71st Annual

Celebration of STEM

February 13, 2024

5 to 8 PM

Brookfield Conference Center

325 S Moorland Rd, Brookfield, WI

2023 Engineer of the Year: Junjie Niu

At the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee (UWM), Dr. Junjie Niu, Associate Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Science, has supervised many STEM undergraduate/graduate students in engineering research in energy storage and water treatments. To engage more students in engineering research and improve their attitudes toward science, Dr. Niu works closely with the UWM Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) to provide hands-on research experiences through its SURF program. SURF matches undergrads seeking research experiences with faculty working on active projects. Students are hired as research assistants and paid an hourly wage. Dr. Niu impacts local education through such model programs by providing teachers with support, teaching materials, and valuable summer experiences. As a result, applications to CEAS at UWM are expected to increase. Dr. Niu actively works to encourage more students, particularly women and under-represented groups, to pursue a career in engineering and science.

2023 Young Engineer of the Year: RJ Nowling

Dr. RJ Nowling has acquired vast experience and research working in different corporations and earning advanced degrees. When he shifted to working in academia at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), he brought a wealth of experience and hands-on knowledge to his classrooms, giving students industry insight and real-world experiences.

After his Ph.D., RJ expanded on his academic training with four years at leading tech companies. From May 2014 to August 2016, RJ was a software engineer at Red Hat, Inc., focusing on open-source software for scalable data processing. RJ was part of a group evaluating a potential analytics stack using open-source software such as Apache Spark and the Gluster distributed file system. He contributed to Apache Bigtop and Apache Spark projects and gave talks at ApacheCon Big Data 2015 and Spark Summit East 2016. After two years at Red Hat, RJ became a data science engineer at the online advertising company AdRoll. He was part of a team that developed and maintained a recommendation system to expose users to new companies. Through this work, RJ gained experience with ML production systems and what would later be called MLOps. RJ joined the faculty of MSOE in the Fall of 2018 as an Associate Professor and Machine Learning Graduate Certificates Coordinator, where all undergraduate Computer Science majors require data science and machine learning courses. RJ is committed to advancing the next generation and is in tune with his students' needs and aspirations. He is committed to preparing them for their careers and advancing the next generation of technology: AI and machine learning. 

2024 Spirit of STEM Winner: Milwaukee Tool

As Milwaukee Tool’s footprint continues to grow dramatically in SE Wisconsin, so does its community impact! The company is being recognized with the 2024 “Spirit of STEM” Award for its outstanding efforts in K-12 STEM and Trade Education to improve outcomes for those impacted by social inequities. The company and its employees implement a wide variety of local STEM partnerships and trade education programs. Learn more about Milwaukee Tool by visiting their website.