to improve quality, reduce risk and operate more efficiently in an increasingly complex environment.”

Still, authors argue data foundations “need to catch up” as fewer than a third of life science businesses in the survey said they effectively use more than half of the data they collect on their operations.

The report also found 58% of surveyed life science organizations around the world have deployed some form of “smart manufacturing” technology.

But authors point out that increased connectivity creates new risk exposure, as 54% of respondents said they had at least one cyberattack in the past year. Top vulnerabilities they identified include IT systems and enterprise networks with 41%, remote access and connected equipment with 33% and integration points for IT and other technology.

Rockwell’s report is based on survey responses from 104 managers and executives from life science businesses across 16 countries. These include direct manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers or OEMs, as well as system integrators and engineering procurement companies.

See the release.

See the report.

— An engineer with Marquette University is getting nearly $600,000 in research funding from the U.S. Army to improve high-performance material testing.

The university recently announced John Moore, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, has landed the three-year grant from the U.S. Army Research Office.

He will work with the office to create a process for assessing the qualities and performance of newly developed materials, including simulations and testing to confirm results. A central focus of the effort is determining how a material behaves in “extreme circumstances,” including assessments of pressure, temperature and density.

Moore says capturing all phase changes and states of matter “requires many increasingly complex and expensive” experiments, creating a gap in testing capabilities. He explains experimental efforts in the past have been largely manageable, but the “accelerating pace” of new material design is driving demand for better ways to assess what’s being developed.

“This has become a critical bottleneck in accurately integrating novel materials into design and analysis pipelines,” he said in the release.

The grant, which has an expected value of about $598,000, will run through August 2029.

See the release.

— U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan and dozens of other lawmakers are urging federal officials to delay new international mail procedures for prescription medicines, warning 2.3 million Americans could lose their ability to get drugs from other countries.

Pocan, a Democrat representing the state’s 2nd CD, led the letter with U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois and more than 70 members of Congress.

Writing to the leadership of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the FDA and Customs and Border Protection, the lawmakers warned new CBP procedures taking effect Oct. 22 could disrupt medical treatments coming from Canada and other countries.

Under the new procedures, international mail shipments subject to FDA requirements will have to be filed electronically through CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment system, according to the letter.

While the lawmakers say they support the agency’s goal of using better tracking data to intercept “high-risk” shipments, they’re concerned the new process could keep personal-use prescription medicines from making it into the country.

They’re calling on the federal agency leaders to ensure the new Customs regulation “does not prevent Americans from obtaining genuine, non-controlled prescription medicines from licensed pharmacies when those medicines do not appear to present an unreasonable risk.”

The letter also requests various information about how the new policy will be implemented, asking what data agencies will gather about incoming medicines and whether it will be made public, among other questions.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

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