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Royal Credit Union internship showcases student's data science, machine learning skills

giffeyt — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Royal Credit Union internship showcases student's data science, machine learning skillsgiffeyt January 29, 2026

M.S. applied computer science student finds workplaces experience aligns with coursework

A yearlong business intelligence internship at Royal Credit Union, one of Wisconsin’s largest financial institutions, has helped a 91��Ƭ applied computer science graduate student gain confidence and skill in both data engineering and machine learning.

“It’s been a fun experience. I’m really grateful,” said Justin George, who expects to receive his M.S. applied computer science degree in May. “This internship has been the best part of my Stout experience so far.”

George began his business intelligence internship last May at the Eau Claire-based financial institution, which serves 330,000 members through 28 branches in western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota. Now in its third semester, George’s internship has provided an opportunity for him to apply what he’s learned through his degree program at Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University.

Professor Keith Wojciechowski of 91��Ƭ’s Department of Math, Statistics and Computer Science, who encouraged George to pursue the internship, praised the graduate student for seizing the opportunity and making it a successful experience.

“One of the things that we emphasized and that he was very eager to do was to get an internship where he could apply those skills and learn on the job,” Wojciechowski said.

Lou Heimstead, Royal’s business intelligence and analytics manager, supervises 91��Ƭ student Justin George during his internship.

Student’s work makes business data visual

91��Ƭ’s M.S. applied computer science program provides professionals in a wide range of occupations a pathway to deepen their knowledge, skills and experience with computer systems that automate tasks, analyze data and create new workflows. Through the program, George has been able to focus on topics that interest him, such as data visualization and machine learning, both of which have played a role in his Royal internship.

Lou Heimstead, business intelligence and analytics manager at Royal, said George has been fully integrated into her team and its work. “He’s not doing isolated intern tasks,” Heimstead said. “He’s been learning and applying the same processes that our business intelligence analysts and data engineers use.”

And as George has continued to demonstrate his skills, the scope of the internship has expanded into the realm of machine learning, a subset of artificial intelligence in which algorithms are used to find patterns in data to make predictions without explicit programming.

“What he has added is the capacity to bring in his technical skills that align closely with what he’s been studying at 91��Ƭ, specifically data science and machine learning,” Heimstead explained. “With that background, he’s been able to contribute to more technical work that would otherwise compete for my senior analyst’s time. So rather than replacing existing work, he’s actually been expanding what the team can realistically take on, especially in areas requiring stronger programming, modeling and data science skills.”

Computer science students solve Royal Credit Union problems with machine learning

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Expanding machine learning applications

Last summer, four undergraduates — including two from 91��Ƭ — took part in a machine learning internship at Royal. They focused on writing software to dive into Royal’s data and address two issues: The first was studying the factors that could lead members to leave the credit union, while the second aimed to determine a “next best product” that might interest an existing member. After the undergraduates’ internship ended last summer, George was asked to continue working with the machine learning-powered software models they built.

“It was not part of my job description, but since I was interested, they were happy to give me the opportunity to work on machine learning,” he said. As a result, George continues to hone his machine learning skills, while Royal continues to benefit from what the previous interns helped build.

Graduate student Justin George, at far right, in a 91��Ƭ Advanced Machine Learning class.

In fact, Heimstead said, George has enhanced and unified the multiple machine learning models into a single model for each issue. His work ensures the solution remains both usable and valuable. That continuity helps Royal keep the work ready to build on in the future.

George said the 91��Ƭ master’s program offers a sharp contrast to his bachelor’s degree experience. “Here I get the exposure of practical training and working on projects. There are so many internship opportunities, and they are directly aligned with my academics,” George said.

“I feel like the professors are very helpful,” he continued. “They are always making sure you are getting practical exposure. It’s not just theory. That’s something I like about Stout.”

Wojciechowski is impressed by George’s hard work and adaptability in the Royal internship. “He’s out there in the world solving problems,” Wojciechowski said.

Not only has George been able to tackle the tasks he was originally hired for, but he’s been able to grow his skill set, too. “He’s been able to adapt and evolve at Royal,” Wojciechowski said. “I think that speaks very well for him.”

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M.S. applied computer science student finds workplaces experience aligns with coursework RCU employee Lou Heimstead works with intern Justin George

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Hero Caption: M.S. applied computer science student Justin George interns at Royal Credit Union’s Corporate Center in Eau Claire.

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Computer science students solve Royal Credit Union problems with machine learning

giffeyt — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Computer science students solve Royal Credit Union problems with machine learninggiffeyt January 26, 2026

Computer science students from 91��Ƭ, UWEC, UWRF exercise ‘exceptional’ AI acumen for leading financial institution

Tom Giffey

Three Universities of Wisconsin campuses partnered with Royal Credit Union to launch an innovative internship program using AI to support this Wisconsin-based financial institution. This story is one of four in a series showcasing the impact of this collaboration. Read more about the faculty who supported the internship, how the partnership supported the state's economic development and how the collaboration originated.

Computer science students from three Universities of Wisconsin campuses leveraged their knowledge of machine learning to address real-world questions for one of the state’s largest credit unions in a unique internship program.

Four students — two from 91��Ƭ, one from UW-Eau Claire and one from UW-River Falls — honed their professional skills through internships with Royal Credit Union’s AI Innovation Lab last summer. The internship was a pilot program to help Royal implement machine learning, a subset of artificial intelligence in which algorithms are used to find patterns in data to make predictions without explicit programming.

Chris Meyer, Royal’s vice president of IT Innovation and Efficiency, said such partnerships with the Universities of Wisconsin provide “immeasurable” value for the credit union, which serves 330,000 members in western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota.

“This particular program brought about an opportunity for us to try some new, innovative ideas without the risks of derailing existing strategic projects or core work that were going on with our existing teams,” Meyer said.

Royal Credit Union interns, left to right, Paige Keller of UW-Eau Claire, Mariah Waslie of UW-River Falls, Emmett Jaakkola of 91��Ƭ and Matthew Peplinski of 91��Ƭ. / Submitted photo

“The interns we worked with from 91��Ƭ, UW-River Falls and UW-Eau Claire absolutely exceeded our expectations,” he continued. “Not only did they bring exceptional skills immediately out of school into the workforce, but they brought a perspective that we don’t always see — a younger perspective in how to approach some of the projects we’re looking at.”

The student interns were Matthew Peplinski and Emmett Jaakkola of 91��Ƭ, Paige Keller of UW-Eau Claire, and Mariah Waslie of UW-River Falls.

“We got to fully make our own data set, run all these machine learning models, analyze the results, present them, double check our own processes, and lay out a foundation for the company. It’s amazing what we could do as interns,” said Peplinski, of Milwaukee, who graduated in December with a B.S. in applied mathematics and computer science.

“We were the catalyst to all machine learning that Royal was delving into,” explained Jaakkola, of St. Paul, who graduated in December with degrees in both computer science and applied math and computer science.

Matthew Peplinski works on his laptop in an Advanced Machine Learning course at 91��Ƭ.

Leveraging students’ talents

Interns were recruited from the computer science programs at the three universities, all of which are within Royal’s geographic footprint. Once the interns began working in June at the Royal Credit Union Corporate Center in Eau Claire, the students began brainstorming how they could apply their machine learning acumen to the financial institution.

Keller, a UW-Eau Claire senior from Crystal Lake, Illinois, majoring in computer science, was excited by the opportunity, which allowed the students to come up with their own use cases for machine learning. “It’s almost like we were in the driver’s seat as the interns, which was what I loved most about the experience,” Keller said.

For the first few weeks of the internship, the students delved into Royal’s databases, learning what data was available, creating queries to gather it, and determining how it could be used to make projections.

Working with interns from multiple universities enhanced the experience because of the students’ varied experiences and curriculums, Keller said. “We all helped each other. We all asked each other questions,” Keller said. “We ran into the same roadblocks a lot of times, and so we had to come together and brainstorm. Having that experience from different backgrounds was very useful in coming up with different ideas.”

For example, Waslie — a UW-River Falls senior from Maiden Rock pursing a double major in computer science and data science — was adept at creating models with the programming language R, which the other interns had less experience with. Meanwhile, Peplinski used SQL to combine data and Python to develop models, while also bringing business skills to the table thanks to his 91��Ƭ minors in business and economics.

Universities of Wisconsin interns pose with Royal Credit Union employees Tad Carlson, far left, and Linda Kampa, far right. / Submitted photo

With the help of their team leader — Linda Kampa, a senior data engineer at Royal — the interns built a giant table set of more than 100 customer attributes, combining pieces of data from multiple sources. Once all this data had been gathered, the team tried to use it to predict members’ future behavior.

“Building out our own data set was a pretty astounding part of the internship, something that is pretty unique,” Peplinski said. His 91��Ƭ classmate, Jaakkola, agreed: “Working with a large database like that, it would be hard to get that experience without actually doing it.”

Over the course of the summer, the interns focused on two main classification problems. The first was to determine which factors indicated a member was about to leave the credit union: For example, was it when their balances reached a certain amount, or perhaps when a loan had been paid off? The second aimed to determine a “next best product” that would interest an existing member, similar to how a streaming service algorithm might recommend a new TV series.

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Jaakkola said he was well-prepared by his 91��Ƭ machine learning coursework to tackle problems for Royal. “I think the foundation we had from our classes really made it possible,” he said. Nonetheless, he added, the tasks were more complex: For example, while the queries he wrote for class might have included roughly 10 lines of code, some he wrote for Royal were as long as 1,000 lines.

The interns worked with managers from many of the credit union’s departments, strengthening their communications skills in frequent meetings and presentations. Part of the project’s goal, Peplinski said, was to create confidence that machine learning could supplement these managers’ own business intuitions.

Peplinski said the experience also helped him hone his technical communication skills. “In the same way that when you’re building machine learning models you iterate and make it better every iteration, I felt we also got better over time communicating results,” he said.

Emmett Jaakkola, right, in an Advanced Machine Learning course at 91��Ƭ.

Learning workforce skills

Professor Keith Wojciechowski of 91��Ƭ’s Department of Math, Statistics and Computer Science, commended Royal Credit Union for putting trust in student interns to create algorithms for the financial institution. “This is like being part of a real research and development team,” Wojciechowski said.

Professor Keith Wojciechowski

During the course on the internship, Wojciechowski and faculty members from UW-River Falls and UW-Eau Claire met twice with the interns and the Royal Credit Union team, once in the middle of the summer and once at the end for a final showcase of their work.

“Not only are we impressed with their ability to solve the problems, but by their ability to present and work in a professional environment,” Wojciechowski said of the interns. “That’s also a very important skill that they eventually have to learn.”

Kampa, the senior data engineer who worked side by side with the students, said part of the goal of the internship was to determine if Royal is ready to build machine learning models in-house. The interns, she said, were well-positioned to pursue the project.

“They came in with fresh ideas,” Kampa said. “None of them had a lot of financial background, but it was nice to have that clean slate. There were no preconceived notions of how something should work. It really led to a lot of unique and fresh perspectives, unbiased solutions and the recommendations that they made.”

Kampa said the interns arrived with excellent technical skills and absorbed new abilities quickly. The team experienced numerous “lightbulb moments” throughout the summer, she said.

“Early on in the internship, we were meeting to discuss what type of data we would be including to feed into the models,” Kampa recalled. “The idea that we were working through was really a complex concept to understand right away. We met a few times, we worked through some examples and did some whiteboard drawings, and to see the look on their faces when it clicked was really a rewarding experience for both me and the interns.”

Both businesses and students benefit from these collaborations, Kampa added. “Having the interns participate was a win-win for both Royal and the interns, because we got things up and running more quickly with their expertise from all the classes they’ve taken, and it gave the interns a chance to see what it’s like to work in a business setting,” she said.

Having Universities of Wisconsin campuses nearby creates a talent pipeline for the credit union as well as other organizations in the region, added Meyer, Royal’s vice president of IT Innovation and Efficiency. “The opportunity to work with faculty, who are experts in their areas, and students who are learning from them is something unique that we would not be able to do if we didn’t have those universities in our backyard,” he said. “And the opportunity to do that means that we can provide new value to our members, growing our organization in a way that would have been impossible without the universities’ presence.”

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AI reshaping industry: Advanced Machine Learning students develop impactful, competitive models

goersab — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 16:48:14 +0000

AI reshaping industry: Advanced Machine Learning students develop impactful, competitive modelsgoersab January 22, 2026

Projects result in innovative way to search course bulletin, play digital Othello board game

Abbey Goers

91��Ƭ’s 360-degree AI education approach prepares graduates to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving workforce by embedding artificial intelligence training in all of its degree programs. For two groups of applied mathematics and computer science students in an Advanced Machine Learning course, their final projects resulted in a model that could actively impact their institution and another that created a highly competitive AI opponent for a classic board game.

One group built a RAG model – or Retrieval Augmented Generation – to allow students to search the 91��Ƭ course bulletin in a much more engaging way. Another created a digital version of the board game Othello, using a Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) and a database of top international players to train the model.

Matthew Peplinski presents on the group Stout Bulletin RAG project.

“The motivation of the class is for students to pick up a cutting-edge paper, read it, understand it and implement it. Five years from now, when they are in their careers, they’ll know how to read a tech-heavy math paper and translate it into code,” said AMCS Program Director, Professor Seth Dutter. “These are the types of top-tier projects I look to give my students. The experience sets them apart. That’s polytechnic and gets to the point of 91��Ƭ.”

The Stout Bulletin RAG

In developing their group project, Tyler Smith, of Rochester; Matthew Peplinski, of Milwaukee; Aaron King, of Rhinelander; and Kyler Nikolai, of Rochester, wanted to create an easy way to gather information about 91��Ƭ’s courses, degree programs, minors and certifications without having to read through the entire course bulletin.

“We created the Stout Bulletin RAG, which can take any question someone has about Stout’s courses and programs and give them accurate information back within a couple of seconds,” Smith said. “A new student could use the program when applying to Stout to find out what classes and programs are offered, or a current student could use it when scheduling their classes for the next semester. The program actively uses ChatGPT to curate a response that provides the necessary information in a nice way. It also gives ChatGPT more specific information because the data is directly from the current Stout bulletin, so there will be no mistakes in finding old or irrelevant information.”

The group demonstrates the Stout Bulletin RAG in a final project presentation.

A RAG model allows the user to describe what they are looking for in sentence form, rather than just by using a single word search. The model consists of three parts, Smith explained: the prompt, the retrieval of data and the response from a LLM, or large language model. The prompt is what the user, like a student, asks the model. The model then searches through the stored data and finds what sentences, paragraphs or documents of text are most similar to the question asked.

“This is determined by an embedding model, which, in short, is a specific model trained to find similarities between text using a vector space,” he said. “The RAG then retrieves the top results of the most similar text and throws it into a new prompt. This prompt has all the details of the question asked, the information retrieved, and any rules in place, so when the model gets an LLM, like ChatGPT, to summarize the information, the LLM will not make up information it does not have.”

Peplinski added that the point of the RAG is to leverage existing LLM models’ reasoning capabilities, utilizing information that it was not trained on. “We used two different AI models in the process, one for the text embedding and one for the summarization,” he said. “The embedding model was used to determine how similar a user’s question is to the information available in our data set. We then pulled the top five most similar bits of information and sent that to the LLM, or ChatGPT, in our case. The LLM was used only to give the summary of the information that we provided it and given strict instruction to not make up false information.”

An example of a response generated by the Stout Bulletin RAG. / Tyler Smith

Peplinski and Smith thought the best part of the project was seeing how thorough their RAG model was during the final class presentation, as it nearly flawlessly answered prompts and challenges given by attendees.

The most challenging part was gathering all of 91��Ƭ’s program information and automating the data collection process so they would not have to write it out manually.

Smith will graduate this spring and will begin work at Federated Insurance this summer. He feels the project helped prepare him for industry, as many companies already use internal chatbots to search documents. “They are very likely using similar RAG model structures to what we created. So, going into industry with that knowledge is helpful,” he said.

Dutter agreed, adding, “Companies would benefit from employees who know how to code a RAG. It’s a useful skill to help a company that wants to be able to search for information within its sometimes decades worth of documents.”

Othello AI project

In four days, Nathan LaCrosse, of Portage; Noah Stitgen, of Lodi; Jake Swanson, of Eden Prairie, Minnesota; and Lindsey Redepenning, of Elk River, Minnesota, programmed their digital Othello version from scratch, creating an interface and teaching the AI model parameters of play, how to capture an opponent’s piece, and conditions to win the game. Over the next two weeks of the project, they optimized the game to make the most challenging, hyper-aggressive AI opponent they could.

Download their game at GitHub.

Nathan LaCrosse presents on the group Othello AI project.

LaCrosse originally wanted to select chess for the group’s project, but they decided on Othello, as it’s a simpler board game that’s easy to watch and play. Also, unlike checkers, Othello cannot end in a draw.

The group used an MCTS, a lightning-fast algorithm used in AI for decision-making processes, particularly in games, to develop their model. It simulated 3,500 Othello games per second. “When the MCTS evaluates a board position, it plays out a bunch of random games and picks the move that statistically leads to a win,” LaCrosse said.

They were challenged by the tree search to make sure it worked properly. “We actually discovered that we had programmed the game incorrectly because the algorithm was finding glitched moves that gave it an unfair advantage,” LaCrosse said.

An example of opponents' positions in the AI board game of Othello. / Nathan LaCrosse

They later added a neural network to the tree search that studied a database of top French Othello players. They used the database to train the network.

The group enjoyed playing against all the variations of gameplay the model allowed. In the published version, they selected the tree search that had the most unique playstyle, LaCrosse said.

“This project prepared us for industry because it familiarized us with the process of creating a full application, where we had everyone working on different elements of the program and combined it all together in the end,” said LaCrosse, who plans to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science.

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AI flower power: Pondview Lavender Farm joins in professors' research on agricultural robot

goersab — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000

AI flower power: Pondview Lavender Farm joins in professors' research on agricultural robot goersab July 22, 2025

Use of Amiga robot seeks to ease automation for specialty crop farmers in Wisconsin

Abbey Goers

Tucked right off Highway 29 near Chippewa Falls is a small family farm bursting with scent and color in June and July. Pondview Lavender Farm, owned by 91��Ƭ operations and management Lecturer Bob Sworski, welcomes folks to pick lavender during the harvest season.

Recently, an agricultural robot helped to advance Pondview’s lavender harvesting process as well, as part of cross-disciplinary research led by 91��Ƭ engineering Professor Yuan Xing and applied social science Program Director Tina Lee. Their project, A HumanCentered Collaborative Approach to Designing an Energy-Efficient Wireless Sensor Network, aims to advance Wisconsin’s agricultural system.

The project includes several elements to help farmers make informed decisions about their crops or livestock, including creating an ease of automation for specialty crop farmers, like Sworski.

The Amiga robot, by Farm-ng, at Pondview Lavender Farm in Chippewa Falls

The Amiga robot, by Farm-ng, is a battery-operated micro-tractor designed for 24/7 automation in specialty crop farming. The all-terrain, all-weather robot can be used as a scouting robot in the field, programmed for pest and disease control; for weeding or harvesting of specialty crops, such as lavender or berries; and to capture real-time images at ground level, with a mounted vision sensor camera.

The Amiga can be trained to learn the parameters of a field. It can hold up to 1,000 pounds, saving a significant amount of labor for workers, Xing said. The agricultural robot can travel 5 1/2 mph, fully loaded for four to five hours, or eight hours on light duty. Its ground clearance is about two feet, and its height and width can be adjusted as needed. It is also equipped with a mini-PC for data collection.

Bob Sworski, Cheng Liu, Jake See, Aaron Post and Yuan Xing gather at Pondview Lavender Farm

The cross-disciplinary project received a two-year, $175,000 Universities of Wisconsin Innovation Grant. Additional research is being conducted by Lee, who is leading support for a livestock farm at River Falls, where the team plans to install cow manager sensors and create an AI livestock monitoring system. Also involved in the research are engineering professors Cheng Liu, sensor hardware implementation, and Abhishek Verma, UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) system design, and UW-River Falls Professor Bob Zhiwei Zeng, agricultural machinery design.

AI supporting specialty crop farmers

Xing is working with Liu and students Aaron Post and Jake See to develop a fully automatic system with an individual Amiga artificial intelligence brain, designed on the NVIDIA Jetson Xavier processor. Post is a computer and electrical engineering major from Sussex, and See is an applied mathematics and computer science major from Singapore.

“The AI brain configuration is ongoing, and when configured, we are considering installing the brain on the Amiga and activating the fully automatic self-driving and vision inspection function at Pondview, which can further save labor,” Xing said.

Students Aaron Post and Jake See are helping faculty develop an AI brain for the Amiga robot

See, who has a concentration in artificial intelligence, is Xing’s research assistant and is helping to acquire new AI/machine learning knowledge and tools to develop models for industrial applications and contributing to scientific papers, such as IEEE Xplore. He hopes the new technology can allow specialty crop farms the ability to produce higher-quality crops and become more efficient and cost-effective.

“Automation and data analysis can be used to improve the health of crops and to lower labor, time and money costs,” he said. “Sensors that collect data about soil properties and weather conditions can help farmers make more optimal decisions. Image analysis can help identify disease within crops or monitor livestock. Robotic automation can make the planting or harvesting process easier, allowing farmers to reallocate time and labor to other efforts, such as expanding their farms or other elements of their business.”

See is naturally inquisitive and finds the world to be fascinating and beautiful. “I think math and computer science provide a lens through which I can explore, appreciate and enjoy this beauty in our world. They also provide a fun platform where I can create useful things to engage with people and our surroundings, ideally to benefit society,” he said.

Applied mathematics and computer science student Jake See is Professor Yuan Xing's research assistant

Although this was See’s first time working with the Amiga robot, he has been interested in programming since he was 7 years old, when he joined a robotics club in school. He has competed in national and international robotics competitions.

“AI is an incredibly powerful tool that has seen an explosion in use and development in recent times. It also intersects with many other personal interests of mine –understanding how the brain works, human behavior and learning, visuals, optimization and more,” he said.

His plan is to one day work as an AI researcher or software engineer focusing on computer vision or machine learning theory to contribute to the study and advancement of technology.

The faculty and students follow the Amiga robot out to the lavender field

91��Ƭ’s Robert F. Cervenka School of Engineering has four undergraduate programs and one master’s program in engineering, as well as an engineering technology degree. The applied social science program is housed in the College of Arts and Human Sciences.

From engineering to communication and counseling, manufacturing, marketing and design, construction, supply chain and more, 91��Ƭ is preparing graduates to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving workforce by embedding AI training in all of its degree programs. 91��Ƭ’s AI Fellows, centers, and services collaborate with community, business and industry partners to help Wisconsin leverage AI-driven solutions that put it ahead of the curve.

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Tina Lee

Dr. Lee is an applied anthropologist who specializes in the anthropology of the contemporary United States, specifically public policy and inequality. She is a graduate of the Anthropology PhD program at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center and has conducted research about the child welfare system, environmental governance, and humanitarian engineering. She is the author of Catching a Case: Inequality and Fear in New York City's Child Welfare System, published by Rutgers University Press in 2016, as well as serval articles based on her fieldwork in New York City. A book chapter on her follow-up work on child welfare in rural Wisconsin will be published soon. She is also the co-director of the LAKES REU, an NSF-funded research experience for undergraduates site which trains students through research on phosphorous pollution in the Red Cedar Watershed and how it might be mitigated. She teaches anthropology, research methods, and women and gender studies courses and is the program director for the Applied Social Science major as well as the Stout Core Director (Stout's polytechnic version of general education).

Teaching Interests: Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology of Gender, Anthropology of the Contemporary U.S., Qualitative Research Methods, Applied Anthropology

Research Interests: Gender, Race, Poverty and Class; Family and the Law; Women’s Activism; Public Policy; Urban United States

Full Name: Dr. Tina Lee

Job Title: Professor / Program Director / Certificate Advisor

Include in Directory: Yes

College: College of Arts & Human Sciences

Department: Social Science Department

Program

All Degree Programs

Curriculum Vitae: Tina Lee CV (57.7 KB)

Education:

Degree: Ph.D. Anthropology

University: The Graduate Center, City University of New York

Degree: Women's Studies Certificate Women's Studies

University: Graduate Center, City University of New York

Degree: M.A. Anthropology

University: Arizona State University

Degree: B.A. Anthropology

University: University of Houston

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Crop Per Drop: Students provide soil and water R&D for Chippewa Valley Bean

polingj — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 14:38:04 +0000

Crop Per Drop: Students provide soil and water R&D for Chippewa Valley Beanpolingj October 24, 2024

Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin funds industry research project led by professors

Story by Heidi Jeter
Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin

How much water does it take to grow 100 pounds of kidney beans? Most people wouldn’t think to ask such as question — but if you are a family business competing on a global scale, the answer matters.

“This information will allow kidney bean growers in Wisconsin to better target their irrigation practices to reduce strain on the state’s freshwater resources as well as boost yields and prices for Wisconsin farmers,” says Charles Wachsmuth, vice president of Chippewa Valley Bean.

Wisconsin-based Chippewa Valley Bean is the largest processor and exporter of kidney beans in the world. The company prides itself on innovation, and it has created a unique partnership with faculty at 91��Ƭ to gain cutting-edge research and development.

91��Ƭ student Lindsey Redepenning works in a Chippewa Valley Bean field on a weather station that was developed as part of the Crop Per Drop project. / Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin

“I recently went to a global conference in Italy, and nobody is doing the research we are doing around crops and water and packaging sustainability,” Wachsmuth says.

That innovative research directly involves undergraduate students, thanks to funding from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin. Through the Crop Per Drop project, students trained by Professor Keith Wojciechowski, are developing and testing mathematical models to help kidney bean farmers use water more efficiently.

The project exemplifies how companies can partner with university faculty and students to create a win-win situation. Students get hands-on experience, and the company gets staffing resources and innovative research.

Lindsey Redepenning helps set up one of the weather stations. / Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin

The first round of Freshwater Collaborative funding, in 2022, allowed Wojciechowski to hire three students to work on mathematical models that help farmers optimize water use for growing kidney beans.

With the most recent round of funding, the collaborative team installed five weather stations in farm fields. The stations collected real-time data that measured sunlight, soil moisture, wind speed and direction, and rain.

Wojciechowski says the project gives students majoring in computer science or applied math skills beyond using and developing software.

91��Ƭ professors Saleh Alnaeli, foreground, and Keith Wojciechowski help set up one of the Crop Per Drop weather stations at Chippewa Valley Bean. / Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin

“There’s huge benefit to seeing how software you build will be used in the field,” he says. “They get to see all the ways the software needs to be stable and viable — and how software works differently in an office than in real time out in the field.”

Lindsey Redepenning, of Elk River, Minn., an applied mathematics and computer science major, helped install the weather stations last summer and now she’s analyzing the data that was collected. The goal is to enhance the mathematical models to allow farmers to see how various scenarios will affect yield. This will help them adjust their agricultural practices in response to real situations.

Redepenning says she gained a wide range of skills that will help her in her future career. One of the most important was learning how to communicate mathematical concepts to people without a math background. She also learned hands-on skills like how to rewire a circuit board, modify a weather station, restart a wi-fi hotspot and recharge batteries.

“Some days were spent out in a field setting up weather stations and others were spent behind a computer screen writing code,” she says. “No two days were alike, and this kept the work interesting and exciting.”

The weather stations and models could be expanded in the future for use with other crops or to look at other factors that affect crops, such as disease and weeds.

The Crops Per Drop project has also opened the door to other industry-academic partnerships. Chippewa Valley Bean has connected Wojciechowski to other companies who may have similar R&D needs. When Chippewa Valley Bean wanted to use more sustainable bags to hold its beans, Wojciechowski introduced them to 91��Ƭ faculty who could work on packaging ideas.

“We are greatly appreciative of the strong university system in Wisconsin and the access it gives us to new and cutting-edge research that we wouldn’t be able to self-fund,” Wachsmuth says. “If we want to keep agribusiness in Wisconsin strong, we must show continued support for our specialty crop growers and processors.”

###

How much water does it take to grow 100 pounds of kidney beans? Most people wouldn’t think to ask such as question — but if you are a family business competing Crop per drop 1

University Marketing

Crop Per Drop project will use data science to dig into sandy soil irrigation issues

Chippewa Valley Bean, of Dunn County, is the world’s largest producer of dark red kidney beans.

Hero Caption: Kidney beans growing this summer in a Chippewa Valley Bean field. / Photo by Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin

Keith Wojciechowski

Full Name: Keith J. Wojciechowski, Ph.D.

Job Title: Professor / Program Director

Include in Directory: Yes

College: College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Management

Department: Mathematics, Statistics & Computer Science Department

Program

All Degree Programs

M.S. Applied Mathematics & Data Science

Curriculum Vitae: Keith J. Wojciechowski CV (336.81 KB)

Education:

Degree: Ph.D. Applied Mathematics

University: University of Colorado

Degree: M.S. Applied Mathematics

University: University of Colorado

Degree: M.S. Applied Mathematics Specializing

University: DePaul University

Degree: B.A. Mathematics

University: Lawrence University

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Students from across country address water quality issues in Red Cedar watershed with Stout mentors

goersab — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 18:17:31 +0000

Students from across country address water quality issues in Red Cedar watershed with Stout mentorsgoersab July 22, 2024

LAKES researchers to present on dynamics of water quality, community efforts to protect it on Aug. 8 at Raw Deal in Menomonie

Abbey Goers

Undergraduate researchers from across the U.S. and Canada have spent the summer in the Chippewa Valley investigating water quality awareness, invasive species, groundwater pollutants, public opinion and local mitigation for positive change in the Red Cedar watershed.

Led by 91��Ƭ co-directors Professor Tina Lee and Senior Lecturer Arthur Kneeland, LAKES REU students from eight universities are collaborating on research to improve the health of the watershed and develop sustainable solutions with community and government partners, local citizens and policymakers.

The interdisciplinary team of students represents a range of academic fields: anthropology, biology, environmental science, political science, mechanical engineering, and applied mathematics and computer science.

LAKES students gather on a hillside for a soil lesson at a local farm / Tina Lee

Students and mentors will present their findings from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 8, at the Raw Deal, 603 S. Broadway St., Menomonie. Community members are encouraged to join them in conversations about the local environment and issues facing the watershed.

Their research will be shared with local policymakers through reports, conversations and participation in the Red Cedar Water Quality Partnership in hopes of facilitating positive change in land use and water quality regulations and practices.

LAKES 2024 researchers

In addition to Lee and Kneeland, LAKES mentors include Professor Devin Berg, Assistant Professor Nicole Hayes and Professor Kim Zagorski.

“LAKES gives students the experience of being able to focus on research for a whole summer and to really immerse themselves in the problems they are working on. They get to work with and get to know community members and work on a problem that is important to the community,” Lee said.

Lee believes it’s important to consider the issues of water quality and pollution from various angles, from the biology of pollutants to human interactions with waterways.

“To address the dynamics of water quality issues in the Red Cedar watershed, we need to understand the people who live and own land here in an empathic way,” she said. “Our research adds to our knowledge and helps inform those who are working to address water quality issues. It’s important to understand the economic, social and cultural constraints people face as well as the capacities they have to help address problems, and these topics are a key focus of our work.”

Students, their degrees, schools and mentors are:

Murphy Boksanski: environmental science at University of San Francisco, Lee and Kneeland
Eva Elbert: environment and gender, sexuality, feminist and social justice studies at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Lee
Lara Erickson: environmental studies at Carleton College, Northfield, Minn., Zagorski
Olivia Franklin: community sustainability at UW-Stevens Point, Zagorski
Maya Hoffman: public health science at University of Maryland College Park, Hayes
Jennifer Kahn: biology at UW-Stevens Point, Hayes
Lucas Krueger: anthropology and history at Beloit College, Lee
Jessica Qualich: mechanical engineering at 91��Ƭ, Berg
Shayla Riley: public policy at Georgia State University, Atlanta, Zagorski

LAKES students collect plant samples during a soil lesson at a local farm / Tina Lee

LAKES REU is in its ninth year at 91��Ƭ. It is funded by the National Science Foundation and by the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, which works to enhance its water-related academic programs.

Lindsey Redepenning, an applied mathematics and computer science student at 91��Ƭ, and Professor Keith Wojciechowski are collaborating with LAKES researchers. Their research is funded through a separate Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin grant.

“Environmental sustainability and water quality is such an important issue and one we can’t ignore. Mentoring students is the absolute best part of my job, and it’s a privilege to get to know such an amazing group of young people each summer,” Lee said.

Making a decade of research accessible

Boksanski thinks that a direct pairing of science and communication is uncommon for undergraduate research opportunities, which makes LAKES stand out from other programs.

He is collaborating with local organizations to post infographics in the community to best present nearly a decade of LAKES research collected by nearly 100 students.

He read 20 peer-reviewed papers on scientific communication and found that different forms of communication appeal to different audiences and that the most effective presentations are jargon-free with simple statistics and offer background on researchers to give them credibility.

“The process of synthesizing nearly a decade’s worth of data can be grueling. You cannot fit all the information into a few reports, so picking the most important information from each topic is the biggest challenge,” Boksanski said.

“But it is rewarding. To put everything together and share our research with our community is important and feels great.”

Social Science: Activism in the community

As an applied anthropologist, Lee feels strongly that she should apply her research skills to problems that affect the area “since I’ve made it my home and am raising my children here,” she said.

Her hope for Elbert and Krueger is that they build a strong grounding in interviewing and qualitative coding techniques and are more prepared to conduct research in their careers or graduate school.

LAKES students help with fencing at a local farm / Tina Lee

Elbert’s project is connected to work Lee has been involved with in collaboration with Grassland 2.0. She is interviewing community members from a variety of sectors in the area to explore what a healthy rural community would look like to them, what changes they see that should be made and how the community might come together to make those changes.

Krueger will present on the history of environmental activism around the Red Cedar watershed. He is reviewing archival material and interviewing community members to highlight their efforts.

“From the Great Lakes to wild rice, to the success of Chicago and Minneapolis as river cities, water and Midwestern culture are nearly synonymous. By studying either, we learn more about both,” he said.

Krueger believes that changes in water are reflective of changes in culture, citing the reversal of the Chicago River by civil engineers in 1900 and the damming of the Red Cedar River in the 1880s to create a mill pond for the lumber industry, forming what is now Lake Menomin.

“By studying what people protected and how they did it, we can better appreciate the water and land around us,” he said.

Biology: surveys on wind patterns and zebra mussels

Hayes wants Hoffman’s and Kahn’s LAKES experience to be their first steps as independent researchers as they survey harmful aquatic plant and animal species on Lake Menomin.

“I want Maya and Jennifer to leave LAKES with a better understanding of the scope and magnitude of the impact humans have on lakes and of how much we still need to learn about lakes,” she said.

LAKES students Olivia Franklin, Lara Erickson, Jennifer Kahn and Maya Hoffman / 91��Ƭ

Kahn is surveying the zebra mussel population density and hopes to raise awareness of the invasive species. In one field experience, she led Hoffman, Erickson and Franklin on a search for the mollusks at Lakeside Boat Launch near the Menomonie Public Library.

The finding of zebra mussels in the lake is recent. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources discovered several hundreds of the mollusks last fall when removing docks from the lake before winter.

At Lakeside, Kahn turned over rock after rock and sifted through sediment. She identified several zebra mussels, as well as Chinese mystery snails, also an invasive species.

“There isn’t a way to get rid of zebra mussels once they arrive, but we can limit the spread. People need to be aware of the species’ presence to prevent accidental introductions to noninfested water bodies. They should inspect and remove any aquatic plants or animals from their boats, trailers and equipment before leaving a launch,” Kahn said.

LAKES students collect zebra mussels and Chinese mystery snails on Lake Menomin / 91��Ƭ

Hoffman is determining the impact of wind patterns on cyanobacteria bloom sizes and distribution.

This research on the harmful algae formations is her first exposure to limnology – the study of freshwater bodies. She has conducted different forms of data collection in the field, trekking through streams and collecting lake water samples while boating across Menomin and Tainter lakes. She is also gaining hands-on laboratory skills, filtering water samples to find Microcystis toxin concentrations and nutrient makeups and measuring algae colonies under the microscope.

“Looking at wind as a factor with cyanobacteria blooms is especially important when considering a recent phenomenon called atmospheric stilling,” Hoffman said. “This phenomenon is a climate change-driven pattern in which surface-level winds have been decreasing across the globe. These decreasing wind levels have been linked to increased harmful blooms in various other lakes across the world. Finding a link between climate change-driven patterns and these harmful blooms is an important sign to put more focus into this pressing environmental issue.”

Political science: Connecting awareness and policy

LAKES offers Erickson, Franklin and Riley an intersection of political science and environmental studies.

Erickson is compiling and analyzing perceptions of nitrate contamination in private wells in Dunn County, which may impact residents’ health and well-being.

Franklin is researching urban and residential runoff, its effects on waterways, public opinion and local mitigation on runoff. She is also investigating attitudes regarding sustainability and public perception.

Riley is a nontraditional student who grew up in a neighborhood next to a paper mill. Over the years, she noticed that people from the area suffered from reproductive issues and various cancers, including herself. She began to wonder if there was a link between the two. The experience inspired her passion for environmental studies.

Her LAKES research involves understanding if there is a relationship between a household’s awareness of local water pollution, the source of their indoor water and its quality.

“Existing research shows a strong connection between awareness and policy,” Riley said. “I think gaining detailed knowledge about local water quality issues empowers residents to take informed actions, whether advocating for better practices, participating in local initiatives or implementing personal changes to improve their own water safety.

“LAKES has been instrumental in my development as a student and researcher. It perfectly aligns with my plans to engage with and advocate for communities like my hometown and Dunn County to understand what resources are needed to make the changes necessary to improve the quality of life.”

Mechanical engineering and mathematics: Advancing agricultural technology

Berg, Qualich, Wojciechowski and Redepenning are collaborating on research to advance agricultural technology, working in the Jarvis Hall Greenhouse Lab on campus and with Chippewa Valley Bean of Dunn County, the world’s largest producer of dark red kidney beans. Wojciechowski is a project consultant at Chippewa Valley Bean.

LAKES student Jessica Qualich and AMCS student Lindsey Redepenning measure kidney beans in the Jarvis Hall Greenhouse / Keith Wojciechowski

Qualich, of Buffalo Grove, Ill., is growing kidney beans using Farmbot, an automated three-axis robotic farming system housed in the greenhouse. Farmbot allows Qualich to study precision planting, watering and soil analysis techniques and climate simulations.

Redepenning, of Elk River, Minn., is using Farmbot to receive data input such as irrigation levels and to take photos of the kidney bean crop canopy cover twice weekly. The data and photos help her track growth through a canopy cover model, which displays leaf area, ground cover area, plant conditions and productivity.

Redepenning was drawn to 91��Ƭ's AMCS program because it offers “the perfect balance of math and computer science to give me a wealth of knowledge in both subjects.” She will graduate in December 2025 and plans to work in industry or earn her master’s degree.

AMCS student Lindsey Redepenning installs a Farmbot to collect data at Chippewa Valley Bean / Keith Wojciechowski

Students’ 2024 research will be posted in August on the LAKES website, where past research is also available.

Students receive a $5,400 research stipend for the summer, as well as housing in 91��Ƭ’s residence halls, a $450 food allowance, up to $500 in travel reimbursement and funding support to travel to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research to present their final research findings.

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Students get hands-on access to specimens through 91��Ƭ Polytechnic’s unique on-campus lab

Students compete to revolutionize restaurant industry in 48 hours

Make48 returns to 91��Ƭ Polytechnic with regional hospitality competition.

LAKES researchers to present on dynamics of water quality, community efforts to protect it on Aug. 8 at Raw Deal in Menomonie LAKES students collecting invasive species on Lake Menomin

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Experience LAKES REU

Experience LAKES REU. Spend two months in Menomonie, WI, research with professional mentors and present your findings at an academic conference.

Hero Caption: LAKES students look for zebra mussels on Lake Menomin for a research survey on the invasive species.

Tina Lee

Teaching Interests: Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology of Gender, Anthropology of the Contemporary U.S., Qualitative Research Methods, Applied Anthropology

Research Interests: Gender, Race, Poverty and Class; Family and the Law; Women’s Activism; Public Policy; Urban United States

Full Name: Dr. Tina Lee

Job Title: Professor / Program Director / Certificate Advisor

Include in Directory: Yes

College: College of Arts & Human Sciences

Department: Social Science Department

Program

All Degree Programs

Curriculum Vitae: Tina Lee CV (57.7 KB)

Education:

Degree: Ph.D. Anthropology

University: The Graduate Center, City University of New York

Degree: Women's Studies Certificate Women's Studies

University: Graduate Center, City University of New York

Degree: M.A. Anthropology

University: Arizona State University

Degree: B.A. Anthropology

University: University of Houston

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Arthur Kneeland

Skills: Teaching, Entomological taxonomy, sampling and IPM. Sustainable Agriculture, GIS proficiency, ARCgis and ERDAS. Statistical proficiency, SAS,

Teaching Interests: Entomology, lab teaching,

Research Interests: Innovative sustainable agricultural techniques, Insect Ecology,

Full Name: Arthur J. Kneeland, M.S.

Job Title: Senior Lecturer

Include in Directory: Yes

College: College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Management

Department: Biology Department

Curriculum Vitae: Arthur Kneeland CV (51.93 KB)

Education:

Degree: M.S. Renewable Resources Entomology

University: University of Wyoming

Degree: B.A. Sc Applied Science Lab Management

University: University of Wisconsin-Stout

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Students take multiple first, second places for computer programming, sustainable packaging research

goersab — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 18:39:58 +0000

Students take multiple first, second places for computer programming, sustainable packaging researchgoersab December 11, 2023

STEM students excel at regional, state competitions

Abbey Goers

91��Ƭ students across multiple programs in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Management stayed cool under pressure as they took home first and second place prizes in multiple regional and state competitions this fall.

The Coding Club dialed in first places in both the experienced and novice team classes in the programming competition at the 30th annual Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges Midwestern Conference.

Four computer and electrical engineering students raced against teams from 13 area universities to solve computer programming problems at the DigiKey Collegiate Computing Competition to earn second place.

And Areeba Ali, a graduate student in M.S. food science and technology, won the Wisconsin Biohealth Communications Competition for graduate students at the Wisconsin Biohealth Summit. This is her second first-place prize for research this fall.

Coding Club takes first place twice in CCSC competition

Coding Club members participated remotely from Jarvis Hall Science Wing during the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges, Oct. 20-21. An in-person competition was held at University of Indianapolis’ Schwitzer Student Center.

91��Ƭ’s Coding Club members in Jarvis Hall / Saleh Alnaeli

Club members involved were:

Evan Dewitt, computer science junior from Wisconsin Rapids
Riley Gaetz, first-year computer science student from Eau Claire
Emmett Jaakkola, second-year applied mathematics and computer science student from St. Paul
Brett Kreklau, applied mathematics and computer science senior from Chili, Wis.
Nathan LaCrosse, first-year applied mathematics and computer science student from Portage
Tyler Marefke, applied mathematics and computer science; computer science alum from Marshfield
Ziad Mohammad, computer and electrical engineering senior from Alexandria, Egypt
Matthew Pomes, computer science senior from Milwaukee
Dylan Rothbauer, second-year computer science student from Cadott

“A good way to think about coding is that it’s like writing instructions for a computer to do a certain task,” LaCrosse said. “I would encourage others to join Coding Club. The competition was a good experience, and it’s a great way to familiarize yourself with problem solving in computer science.”

Professors Saleh Alnaeli and Ahmed El-Magrous, faculty advisers and club officers, helped organize the conference.

“We try to motivate our students to go beyond the classroom. Joining Coding Club and participating in competitions like CCSC are great opportunities to be involved and build leadership skills,” said Alnaeli, who thanked 91��Ƭ’s mathematics, statistics and computer science department for its support.

During the conference, Alnaeli and El-Magrous presented “Exploring the Quality and Vulnerabilities of Open Source Systems: An Empirical Investigation.” Professor Tyler Thomas presented on “Secview: A Design for Lightweight Security Code Reviews through Live Static Analysis Integration.” He also presented senior project pitches from the computer science Software Engineering Practicum.

The CCSC is a nonprofit organization that promotes the advancement of computer science degree programs and curricula. It also supports activities for faculty related to computing resources and educational applications of computer technology.

Coding Club members and mentors at the Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium / Saleh Alnaeli

Last spring, Coding Club students took second among 30 university teams in the programming contest at the 55th annual Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium, at the University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

CEE students takes second place in DigiKey competition

The second-place DigiKey team traveled to Thief River Falls, Minn., on Oct. 20. Their challenge consisted of a set of word problems and two programming events – a long problem and a short problem.

Members were Corey Hedlund, of Eau Claire; Sam Koland, of Forest Lake, Minn.; Jack Lonn, of Eden Prairie, Minn.; and Michael Witt, of Port Washington. They were coached by Assistant Professor Yuan Xing, engineering and technology department.

91��Ƭ’s second-place team at DigiKey / Yuan Xing

“The word problems were basically like a math test. We did extremely well on this section and only missed one out of the 24 problems. We got first for that section. I enjoyed the competition, mainly because I got to hang out with some cool teammates,” said Hedlund, who enjoys the CEE program because of the big class projects, where “I can choose what I want to do and spend a few months making it real.”

For the programming problems, teams were given a description of desired inputs and outputs, with a goal to write a program that gave an expected output, and which ran on 10 test cases. The teams were given 15 short problems and four long problems, with 90 minutes to solve each set.

91��Ƭ’s team solved seven out of 10 test cases for the short programming problems. Six teams out of 19, including 91��Ƭ’s team, solved none of the long problems, which were much more difficult, Hedlund added.

“The DigiKey competition has a huge impact in this region,” Xing said. “Teams from Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota attend. 91��Ƭ has been invited to attend every year, but this is the first time our team received a prize – an amazing second place.”

The team received $3,000 and each member received a $200 Amazon gift card. DigiKey has been holding the competition since 2000.

Ali’s research wins first place at BioForward competition

Areeba Ali with her Biohealth Communications award in Madison / Areeba Ali

At the Biohealth competition, Ali presented her research, “Eco-friendly Biodegradable Packaging for Food from Milk Whey Protein Isolate,” competing against other graduate/medical students and postdoctoral fellows from Wisconsin universities and technical colleges. Her research into sustainable packaging made from milk protein was inspired by Wisconsin’s dairy-rich identity.

The competition, organized by BioForward Inc., seeks to aid Wisconsin’s young biohealth leaders and emerging scientists in developing critical skills to discuss advanced topics with the general public in quick, fun and accessible presentations, Ali said.

“This could not have been possible without the guidance of my supervisor, Dr. Pranabendu Mitra,” Ali said.

Ali thanked 91��Ƭ’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, which awarded her a Student Research Dissemination Grant to attend the event. Students have four opportunities each year to apply for the grant. Last year, 41 grants were awarded, totaling $47,087.

This was the third annual Biohealth competition, held on Oct. 17, at the Overture Center, in Madison.

Food science graduate student Areeba Ali wins WiSys Quick Pitch state title, People’s Choice

Research into sustainable packaging made from milk protein inspired by Wisconsin’s dairy-rich identity

Ali received $1,000 for her first place. In August, she also won first place and the People’s Choice Award for “Development of Eco-friendly Milk Whey Protein Isolate Biodegradable Packaging,” at the annual WiSys SPARK Symposium’s Quick Pitch state final, hosted by UW Oshkosh.

STEM students excel at regional, state competitions Coding Club students at the MICS competition

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B.S. Applied Mathematics & Computer Science

Our B.S. Applied Mathematics & Computer Science program will help you develop the analytical and technical skills to solve real-world problems.

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B.S. Computer Science

Our B.S. Computer Science program offers project-based experiences and opportunities—from paid internships to hands-on Agile software development.

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B.S. Computer & Electrical Engineering

Our B.S. Computer & Electrical Engineering program will prepare you to apply your analytical skills in the design of new computer-based systems.

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M.S. Food Science & Technology

Our M.S. Food Science & Technology program will prepare you for a future as a food technologists/leaders through education, research, and outreach.

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Hero Caption: Coding Club members competed at the Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium last spring. Photo provided by Saleh Alnaeli.

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Stout Scholar is a ‘dedicated and passionate math teacher,’ hired before graduation

goersab — Mon, 22 May 2023 17:02:40 +0000

Stout Scholar is a ‘dedicated and passionate math teacher,’ hired before graduationgoersab May 22, 2023

Follow O’Brien’s senior year as she steps from the court into the classroom

Abbey Goers

91��Ƭ inspiring graduate and Stout Scholar Erin O’Brien began her job search for teaching positions in April during spring break and accepted a position the same week.

“I wanted to go somewhere, and now’s the time to do it. I don’t have anything holding me back,” said O’Brien, of South Haven, Minn. “I thought, ‘I could apply anywhere.’ And then, ‘Oh, my god. I could apply anywhere.’”

O’Brien’s mom suggested she pick three places that interested her, but also places her mom would want to go on vacation. O’Brien chose to research Colorado, Utah and Tennessee.

With a passion to help others find joy in math, O’Brien, an applied mathematics and computer science major with a concentration in math education, will teach either Geometry or Algebra 1 at LEAD Southeast High School, in Nashville, Tenn.

Erin O'Brien and Chancellor Katherine Frank / 91��Ƭ

O’Brien, a fourth-year member of the Blue Devil women’s basketball team, graduated with honors, Summa Cum Laude, on May 6, one of 1,173 graduates.

She will move to Nashville in early July, shortly after completing her student teaching at Ellsworth Middle School in June.

The Stout Scholars Scholarship awards three outstanding incoming students each year with $5,000, renewable for up to four years, for a total of $20,000. Stout Scholars represent 91��Ƭ’s commitment to students’ success in their studies and their career readiness.

This is the fourth and final story in a series following O’Brien’s college experience at 91��Ƭ. Fellow Stout Scholar Nathan Thompson, double major in applied science and mechanical engineering shared his experiences as well.

Stout Scholars Student Stories

Follow two Blue Devils on their college journeys

‘Creating a positive learning environment for her students’

O’Brien completed her field experience last fall at Menomonie High School, observing in Dwight McNaughton’s Algebra Calculus AP classes. She was able to teach two algebra lessons. “It was a good experience being in the classroom again, since I hadn’t been in a high school classroom since I was in high school. We worked on arithmetic and geometric sequences, finding patterns in a list of numbers,” O’Brien said.

Erin O'Brien celebrates her graduation near the Bowman Hall Clock Tower / Erin O'Brien

Through her Multiculturalism in Education course, O’Brien observed math classes at Barron Middle School. She also worked with 10 to 12 students in the Expanding Learning Opportunities Program, in the English as a Second Language classroom.

O’Brien began her student teaching internship in Ellsworth in January, in an eighth-grade math classroom. Her co-op teacher, Karen Beard, was hired at the same time. “I’ve really been enjoying it,” O’Brien said. “Because we both came into the new classroom together, I got to hear Karen set her classroom expectations, and we go to talk together about our wants and goals for the students.”

Beard and McNaughton believe O’Brien will be an excellent teacher and an asset to LEAD’s math program, as she takes initiative working with students.

“Erin is a dedicated and passionate math teacher that cares about the success of all students in her classroom. She is an energetic and enthusiastic individual, and it carries over into her creating a positive learning environment for her students,” Beard added.

After teaching much of the algebra course through her internship, O’Brien is confident and prepared to lead her first classroom in Nashville.

“Eighth graders are a tough group. They feel like they’re top dog in middle school, but they’re basically freshmen,” she said. “I once heard that if you can teach eighth graders, you can teach any group of kids. They’re good kids but they like to test your boundaries.

“It’s also about trying to find ways to bridge gaps with them. The pandemic really hurt young students’ education and social experiences. So, how do we prepare them for algebra when some of them don’t have other basic skills?” she added.

For students who need additional support in math, Ellsworth has an online Foundations in Math program, which students can take at their own pace. O’Brien helps to set up students with the program.

She is also working with Spanish-speaking ELO students at Ellsworth, teaching them math in English and Spanish, with added activities to help in their speaking skills, like playing hangman using math-associated words. She finds the experience very rewarding, as LEAD Southeast High School is very diverse and has a high ELO population, she said.

“I’m really excited to be able to work one-on-one with students and helping to find resources and figure out a plan for what they need in math,” she said.

Erin O'Brien with her mentors Amanda Rogers and Laura Schmidt at the Honors College Bestow the Stoll ceremony / Erin O'Brien

O’Brien worked as a teaching assistant in the Math Teaching and Learning Center for five semesters. This spring, she received the Student Employee of the Year at the annual Leadership Awards. Her mentors Professor Laura Schmidt, director of the MathTLC, and Learning Center Specialist Amanda Rogers joined O’Brien at the Bestow the Stole ceremony for the Honors College.

“Erin has been a fantastic student during her years here at Stout, and I have truly loved getting to know her while she has tutored for us in the MathTLC. She will be greatly missed,” Schmidt said.

“Erin continually balanced her coursework, TA position, and other involvements, and her passion and dedication was always evident in all areas. She is a natural teacher, leader, role model and mentor. We are very excited for her next chapter and know she will continue to do great things,” Rogers added.

A surreal victory capping off four years

O’Brien played center for the women’s basketball team for four years. The team won its second through 11th games, including a Senior Night match versus UW-La Crosse. “My parents were at the game,” O’Brien said. “We won in double overtime. In four years, we’d never beaten La Crosse. It was exciting.”

Erin O'Brien with her parents and Coach Hannah Iverson at Senior Night / Erin O'Brien

The team started the season with all members returning, except 2022 graduate Lizzy Olsem. “It was hard to fill Lizzy’s shoes. She was a great leader for our team,” O’Brien said. “We all kind of took on a role in leadership this season, and it all flowed.”

The highlight for O’Brien this year was the 63-45 victory over UW-Eau Claire on Feb. 15, when 91��Ƭ became Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference co-champion, the team’s first regular season conference title in 16 years.

Blue Devil women's basketball highlights / 91��Ƭ Athletics

With former teammate Olsem in the crowd, O'Brien scored at the buzzer to give 91��Ƭ a 17-14 lead heading into the second quarter. “The sections were packed. The game was one of the highest attended games in WIAC for women’s basketball,” O’Brien said.

“It was announced at halftime that Whitewater had lost to Platteville. But we were still in the locker room, so we didn’t know that the game we were playing against Eau Claire turned into a battle for a share of the WIAC championship title” O'Brien said.

“Toward the end of the fourth quarter, the student section was chanting ‘WIAC champs,’ and Lizzy kept holding up a ‘No. 1’ finger, but we didn’t know what she meant,” O’Brien added. “We found out within the last two minutes of the game. It didn’t seem real because you want it so bad, and we actually met our goal to cut down the nets and be WIAC champs.”

The team celebrated each other and the season at the annual basketball banquet. “It was hard saying goodbye. This team is so much more than its talent. We love each other with all of our hearts,” O’Brien said. “Your team is your family, and that’s really true here. We give each other love and grace and support what each of us wants to achieve.”

Blue Devil women's basketball team shares the title of the WIAC championship / 91��Ƭ Athletics

She added that even though she struggled and sacrificed a lot – taking a step off the court in her junior year to cheer her team on from the bench to be able to focus more on her academics; giving up free time to be at practice and traveling for games; and struggling with the toll it took on her body and mental health – her four years as a student athlete helped more than it hurt.

“There’s always these big ifs,” she said. “Maybe I would have been healthier if I didn’t play – that was a big question mark for me last year. But you don’t want to give up and that makes it hard. And all those hard things made the championship feel even more surreal.”

O’Brien is thankful for her counselor, Kyle Kershek, in the Student Counseling Center. “Kyle helped me develop the skills I needed to make sure I stayed healthy mentally. He made me feel heard and helped me work through my struggles throughout my four years here at Stout,” O’Brien added.

Meeting her academic goal was priority

This spring, O’Brien was one of 56 to receive the Scholar Athlete award. Recipients must have a cumulative 3.5 grade point average in the semester preceding their final season of eligibility.

Scholar Athletes receive a medallion, and a large action poster of each senior will be displayed in the Sports and Fitness Center during the upcoming year.

“Academics and my education have always been the most important part of my time here,” O’Brien said. “If academics is truly what I’m here for, then I set a goal to be up there on the wall in the fieldhouse.”

Erin O'Brien and Associate Athletic Director Erin Sullivan at the Scholar Athlete awards / 91��Ƭ

The Scholar Athlete program is supported by the Office of the Chancellor and the Office of Academic and Student Affairs.

This season, O’Brien played 102 minutes, scored 36 points and had 21 rebounds, with six rebounds during the WIAC championship game. Her career totals are 424 minutes, 163 points and 102 rebounds. She has played basketball since the second grade. She plans to join a summer league and hopes to coach someday.

O’Brien was also vice president of the AMCS women’s group, which held study and game nights and hopes that as a couple of younger students take over the helm, the group stays thriving.

And she also always made sure to take a break for Tuesday Night Trivia at the Silver Dollar restaurant in downtown Menomonie. “It was nice to do some mind exercises, outside of basketball. It’s good to have a separate place to sit with friends and eat a good burger and fries,” she said.

O’Brien’s college experience made her more confident and comfortable stepping out of her comfort zone. Looking back on her four years at 91��Ƭ, she is proud to have been able to “do it all and have it all. I was able to do athletics and still keep my academics where I wanted them. I’ve always been a high achiever,” she said.

“I had fun on the weekends and at campus events. I was able to find a balance even with many hiccups. When you get knocked off balance – when you’re out of sync – you find your way back. Having people who cared – my professors, classmates, teammates, coaches and counselors – made all the difference.”

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Stout Scholar has ‘a true passion for teaching,’ takes on new leadership roles

goersab — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 15:00:00 +0000

Stout Scholar has ‘a true passion for teaching,’ takes on new leadership rolesgoersab August 25, 2022

Follow O'Brien's third year as she prepares for prestudent teaching

Abbey Goers

Sitting with her family in a restaurant as a child, Erin O’Brien remembers her dad sliding her the check and helping him to calculate the tip for their server. This was her first experience with math, and having fun with her dad, it left a strong impression on her.

Just having completed her junior year as an applied mathematics and computer science major with a concentration in math education at 91��Ƭ, Stout Scholar O’Brien looks forward to her career as a teacher when she can help students enjoy learning math too.

Stout Scholar Erin O'Brien at a waterfall in Waimea Valley, while studying abroad in Hawaii. / Erin O'Brien

O’Brien, of South Haven, Minn., would like to teach at the middle or high school level, in higher level algebra or calculus. As a teaching assistant in the Math Teaching and Learning Center – a tutoring center on campus – she’s receiving hands-on skills tutoring her peers.

“The Math TLC is giving me experience teaching, and I can work around my class and basketball schedule,” said O’Brien, who plays center for the Blue Devils.

“I can go in and talk to the mentors, professors Amanda Larson and Laura Schmidt, anytime. They let me follow through with my own lesson plans and teach the Math 80 classes I request.

“And Dr. Sturgill has been a mentor math ed-wise,” she added, referring to Assistant Professor Derek Sturgill. “He’s a funny dude but is always very concerned about his students’ welfare.”

Larson and Schmidt have worked with O’Brien since she started as a Math TLC teaching assistant two years ago.

“Erin is a fantastic tutor and one of the best I have worked with over the seven years I have been director,” Schmidt said. “Her choice to begin a career in secondary math education is a perfect one for her. She is extremely knowledgeable, patient with students and truly understands their needs and worries.”

Larson agreed. “Erin has shown exemplary work as a TA with the Math TLC since day one and continues to show commitment to success for all students each and every day on the job,” she said. “She has a true passion for teaching and has a bright future ahead of her as a future teacher.”

Erin O'Brien with friends at a Blue Devils football game. / Erin O'Brien

One of O’Brien’s favorite courses her junior year was Graph Theory, where she used graphs to solve real-world problems like scheduling conflicts or mapping routes.

“For example, Google Maps uses graph theory to find the shortest route possible between two points,” she explained. “You can find examples in history too. For our partner project, we researched how Roman Emperor Constantine protected the city using graph theory by moving his armies to different locations.”

O’Brien also serves as vice president of AMCS Women’s Club, where women and nonbinary people can connect with others interested in the field. The club provides professional development and networking opportunities, as well as study and game nights.

O’Brien will begin her prestudent teaching this fall and will take a Multiculturalism course to learn equity, diversity and inclusion in teaching. She’s hoping for placements in the Menomonie area to be near campus during the basketball season.

Being a team is about more than winning

The women’s basketball team was seeded second in the conference playoffs for the 2021-22 season. O’Brien saw action in 11 games. When she felt she needed to focus more on her academics, she approached her coaches with her concern.

“It was a hard decision to choose between basketball and academics. Choosing a path, you always wish you could do everything,” she said. “But my coaches and team are great support. Our team is like family, and our coaches care about our whole selves as young women, rather than just a basketball team. The team atmosphere is more than about winning.”

Erin O'Brien, center for Blue Devils basketball. / 91��Ƭ

During practice she played on the scout team, studying opponents’ plays and running them at full speed against her teammates. She credits senior Lizzy Olsem, starting forward, for giving her confidence as a scout player.

“Everyone plays their role to the best of their ability, whether a start or scout,” she said.

“We were really motivated this year, and we found ways to be energetic and cheer our team on. Even though all of us wanted to be out on the floor, it was fun to support the team from the bench too.”

With a coaching minor, O’Brien has learned CPR, anatomy and physiology, kinesiology, prevention of injuries and coaching theory. She volunteered at the university’s basketball camp in June, where she used some of her classroom experience firsthand and took on new leadership roles.

She is also working with University Housing this summer as a conference assistant and appreciates the flexibility the job offers around her schedule.

Living off campus, O’Brien enjoyed having her own kitchen and yard, and a place to hang out and invite friends over. With space to relax, O’Brien still found comfort on campus as well and continued to see her counselor at the Counseling Center, helping her work to through struggles and find focus, she said.

“The Counseling Center is a great resource. A lot of people struggle with anxiety or depression and may be ashamed to talk about it, but everyone needs a little extra help,” she said. “My counselor helps me mentally and helped me find what I need to do for self-help, like journaling, meditation and yoga.”

Expanding her perspective and exploring new places

From May 26 to June 12, O’Brien joined the Environment and Sustainability course in Hawaii, an opportunity she’d been waiting two years for while study abroad was delayed because of the pandemic.

Erin O'Brien, fourth on the left, at Nu’uanu Pali Lookout on Oahu with her study abroad class. / Erin O'Brien

Led by 91��Ƭ Professor Julie Beston and onsite Coordinator Loretta Chen, O’Brien learned about the local ecosystems on the islands, with group side trips to see an active volcano at night, swim at a waterfall, cliff jump and surf.

“It was a class I needed to take, and who doesn’t want to learn in Hawaii,” she said.

O’Brien’s favorite experience was going to the Paepae O He'eia fishpond, where she learned about the restoration process of the pond and its goal to feed people in the community.

O’Brien, left, and fellow students at the Paepae O He'eia fishpond. / Erin O'Brien

“How they talked about the restoration process was very spiritual, or sacred to them, and I found that so interesting,” she said. “Before this trip, I only thought about the academic definition of sustainability or restoration, and now my definition has definitely expanded.

“Hawaii was an amazing experience. I learned so many new things. The group of people I traveled with made it even better,” O’Brien said.

“I made new friends with the students in the class. Professor Beston was amazing to travel with, and Dr. Chen was one of the best people that I met on this trip. She was just so kind and outgoing and made you feel at home.

“Honestly, I think it is a Hawaii thing, because every person I met was so kind and welcoming to us and it made being so far from home a lot easier,” she said.

More than 70 91��Ƭ students studied abroad or away from campus this past summer in more than 10 countries and programs.

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Hero Caption: Stout Scholar Erin O'Brien, second from right, celebrates with her team at a Blue Devils game vs. UW-Eau Claire.

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Online coding, data analytics boot camps offer network of support to build careers

goersab — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 15:34:59 +0000

Online coding, data analytics boot camps offer network of support to build careersgoersab June 2, 2022

University’s collaboration with UW System helps answer high demand for web developers in Wisconsin

Abbey Goers

A new online learning format for web developers seeking coding and data analytical skills is being offered by 91��Ƭ, in collaboration with UW Extended Campus.

The Coding and Data Analytics Boot Camps are held over the course of 24 weeks through live, instructor-led virtual classes. Learners are trained in the fundamental concepts of web development, applications and big data as they work individually and in teams on real-world projects that can be showcased in professional portfolios.

Instructors, tutors, peers and a dedicated career director offer a network of support to help students map a career path, develop soft skills and build professional materials. Graduates receive a certificate from the University of Wisconsin and may also network with industry partners and alumni

The next data analytics camp begins Tuesday, June 28 / 91��Ƭ

The camps are open to anyone. While the coding camp has an entry-level curriculum, it is recommended that people have a bachelor’s degree or at least two years of experience in business, management, finance, statistics or a related field when enrolling in the data analytics camp. Tutorials for the camps are available.

The cost is $11,995. Scholarships and payment plans are available for those who qualify.

Demand is high in Wisconsin for web developers, business and data analysts, computer programmers and database administrators. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, web development is one of the fastest-growing careers, with jobs projected to grow by 13% through 2030.

Hands-on data analytics training

The Data Analytics Boot Camp focuses on teaching students the practical and technical skills needed to analyze and solve complex data problems. Registration is open for the next set of classes, which runs from Tuesday, June 28, to Tuesday, Dec. 13.

The program covers a broad array of technologies like Excel, Python, JavaScript, HTML5/CSS, API Interactions, SQL Databases, Tableau, Fundamental Statistics, Machine Learning, R, Git/GitHub and more.

Students will complete projects to solve real-world business problems using data sets from the fields of finance, health care, government and social welfare.

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The next coding camp begins Monday, Aug. 22 / 91��Ƭ

Through a market-driven curriculum, the Coding Boot Camp prepares students with the knowledge needed to tap into today’s digital economy.

The next camp begins Monday, Aug. 22.

Students will learn front- and back-end technologies, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, database theory, Git and more.

Ryan Campbell is a Coding Boot Camp graduate. He shared his experience in the Boot Camp Blog. Campbell secured three job offers halfway through the program and accepted an offer as an associate software engineer at Northwestern Mutual, helping junior developers learn as they work.

“I’m very happy with the decision I made,” he said. “My philosophy when I started the boot camp was to learn new things and apply for jobs after. I never imagined I would have three job offers before the program ended and wind up working for a company that I really enjoy.”

UW Extended Campus partners with University of Wisconsin System campuses to offer online degrees, certificates and courses, as well as continuing education and lifelong learning opportunities.

The boot camps have nearly 200 graduates to date, helping to meet Wisconsin’s growing workforce needs. The camps are powered by Trilogy Education Services, a 2U Inc. brand. 2U partners with more than 50 universities in 27 states and five countries to prepare professionals for high-growth careers in the digital economy.

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