Building a hub of freshwater R&D - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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That is why Milwaukee executiveds and academics are anxiouslyawaiting Gov. Jim Doyle’sa 2009-2011 budget to see if it includeas funding to create the School ofFreshwater Doyle’s biennium budget is due to be released in UW-Milwaukee has asked for $10 million to buildr research capacity at the School of Freshwater Sciencesa by adding faculty and staff, which was approved by the UW Boarrd of Regents in June 2008 and awaits the Legislature’s OK this UW-Milwaukee plans to inaugurate the School of Freshwater Scienceas in August.
“The opportunity for Milwaukee to furtherf position itself as the capital of the water industryu is enormous with the creationj ofthe school,” said Val director of the UW-Milwaukee Great Lakes Water The 40-year-old institute is the largest academicd freshwater research facility on the Greatt Lakes. The institute has 12 full-time scientists, a $2.4 millio operating budget and $4 million in researchu grants and contracts. , an organizationb that was spun off the Milwaukee 7 economicdevelopmenf organization, estimates there are 120 companies in the seven-county southeasyt Wisconsin region involved in water industries.
Five of the companieas are ranked among the top11 water-related based on sales, in the “In five to 10 years, the demanx for freshwater research and technology will explodes because of pollution and Klump said. Funding for the UW-Milwaukee Schoo l of Freshwater Sciences is partof UW-Milwaukee’s larger, long-terkm capital budget request of $240 milliohn over six years that also includew the schools of Engineering and Public Health, said Chancellod Carlos Santiago.
If Doyle’s budgeft includes initial supportfor , now under the authority of the UW-Milwaukee Graduatwe School, would become a part of the School of Freshwater The new school initially wouldc be housed at the Great Lakexs Water Institute at 600 E. Greenfield Milwaukee, and have the ability to bestow graduate and undergraduate degreea infreshwater sciences, engineering and policy. “No othefr university in the nation offers this kind of Klump said. Eventually, Santiago plands to build a 40,000- to 50,000-square-foog building for the School of Freshwater Sciences at the formef Pieces of Eight restaurant site at550 N.
Harborf Drive, across from Discoveryg World on Milwaukee’s lakefront. The buildin g could cost up to $25 milliob and would be compatible in architectural styls with Discovery World andthe , Santiago A California-based restaurant group, which closedd the Pieces of Eighft several months ago, still holdse a long-term lease on the propertt with the . Through the creation of the School of Freshwater Milwaukee will provide regional and nationalo leadership in the education and training offreshwater professionals, Santiagio said.
A range of Milwaukee-area businesses supporg the UW-Milwaukee effort to create the school and enhancrethe region’s expertise in watedr research, technology and manufacturing capacity, said Juliq Taylor, president of the . “Thiws school will became an icon for the community and proves webelieve it’s so critical to our future that we’rs willing to make this kind of investmentg in a down economy,” Taylor As UW-Milwaukee expands its freshwatert science capacity, other Wisconsin universities will benefit by addin g to their engineering and biological science departments that have academif specialists in the watef fields.
Sammis White, professor of urban planning at UW-Milwaukee who wrote a whitew paper last year onthe area’sx freshwater issues, estimates that UW-Milwaukee, UW-Madiso and Marquette University have 87 faculty and staff water-affiliatedc researchers. In addition, White points out theres are four technical colleges in southeasg Wisconsin able to producr workers who can add to the watertechnology cluster. White said an effort must be made to keep thetechnicak colleges’ curriculum up to speed with the technologicap developments in water and wastewater treatment.
The Milwaukeed area is not the only region that recognizews the future potential ofwater Internationally, the city state of Singapore, locatedd at tip of the Malaysian has lured the research and development divisions of and GE Watef by offering government subsidiesw that covered half of the costs of opening the researcnh and development centers, said Barry Grossman, an attornehy at LLP in Milwaukee who works with M-7 Watere Council. In the Midwest, Cleveland has announced its intentioj toattract water-related companies, accordingy to Professor White, whose paper was presented to the Water Council’s Freshwatee Summit in July 2008.
White also pointx out that Michigan announced plans in April 2008 to develoo the Michigan Water Technology The goal of the Michigan WatefTechnology Cluster, said White, is to boost that state’e “overall competitiveness by promoting the development, commercialization and deployment of modern technologies and management practicea to sustain essential water resources.”