College of Letters and Science Faculty Document No. 543 April 10, 2000 RECOMMENDATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES AND THE GRADUATE PROGRAM COMMITTEE THAT THE FACULTY APPROVE THE CENTER FOR INDUSTRIAL MATH Recommendation: That the Faculty approve The Center for Industrial Mathematics as outlined in this document. Rationale: See section B below. Proposed Name Center for Industrial Mathematics Brief Description, Purpose and Justification For four years the Department of Mathematical Sciences has been involved with industrial mathematics activities. Of particular importance are the industrial mathematics options within the Master's and Ph.D. degrees. An important component of these practical degrees is the requirement that students solve a problem, the source of which is from industry. It has become apparent that there are difficulties stemming from the non-academic aspects of industrial mathematics activities. For example, there are problems with attracting funding (donations or payment for services) from companies, there are legal problems having to do with non-disclosure and patent rights, and there is a lot of extra work to be done in visiting private corporations and keeping in contact with them, as well as advertising for both students and industrial clients. Most of the aforementioned activities necessary for the industrial mathematics program at UWM cannot be done easily within the usual academic department setting. Professors carrying out regular duties are not well suited for the liaison activities, primarily because these tasks require a heavy investment in time and effort that simply is impossible to generate. What is needed is a liaison organization that can serve the department in an ancillary capacity, as a kind of professional wing of the department, to act as a catalyst for furthering the industrial mathematics academic program. To address the non-academic challenges with industrial mathematics, the Department of Mathematical Sciences and the College of Letters and Science propose the creation of a service center at UWM to be called the Center for Industrial Mathematics. The Center for Industrial Mathematics will have as its primary purpose the following activities: visiting companies to set up internships, to identify problems, and to attract grants or contracts for Master's and Ph.D. students and faculty in the Department of Mathematical Sciences; acting as a catalyst for bringing groups of researchers and students together in grant or contract applications; dealing with legal problems, usually non-disclosure or patent right agreements, on behalf of students and faculty who otherwise would not have the experience or means to cope with these difficulties; advertising to companies and to students to keep the academic program healthy; and sponsoring conferences, seminars and workshops in industrial mathematics for university and corporate researchers. Organizational Structure The Center for Industrial Mathematics (CIM) is to be a Service Center, with no academic programmatic component. It will have a Director who is a tenured faculty member of the Department of Mathematical Sciences, to be appointed each year by the Dean of Letters and Science. There will be a CIM Faculty composed of faculty members of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (from any departments). The members of the CIM Faculty will be professors whose expertise is primarily mathematics. They will be appointed by the Director of the Center for Industrial Mathematics. There will be CIM Faculty Associates, consisting of Ph.D. faculty members or corporate researchers, not necessarily at UWM. CIM Faculty Associates will be scientists who agree to further the interests of the Center for Industrial Mathematics, of the Department of Mathematical Sciences, and of the university in general. A third category will be CIM Members, which typically will include UWM graduate students in the Department of Mathematical Sciences or corporate engineers or scientists. Decisions affecting the Center will be the sole responsibility of the Director and/or the Dean (and Associate Dean of Natural Sciences) of Letters and Science, with advice from CIM Faculty and Chair of Mathematical Sciences. Resources to be Committed to the Center Resources to be committed to the Center for Industrial Mathematics include some start-up costs provided by the College of Letters and Science. This money includes $2,500 for the first year in developing stationery, web pages, and advertising, as well as 1/9 salary for the Director in the first two summers of activity. Thereafter, there is no specific request for funding, since it is hoped that independent funding sources will provide the necessary resources. Individuals to be Associated with the Center The following individual faculty/staff members will constitute the CIM Faculty/Staff (unless otherwise indicted, they are from the Department of Mathematical Sciences): Bruce A. Wade, Director Robert H. Moore Brian S.R. Armstrong (EECS)   Richard O'Malley Vytaras Brazauskas David H. Schultz Jugal Ghorai Steven J. Schwengels Eric S. Key Donald Solomon Malgorzata Klosek Gilbert G. Walter Albert Milani   Long Term Plans The primary focus for the Center for Industrial Mathematics during the next five years will be advertising and publicity, developing corporate contacts, designing legal template documents for students to bring to companies, and applying for grants from the federal government. This year the Center is expecting to host a major international applied mathematics conference in Milwaukee. Five years from now the Center for Industrial Mathematics should have a significant list of successful corporate contracts and problems solved, as well as a few grants awarded. The name will be well known throughout the country. More students will be applying to industrial mathematics graduate studies, and corporate contacts outside of the State of Wisconsin could be pursued, especially in the Chicago area. It is expected that the Center for Industrial Mathematics will become a solid contributor to the Milwaukee Idea through the Technology Center.