The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) has awarded a $900,000 grant to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) to support UWM’s new Connected Systems Institute (CSI).

The multidisciplinary Connected Systems Institute (CSI) focuses on the industrial internet of things (IIoT), which uses sensors to gather data from equipment, machines, and manufactured products through secure data networks.

CSI will establish test bed facilities, conduct research and develop educational programs on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), according to a statement by the university. UWM is devoting more than 3,000 square feet of the east wing of its library to the first phase of the institute, with the option to expand by another 10,000 square feet.

CSI is expected to build on existing collaborations between UWM’s College of Engineering & Applied Science and its Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, along with other academic units at UWM and other UW System universities.

The institute’s curriculum is expected to be developed as the lab is being built. Executive education program courses will be offered beginning in the spring of 2018. Planning for the master’s degree program will also begin in the spring of 2018, and labs will open in the spring of 2019, says the university.

[Image courtesy: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee]