Milwaukee School of Engineering Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Search for an Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence 1
Introduction Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) has initiated a search for its PieperPower Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence. This new role at the university will further position MSOE at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) education and next generation technologies. MSOE has made significant investments in this space over the past four years, beginning with a $34 million gift from MSOE Regent and alumnus Dr. Dwight Diercks and his wife Dian to build the Dwight and Dian Diercks Computational Science Hall. Diercks Hall opened in 2019 and is home to “Rosie,” an NVIDIA GPU-accelerated supercomputer. MSOE also launched a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science that is focused on artificial intelligence. Enrollment in the program has more than doubled expectations. The first class of computer science students will graduate in May 2022, each with multiple lucrative job offers in hand. Beyond the B.S. in Computer Science, faculty are incorporating artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity and big data into a number of disciplines at MSOE, and have added certificate programs. The PieperPower Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence was made possible through a $2.5 million gift from the PieperPower Corporation Foundation Inc.
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Position Description The PieperPower Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence will be part of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) Department at MSOE. The Chair will act as a catalyst to establish a global collaboration that will address the societal challenges and opportunities brought forth by the widespread use and increasing power of artificial intelligence. The Chair will be a leader who exemplifies the six values of MSOE: collaboration, excellence, inclusion, innovation, integrity and stewardship. The Chair’s impact will be global community participation in the advancement of AI-based solutions that solve the complex technical and ethical challenges of today and tomorrow, consistent with MSOE’s mission. The Chair will hold a full-time faculty position at the associate professor or professor rank and will pursue research advancing the interaction of artificial intelligence with humans and its potential impacts on society. The successful candidate will demonstrate the potential to produce impactful scholarly work in this field, teach courses in computer science at the undergraduate and graduate level, serve as a research and capstone project advisor, and contribute to the fulfillment of the university’s strategic plan, Extraordinary Together. The Chair will contribute to MSOE’s established strength in the area of artificial intelligence. The EECS Department offers five undergraduate degrees including a computer science degree with a focus on artificial intelligence as well as a software engineering degree. The department also offers a Graduate Certificate in Applied Machine Learning and plans to offer a master’s degree program in machine learning. Significant investments have been made to support MSOE’s academic mission including the construction of the $34 million Dwight and Dian Diercks Computational Science Hall. More information about the programs and building are available at msoe.edu/diercks-hall. Faculty enjoy small class sizes and hands-on labs as well as continuous improvement and sustained professional development. Among the department’s strengths are strong partnerships with numerous businesses and academic institutes, which guide applied projects, research and curriculum development.
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Candidates with the potential to produce high-impact applied knowledge in the general area of AI human interaction are encouraged to apply. Candidates with expertise in the following areas are especially desired: adversarial networks, cybersecurity, socially beneficial data science, dataset/algorithm bias, natural language processing, medical data analysis, ensemble methods and learning, and AI in complex systems. Applicants must have strong oral and written communication skills and an earned doctorate degree. The Chair will be expected to teach courses at the undergraduate and graduate level within the EECS Department, with a reduced teaching load to allow for the building of new collaborations and scholarly research.
About Milwaukee School of Engineering Milwaukee School of Engineering is an independent, non-profit university with about 2,700 students that was founded in 1903. MSOE offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in a variety of engineering disciplines, computer science, actuarial science, nursing, business, user experience and construction management. Faculty are student-focused experts who bring real-world experience into the classroom. This approach to learning makes students ready now as well as prepared for the future. Longstanding partnerships with business and industry leaders enable students to learn alongside professional mentors, and challenge them to go beyond what’s possible. MSOE graduates are leaders of character, responsible professionals, passionate learners and value creators. 5
MSOE Mission, Vision and Values
At the Forefront
Our Mission Inspires Us MSOE is the university of choice for those seeking an inclusive community of experiential learners driven to solve the complex challenges of today and tomorrow.
MSOE welcomed the first students to its Bachelor of Science in Computer Science program in the fall of 2018. In this program focused on artificial intelligence, students learn on the leading edge of technological revolution, developing skills to solve problems using algorithms, applied mathematics, and AI in a hands-on environment working on real problems with faculty who have industry experience. Since then, MSOE has expanded its AI offerings with a Graduate Certificate in Machine Learning and an AI for Emerging Applications Undergraduate Certificate, and by incorporating AI and related topics into the curriculum of all degree programs. In addition, MSOE is planning to offer a Master of Science in Machine Learning starting in fall 2023.
Our Vision Challenges Us MSOE will set the standard for preparing leaders to solve the diverse technical challenges of the 21st century. Our Values Unite Us Six values are at the core of campus culture: •
Collaboration – We value working together across boundaries.
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Excellence – We value the pursuit and achievement of excellence.
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Inclusion – We value authentic engagement with diverse people, beliefs and ideas.
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Innovation – We value creativity and new ideas for lifelong service, discovery and growth.
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Integrity – We value doing the right thing in a reliable way.
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Stewardship – We value the responsible use of our resources.
Our Students Engage Us We aspire to educate and develop graduates who embody the attributes of the MSOE Mindset and become Leaders of Character, Responsible Professionals, Passionate Learners and Value Creators. Faculty focus on helping students develop the MSOE Mindset throughout their educational journey by leveraging industry partnerships, incorporating high-impact educational practices throughout campus, and enhancing educational programs to deepen experiential learning. Extraordinary Together In 2017, MSOE embarked on a year-long process to develop a comprehensive strategic plan for the university. A cross section of MSOE faculty, staff, students, alumni and Regents dedicated countless hours to creating a plan that provided clear direction for the next five years. The plan was announced in 2018 and work began immediately to implement the strategies and actions outlined in the document. In 2020 MSOE, like the rest of the world, faced a global pandemic head-on. While the pandemic presented challenges that initially felt insurmountable, the MSOE community came together and realized it was being presented with opportunities. A team of faculty, staff, students, alumni and Regents reconvened to review MSOE’s strategic plan and determine what modifications and enhancements should be made to account for the changes in higher education, technology and the way the world interacts post-pandemic. That analysis resulted in an updated strategic plan to guide the university through 2026. The plan is available at msoe.edu/strategicplan.
The state-of-the-art Dwight and Dian Diercks Computational Science Hall is at the heart of these educational offerings. Diercks Hall is a $34 million, innovative and experiential learning center for both MSOE and the community. This facility was made possible thanks to a generous gift of MSOE Regent and alumnus Dr. Dwight Diercks and his wife Dian. Diercks Hall features: • • • • • • • • • • • •
65,536 total square feet on four floors above ground 16,500 square feet of data-rich laboratories 11,500 square feet of interactive classrooms 2,000 square feet of senior design lab space 2,800 square feet of corporate and academic partnership space 3,500 square feet of collaboration and event space 18,000 square feet of underground parking 256-seat auditorium State-of-the-art data center with “Rosie,” an NVIDIA GPU-accelerated AI supercomputer 7 contemporary classrooms 9 innovative teaching laboratories 25 faculty and staff offices
Meet Rosie Rosie is MSOE’s supercomputer. Rosie is an NVIDIA GPU-accelerated AI supercomputer with three NVIDIA DGX-1s, each with eight NVIDIA V100 Tensor Core GPUs, and 20 servers each with four NVIDIA T4 GPUs. The nodes are joined together by Mellanox networking fabric and share 200 TB of network-attached storage. Rosie was designed with room for expansion to accommodate advancing technology. MSOE is one of only a handful of universities to offer undergraduate students access to a supercomputer.
MSOE by the Numbers 2,747 total student body
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2,565 undergraduate and 182 graduate students 102 international students representing 35 countries 166 full-time faculty 95% graduate outcomes rate 13:1 student-to-faculty ratio 19 average undergraduate class size Awards and Accolades • • • • •
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Wall Street Journal named MSOE among the Best Colleges in 2021. Forbes named MSOE one of America’s Top Colleges. The Princeton Review named MSOE one of the Best in the Midwest. According to PayScale Inc., MSOE offers the highest ROI and early- and mid-career salary of any college or university in Wisconsin. Minority Engineer Magazine, Woman Engineering Magazine and STEM Workforce Diversity Magazine named MSOE a Top 20 University for Fostering Diversity & Inclusion (2021). For 2022, U.S. News & World Report named MSOE:
Living, Learning and Working in Milwaukee
9th Best
Engineering Programs overall in the U.S. 4th Best
University in the Midwest for Veterans
7th Best
Value School in the Midwest
7th Best
Computer Engineering Program in the U.S. 15th Best
Civil Engineering Program in the U.S.
14th Best
Electrical Engineering Program in the U.S.
8th Most
Innovative University in the Midwest
10th Best
Mechanical Engineering Program in the U.S. Best Undergraduate Nursing Program in the U.S. New this year, U.S. News ranked the top 700 nursing programs in the nation and MSOE was 288th.
8th Best University in the Midwest msoe.edu/rankings
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MSOE is proud to call downtown Milwaukee home. Milwaukee is Wisconsin’s largest city, yet it has a small-town feel. MSOE occupies 22 acres in the vibrant downtown neighborhood called East Town. There are countless activities withing walking distance from campus including shopping, theaters, restaurants, world-class cultural institutions, public markets and professional sporting venues—including the Fiserv Forum, home of the world champion Milwaukee Bucks whose championship parade took place next to campus. Also within blocks of MSOE, you’ll find densely populated neighborhoods filled with 19th century houses integrated with multi-unit apartment buildings and condos and, of course, the beautiful Lake Michigan. Milwaukee is home to national and global companies like Johnson Controls, HarleyDavidson, Rockwell Automation, Northwestern Mutual, GE Healthcare, Milwaukee Tool, ManpowerGroup, Kohl’s Corp., WEC Energy Group and Fiserv—most of which are Fortune 500 corporations. Milwaukee has a strong tradition of being a hub for manufacturing and innovation, and with MSOE’s strong ties to business and industry, the opportunities for its students to get hands-on, application-oriented educational experiences are endless. Learn more about Milwaukee at visitmilwaukee.org.
Campus Enhancements MSOE has celebrated several enhancements to its campus over the past decade to meet the needs of today’s students. Major construction and renovations like the Dwight and Dian Diercks Computational Science Hall, We Energies STEM Center, Robert Spitzer Dining Commons, Ruehlow Nursing Complex expansion, Raiders Stadium, Direct Supply Innovation and Technology Center, and Hermann Viets Tower continue the momentum that began with the Kern Center, Grohmann Museum, Pamela and Hermann Viets Athletic Field, Grohmann Tower and Ruehlow Nursing Complex. All of these facilities are designed to support learning, collaboration and campus life.
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The Application Process The search committee will accept nominations and applications until the position is filled. Application materials must be submitted via msoe.edu/ai-chair. When applying, please be prepared to upload a single pdf file which includes: 1)
a letter of interest
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a curriculum vita
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statement of research interests
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statement of teaching interest areas (including evidence of successful teaching if available) contact information for three professional references.
The review of applications will begin when applications are received and will continue until the position is filled. It is the policy of MSOE to provide equal employment opportunity to all individuals regardless of their race, ethnicity, color, creed, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, military and veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic characteristics, marital status or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal law. This policy applies to all jobs at the university and to all the terms, benefits, and conditions of employment/enrollment.
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