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News from around Western Wisconsin

Eau Claire adds most construction jobs of U.S. cities

The Business Journal of Milwaukee

The state of Wisconsin lost 10,400 construction jobs between February 2009 and February 2010, but of the 10 metropolitan areas to add construction jobs over the year, Eau Claire saw the largest gain for the second straight month, according to federal jobs data analyzed by the Associated General Contractors of America.

The Eau Claire metropolitan statistical area grew construction employment to 2,700 in February, up from 2,100 in the same month in 2009, a 29 percent increase. The area is currently seeing major construction work at an Eau Claire Nestle plant and at Luther Midelfort Mayo Health System. In January, Eau Claire added 500 jobs to lead the nation.

Every other Wisconsin metro lost jobs in February, except La Crosse, which remained flat. The state's overall total declined to 83,600 from 94,000 the year before. The Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis area lost 17 percent of its construction jobs, falling to 22,300 from 27,000 the year before.

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UW-RF to open learning center in Hudson

Rivertowns.net

The University of Wisconsin-River Falls will open a new Hudson-based educational institute the fall of 2010. The UW-RF Hudson Center will serve the St. Croix Valley with a focus on undergraduate courses for non-traditional and working adults seeking to complete a baccalaureate degree, or enroll in select graduate and certificate programs.

"We are excited about establishing a facility to serve the St. Croix Valley in new ways, and to further strengthen our partnerships with the community," Chancellor Dean Van Galen says.

The Hudson Center will include several technology-enabled classrooms and meeting space to serve a range of educational and community needs.

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Leinenkugel resigns as state commerce secretary

 Milwakee Journal Sentinel

Dick Leinenkugel, who is resigning as secretary of Wisconsin's Department of Commerce on Friday, said he will make an announcement about his new plans in two to three weeks.

He declined to say whether he intends to run for public office.

"There is something that I would like to pursue and it's an opportunity that I'm going to be able to let everybody know about within two to three weeks time," Leinenkugel said in an interview after Gov. Jim Doyle's office announced the resignation Tuesday. "But it's something that can't wait for the end of the term and I'm really excited about the possibility."

Leinenkugel has been Doyle's commerce secretary for the last 18 months - the fourth person in the job in as many years. Leinenkugel previously was vice president of the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., which his ancestors founded 140 years ago.

Leinenkugel said he has been "delighted to serve" as commerce secretary.

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Stout Rubes go all the way

VolumeOne

No idea how this came to be, but UW-Stout may be poised to become a Rube Goldberg powerhouse. Just last Saturday, their Rube Goldberg team one first place in the national collegiate Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, beating out 12 other teams that also battled their way to the national contest through various regional competitions. And this is the first year they've competed.  The university also hosts a regional qualifier for the high school version of the competition.

UW-Stout's Egyptian-themed design topped a medieval-themed machine by runner-up and defending champion St. Olaf College of Northfield, Minn. Third place went to Penn State, which had an Indiana Jones-themed machine. In case you don't know, Rube Goldberg is an annual competition in which students create a complex machine to solve a simple problem or perform a simple task. This year, machines were required to dispense the proper amount of hand sanitizer into a hand after at least 20 steps. UW-Stout's machine had 120 steps, including pop-up obelisks, a row of gods whose eyes lit up, a boat that floated on the Nile River, a sphinx and catapults. It told the story of events leading up to the burial of King Tut, which, as you know, is a chapter of history steeped in hand sanitizer.

Watch a video about the 2010 contest!

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The SMARTT Network Technologies section fosters early-stage business and technology activity in Western Wisconsin.

Description of Technology:

This invention relates to a sensor which allows dielectric measurements to be made in a completely non-obstructive manner on a fluid such as molten plastic flowing in a conduit. In particular, it relates to a ceramic cylinder with an interdigitate electrode capacitor patterned into the inside wall. The sensor may be used for continuous determination of copolymer composition and polymer viscosity (molecular weight) of material flowing in a conduit.

The dielectric properties of any polymer are frequency and temperature dependent functions of the dipolar and ionic atomic and molecular polarization. As a material is subjected to an alternating electric field, polar groups and free ions move and orient along the field lines, causing a buildup of charge at electrode surfaces. From measurements of the electrical current associated with this excess charge, the capacitance and dissipation of the system are computed. Using the exact geometry of the sensing volume, the dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor may be calculated. Dielectric properties can be used to measure polymer properties of interest such as thermal transitions, epoxy curing rates, water and additive concentrations, and voids in the polymer.

Benefits:

* Dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor may be calculated

Applications:

* Dielectric measurements