This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Joe Hamann, executive director of UW-Milwaukee’s Connected Systems Institute.
Hamann discusses the recently opened Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Lab, located within the institute. The concept for the lab arose about a year ago, with a goal of helping manufacturers connect with campus and innovate with AI while also giving students opportunities to get involved.
The lab is the fifth of its kind set up by Microsoft around the world and the second in the United States. It’s the first to focus on manufacturing, and Hamann says it aims to help the small and medium companies in the state that make up 90% of the state’s manufacturing industry.
“A big goal of this lab is to create opportunities for this high density of manufacturing focus in the state of Wisconsin, to have access, to get started on their journey with artificial intelligence,” he said. “And this is not just AI for the sake of AI, right, this is very focused on, let’s identify a real problem statement or a real opportunity statement that these manufacturing companies have.”
Hamann said the new toolkit provided by AI can enable faster problem solving and more opportunities to grow and create jobs, supporting the state’s future manufacturing workforce.
“There’s a lot of technology that’s coming into manufacturing, and we’re doing our part, along with a lot of other groups, to make certain that we’re giving the future generation the tools they need to be ready for these more technology-focused jobs,” he said.
The podcast explores the experience for businesses that connect with the institute, how the Microsoft team will help them and what kinds of resources they’ll have following the experience. Hamann notes it’s free for the companies that choose to engage with the lab.
He also emphasized the benefits of the lab for students, noting “the product that we develop is the next generation” of future professionals going into various industries.
“Very grateful that Microsoft is leaning into the discussion of, how should we be finding ways to get students involved? Some examples of which could be internships or collaborative work assignments with students,” he said. “Or workshops, seminars where this very talented team … can be teaching our students skills about AI to complement the education they’re getting in the classroom.”
Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison:
