MADISON, December 9, 2013 – Wisconsin small- and medium-sized businesses will have the opportunity to gain access to specialized high-performance computing systems and services under a new program unveiled Monday by the Milwaukee Institute, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and Mason Wells.
The Milwaukee Institute, a non‐profit, public service organization, has received matching grants of $250,000 each from the WEDC and Mason Wells, a local private equity management firm, to fund the one-year program, a public‐private initiative that is the first of its kind in Wisconsin.
The funding will be used by the Institute to expand the availability of high-performance computing systems and services for small- and medium-sized businesses in Wisconsin as part of the Institute’s ongoing efforts to promote economic development through technology‐oriented businesses that need such resources to perform complex modeling and simulation studies for new products and services.
The initiative is expected to promote high-tech job growth in the state by accelerating the Institute’s long-term commitment to developing a statewide center of excellence in applied computational science, high-performance computing and mass data storage applications.
“Now – more than ever – it’s crucial that Wisconsin businesses learn to employ advanced technology, including computational science and specialized high-performance computing systems and services, in order to innovate in a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive environment,” said Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. “Major companies and institutions, including Rockwell Automation and the Medical College of Wisconsin, recognize the value of utilizing high-performance computing and are already working with the Milwaukee Institute. This new program will enable smaller businesses to gain the benefits of access to the institute’s computing network and will provide them with the training needed to use that network to be spur innovation.”
“This is great news for companies and organizations that want to begin utilizing these specialized computing services, but otherwise wouldn’t have the resources or necessary training to do so,” said Reed Hall, secretary and CEO of WEDC. “This program – along with other advanced technology efforts supported by WEDC – will have a long-term positive impact on job growth and the state’s overall economy.”
“We are pleased to partner with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and Mason Wells to offer the Institute’s systems and services to assist innovative organizations in creating new or upgrading legacy products and services requiring access to modern modeling, simulation, visualization and analytics capabilities,” said Dr. Jay Bayne, founder and executive director of the Milwaukee Institute. “In the process, we expect to see improvements in the efficiency of engineering, research and development processes and the emergence of a new class of computational and data scientists.”
Read this story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here.
Companies can apply for grants of up to $50,000 to access the Institute’s specialized high-capacity computing and storage network called the MGrid. The Institute’s computational scientists will guide new users in the design, setup and use of research and analysis schemes for areas such as 3-D modeling, pattern analysis, and complex system dynamics forecasting. Grants will be awarded to a minimum of five companies.
The project will provide Wisconsin small- and medium-sized businesses – the largest job producers statistically – with a defined and financially viable pathway to grow their innovation programs through access to the MGrid.
The Milwaukee Institute will provide the funding to companies through a new Computational Science Challenge Grant Program. The deadline to apply for a grant is January 31, 2014, and companies can get more details about the grant at the Institute’s website, http://www.mkei.org/, or by calling 414.727.6411
An interactive webinar on the grant will take place at 10 a.m. CST on Thursday, December 12. The free webinar, open to all, will include details on how companies can apply for a challenge grant. Participants in the webinar will be able to ask questions via the webinar or by tweeting them with the hashtag #hpcwis.
To register for the session, visit http://inwisconsin.com/supercomputer
About The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), formed in 2011 as a public-private entity, leads economic development efforts for the state and nurtures business growth and job creation by advancing Wisconsin’s business climate. In addition to Wisconsin’s strong legacy industries of agriculture and manufacturing, recent growth has occurred in water technology, renewable energy, bio-sciences, health care, and food processing. In 2012 Wisconsin was ranked No. 20 in Chief Executive Magazine’s “Best States for Business” and No. 17 as a top state for business by CNBC. WEDC partners with 650 economic development organizations throughout Wisconsin to serve businesses looking to start, grow or relocate. WEDC has four focus areas: business and industry development, economic and community development, entrepreneurship and innovation, and international business development.
About the Milwaukee Institute
The Milwaukee Institute, established in 2007 initially sponsored of Rockwell Automation, Johnson Controls, Metavante, Mason Wells, and Quarles & Brady, provides technical computing systems and services that support research, engineering and development programs in and among commercial, academic and government organizations. Since then, the Institute’s computational resources have supported projects at the Medical College of Wisconsin, UWM, Marquette University and several companies and institutions, including Medical Cyberworlds, Rockwell, Dematic, Dedicated Computing,and Direct Supply.
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