The cockpit and avionics are a one-to-one replica of a modern Cessna 172 Skyhawk, which is one of the most prominent general aviation aircraft. Joel Hallberg/College of Engineering

There’s a growing student interest in aerospace engineering, as well as strong career prospects in the aerospace industry. That’s one reason UW mechanical engineering professor Christian Franck and teaching specialist Aidan Butula ’23, MS’24 built a state-of-the-art flight simulator, housed in the College of Engineering’s Flight Simulator Laboratory.

Its cockpit and avionics are a one-to-one replica of a modern Cessna 172 Skyhawk, which is one of the most prominent general aviation aircraft. A licensed pilot with an aerospace engineering background, Franck drew on his extensive experience flying the Skyhawk to help create a simulator with a realistic look, functionality, and feel. It has wraparound screens to provide a 180-degree view, creating an immersive experience that feels like sitting in a real cockpit.

Franck plans to use the simulator, which he expects will receive Federal Aviation Administration certification, for an interactive learning experience in his course Flight Dynamics and Controls.

“Students learn the physics of controlling a flying aircraft in three-dimensional space,” he says. “Some of these concepts can be difficult to understand just from working on math problems. My goal with the new flight simulator is to add a strong hands-on learning component to the course to enable students to gain a better intuitive understanding of the physics and math they’re learning, where the students can directly experience how the equations apply to aircraft control.”

The custom-built simulator includes additional components, such as a display that gives real-time flight performance data, allowing students to analyze the stability of the aircraft and verify their calculations. Among its many potential uses, it could help students in design projects to analyze the performance of new types of experimental aircraft.

“There’s an appetite for establishing a full aerospace engineering major at UW–Madison,” Franck says, “and I think the flight simulator is an important step on that path.”

Adding a second major can pay big dividends, broadening students’ perspectives and boosting their future career potential. Danielle Lawry

If one major is good, are two majors twice as good?

Adding a second major can pay big dividends, broadening students’ perspectives and boosting their future career potential, according to UW academic advisers.

Roughly 30 percent of UW grads major in two or more areas, a rate that’s been stable for at least a decade. Pursuing multiple majors is particularly popular in fields like computer sciences, business, and economics.

One double-major combination stands out as most common: computer sciences and data science. In the 2023–24 academic year, 201 graduates received degrees in both fields — more than twice as many as any other double major.

“Students view the double major in computer sciences and data science as an opportunity to maximize their college experience and optimize their preparation for career paths in tech,” says Professor Steve Wright, computer sciences department chair.

The 10 most popular fields for double-majoring in 2023–24 are, in order, computer sciences; data science; business: finance, investment, and banking; economics; psychology; business: real estate and urban land economics; mathematics; political science; neurobiology; and biology.

The computer sciences major pairs well with many other majors, Wright says, “because in a tech- and data-driven world, it adds vital, marketable tech and analysis skills to almost every other knowledge discipline.”

Among the study’s major takeaways is that bird species’ habitat influences the frequency of the sound they may make. Madhu Venkatesh, Wildlife Conservation Action Team

Birds make sounds to communicate — whether to find a potential mate, ward off predators, or just sing for pleasure. But the conditions that contribute to the immense diversity of the sounds they make are not well understood.

Researchers at UW–Madison have conducted the first-ever global study of the factors that influence bird sounds, using more than 100,000 audio recordings from around the world. The new study revealed insightful patterns for why birds make certain noises and at what frequency.

Hypotheses about the role of habitat, geography, body size, and beak shape in forming bird sounds have been tested on a small scale. But H. S. Sathya Chandra Sagar PhDx’24, who works with Assistant Professor Zuzana Buřivalová in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, wanted to see if they held up on a global scale.

Sagar analyzed audio recordings of bird sounds taken by people around the world and submitted to a bird-watching repository called xeno-canto. The recordings represented 77 percent of known bird species.

Among the study’s major takeaways was that bird species’ habitat influences the frequency of the sound they may make. For example, in ecosystems with a lot of rushing water there is a constant level of white noise occurring at a lower frequency. In such cases, researchers found that birds tend to make sounds of higher frequency, likely so they won’t be drowned out by the water.

Another finding is that bird species living at the same latitudes make similar sounds. Observing this pattern at a global scale is an important piece of the puzzle in the evolutionary story of bird sounds. It could inspire further research into the aspects of geographic location that influence sound.

The research also contributed to the broader understanding of soundscapes — all the sounds heard in any particular landscape. Sagar hopes this foundational work will provide a platform for future studies to improve conservation efforts by developing ways to monitor the health of an ecosystem through soundscapes.

The program has the potential to connect people in rural and Native communities with better health care, good jobs, food, and entertainment. Danielle Lawry

UW–Madison engineers are leading a first-of-its-kind research center devoted to advancing autonomous vehicles in rural and tribal communities. The Tribal and Rural Autonomous Vehicles for Efficiency, Livability, and Safety Center will use cutting-edge UW science to address real-world problems.

There are many barriers to transportation services in rural communities, including limited availability of public transit and workforce shortages. The UW researchers hope to develop solutions that could, for example, help people access health care or commute to work with autonomous buses or robotaxis.

“We can directly dispatch autonomous vehicles if we get a call from someone who has a need,” says Xiaopeng Li, a UW professor of civil and environmental engineering who is heading the initiative. “It could provide more frequent access to services across large geographic areas, connect people to job opportunities, and bolster access to necessities.”

Moving autonomous vehicles from cities, where they’re most frequently used, to rural communities comes with its own set of challenges. Andrea Bill MS’06 of the UW Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory says rural roads can have different types of pavement marking and lane striping, or no striping at all. That means it will be important for autonomous vehicles to “see” and “understand” their surroundings well enough for safe navigation. They may also have to recognize vehicles like tractors or other farm machinery that rarely travel in cities.

The team will research a physical and digital infrastructure that uses low-cost sensors, drones, or even satellites to expand autonomous vehicle service in rural areas. Those technologies would work in conjunction with enhancements like improved road markings and signage upgrades.

Researchers will rely on input from many partners — especially rural and tribal communities — to understand how autonomous vehicles can suit their unique needs.

U.S. senator Tammy Baldwin JD’89, who advocated for the center, says it will “help make transportation more efficient, safer, and accessible for communities of all sizes. This program has the potential to help connect folks in rural and Native communities with better health care, good jobs, food, entertainment, and so much more.”

Riggins: “It’s really cool when you see someone try skating for the first time and then they grow to love it.” Althea Dotzour

At his office in UW–Madison’s Bakke Recreation & Wellbeing Center, Bill Riggins ’98, MBA’17 jokes that he has a “closed-door” policy.

He’s not unfriendly, just sensible. He needs to keep the cold out.

As the Bakke assistant director of ice operations, Riggins manages the Sub-Zero Ice Center. His office abuts the National Hockey League–sized rink, where temperatures can dip to 50 degrees.

The campus ice center opened in 2023, taking over blade-related activities from the now-departed Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center (the “Shell”). Interest in ice activities like hockey and figure skating has surged, with skate memberships doubling since the final pre-pandemic academic year at the Shell.

Riggins, a navy veteran, started his 21-year, ice-focused career at UW–Madison in an apt manner, atop a Zamboni. In 2004, he took a second-shift job smoothing ice at the Shell so that he could spend days with his three young daughters. To move up the management ranks, he earned an MBA at the Wisconsin School of Business.

Riggins credits his coursework with helping him generate ideas for improving ice operations. When a Thursday late-night skate became so popular that it jeopardized the safety of participants and forced the staff to turn students away, Riggins purposely “cannibalized” it by creating a Saturday theme skate. It’s an approach businesses take when a product becomes so popular they can no longer fulfill demand and must create an alternative to lure away consumers. Saturday theme skates are now a huge draw, averaging 150 skaters each week. Favorite themes include TikTok hits, Bollywood music, and ugly sweaters at Christmas.

Recently, Riggins secured a grant from the Madison Area Sports Commission to fund free field trips to the rink each academic year for five local elementary schools.

“I wanted to broaden our reach and get young people here who otherwise may not have had access to a rink,” Riggins says.

Introducing ice activities to newcomers is a big part of why he loves his job.

“It’s really cool when you see someone try skating for the first time and then they grow to love it,” he says.

Mehta “We don’t have effective support systems to help our first responders.” Joel Hallberg

Ranjana Mehta is exploring noninvasive neurostimulation — the use of targeted electrical pulses to certain regions of the brain — as a potential solution for fatigued first responders.

“We don’t have effective support systems to help our first responders,” says Mehta, a professor of industrial and systems engineering in the UW’s College of Engineering whose research includes human performance under fatigue and stress. “They are just figuring it out on their own, how to manage their fatigue. As a fatigue researcher, it becomes my responsibility to do something that really works for them.”

Neurostimulation is used to treat a wide range of medical conditions, from intractable depression to heart failure. In work published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroergonomics, Mehta and collaborators at Pennsylvania State University interviewed fire and emergency medical services professionals about the prospect of using neurostimulation to counter fatigue, then analyzed the responses and detailed the ethical considerations of such technology. They found that more than half of the subjects were interested in neurostimulation as a countermeasure to fatigue.

The first responders’ biggest concerns were autonomy over using a device, privacy regarding their usage data, and the long-term safety of neurostimulation. They also raised questions about the wearability of any device, which is why Mehta is working with a team of students in the Department of Biomedical Engineering’s undergraduate design program to create a system that fits inside a hard hat.

Mnookin: “These cuts harm our ability to train our students to be global leaders.” Bryce Richter

UW–Madison and the Universities of Wisconsin, along with industry, university, hospital, and health system partners, are urging Wisconsin’s congressional leaders to protect funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which drives groundbreaking research, lifesaving treatments, and economic growth in the state.

In a March 5 letter, 34 bio-health companies, health systems, industry associations, and research organizations asked Congress to oppose significant NIH cuts.

At a subsequent news conference on the UW campus, representatives of the group emphasized the importance of NIH funding in maintaining a strong bio-health ecosystem in the state, as well as the direct effect of federally funded research on addressing diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

“Indiscriminate reductions in research funding like those we’re facing right now pose significant risk to our state and nation’s future,” said UW–Madison chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin. “These cuts harm our ability to make critical, lifesaving discoveries and to train our students to be global leaders. They will also damage our nation’s innovation economy and our international competitiveness.”

At UW–Madison, more than 2,700 clinical trials — serving 20,000 patients — rely on NIH support. This includes experimental treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and other persistent health challenges.

UW–Madison professor of medicine Sterling Johnson leads the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention (WRAP) study, which seeks to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease years before people develop symptoms and identify ways to slow down the disease. Johnson said that when it comes to seeking prevention and treatments for Alzheimer’s, delaying research and innovation is not an option. He stressed that the disease continues to grow at an alarming rate, with the number of people afflicted expected to rise by 44 percent over the next 15 years.

This sense of urgency has motivated Sigrid Knuti ’64, a volunteer WRAP study participant since 2005, who advocated for continued federal investment in Alzheimer’s research.

“I want this generation to end Alzheimer’s,” Knuti said, “and I’m counting on Sterling and the University of Wisconsin to get it done.

Meléndez-Badillo in Puerto Rico’s Old San Juan: “Never in my life did I think that Bad Bunny would help my scholarship reach such broad audiences.” Althea Dotzour

How would you feel if, out of the blue, Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny called to ask you a favor? Last December, that’s what happened to Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, a UW assistant professor of Latin American and Caribbean history. Bad Bunny (a.k.a. Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) vibed with Meléndez-Badillo’s acclaimed 2024 book Puerto Rico: A National History, and the rapper’s team proposed that the scholar write historical narratives to accompany videos for the new album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.

Meléndez-Badillo dove into the project and composed entries for 17 songs within a week. Four days later, the videos with his Spanish-language text dropped on YouTube, racking up millions of views and making the UW professor something of a super-star himself. Sales spiked for Puerto Rico: A National History, and international media clamored for interviews.

Meléndez-Badillo was gratified by the chance to explore Puerto Rico’s challenges while celebrating its distinctive culture. His Bad Bunny adventure, he says, has been “mind-blowing.”

Bad Bunny vibed with Meléndez-Badillo’s acclaimed 2024 book Puerto Rico: A National History. Amy Harris/Invision/AP

Why did Bad Bunny reach out to you?

I think it’s because of the reception my book Puerto Rico: A National History has had in Puerto Rico. It seeks to understand the current political moment, and it aligned with the vision Bad Bunny had for DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS. The book is a history of Puerto Rico from pre-Columbian societies all the way to Bad Bunny, shedding light on communities that have been marginalized throughout history: working-class movements, feminist movements, queer movements. It’s interested in how history can help us to understand the present and also to envision potential futures.

What is the current political moment in Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rico has been undergoing a series of fiscal, political, and social crises since at least 2006. In Puerto Rico: A National History, I trace the longer history of that crisis. We have a frail infrastructure, and there’s a massive exodus of Puerto Ricans leaving the archipelago. It’s a series of unfortunate events caused mainly by colonialism and lack of sovereignty.

Why do you think the book connected with Bad Bunny and other Puerto Ricans?

I’ve always been guided by teachings from my grandparents, and I tried to add a human element to the narrative. I come from a working-class background, and that serves as my intellectual compass for the questions I ask about history. I wanted to write a book that could be taught in university classrooms but also read outside of the university — one that would be accessible to my grandparents, who made it to the fourth and sixth grade. It’s received a lot of attention and is being sold in the airport and in pharmacies in Puerto Rico.

I hope it’s helped people understand the complexities and the beauty of Puerto Rican history.

Were you a Bad Bunny fan before he contacted you?

A huge fan. I’ve seen him multiple times and have also written about him in a scholarly way alongside UW–Madison professor Aurora Santiago Ortiz. So I was excited when someone on his team reached out to me about a collaboration. We got on the phone, and the team explained that the record is a tribute to Puerto Rican culture and music — a national affirmation in the face of displacement and gentrification. I immediately said yes.

How did you approach the writing?

Bad Bunny was interested in a general overview of Puerto Rican history to go with the YouTube videos, so I wrote historical narratives that cover the conquest by the Spanish empire in 1508 until the present day. They also focus on specific topics like the creation of the Puerto Rican flag, strikes in the sugarcane industry, and Afro musical styles in Puerto Rico, from bomba and plena to reggaeton.

What’s been the response?

I’ve gotten messages from people around the world thanking me because they did not know anything about Puerto Rico — its colonial history and the richness of its culture. I’ve also gotten messages from Puerto Ricans who are learning about their own history. And Puerto Rican teachers have been incorporating the information in their classrooms.

Given this new wrinkle in your career, is UW–Madison a good place to continue your work on Puerto Rican history?

UW–Madison was always my dream job. The university has a great tradition of Latin American and Caribbean scholarship, and some of the greatest minds in the field were trained here. So I was over the moon when I got an offer to be part of that and am now working to expand Puerto Rican studies at the UW.

I became a historian because I wanted to share the knowledge with people outside of academia. But never in my life did I think that Bad Bunny would help my scholarship reach such broad audiences, using the biggest platform in the world.

Danielle Lawry

Student employment at UW–Madison can unlock many things: skills to prepare for a future career, work experience for the résumé, and lifetime friendships. If you’re paying your way through school, it can also mean making a living. It checked all those boxes for me as I filed away paperwork for the College of Letters & Science, served beer
at Memorial Union’s Stiftskeller, and interned for this very magazine.

What do today’s students learn on the job? According to a recent campus survey, the top three skills they develop are verbal communication, teamwork, and knowledge of individual strengths. This year, the UW’s student jobs board hosted more than 700 listings, with titles such as agricultural field technician, cybersecurity intern analyst, tour guide, invertebrate animal care assistant, surgical simulation intern, peer adviser, Zumba instructor, and “analytics hero.”

No matter the position, a student’s work for the university proves mutually beneficial.

“The perspectives students bring to our work help the UW grow and inspire us to improve in meaningful ways,” says Kristina Rittel, student employment manager for the Office of Student Financial Aid. “We would not be able to provide the exceptional services that we do without our student employees.”

Danielle Lawry

UW–Madison has been working to address new federal directives for higher education, some of which are having a disruptive effect on campus. Like fellow institutions, the UW is facing reductions in research funding and challenges to diversity initiatives.

“As these federal orders, actions, and directives continue to roll out, some of them create deep concern for and potential conflict with our long-held values like evidence-based research, academic freedom, pluralism, diversity of identity and viewpoint, support for our community, and nondiscrimination, among others,” Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin and Provost Charles Isbell said in a February 28 statement. “These have been, and remain, core values for our mission and our institution.”

Mnookin has acknowledged that “every new administration arrives with its own priorities, and change is to be expected. It’s also critical that we at universities listen carefully to those who may have significant concerns about our activities and operations.”

At the same time, she noted, “some of these directives would have a major and very concerning impact on UW–Madison, our operations, and our fiscal circumstances.”

Campus leaders are tracking the ongoing changes to ensure that UW–Madison responds thoughtfully and effectively. They are also appealing funding decisions with agencies and participating in legal challenges to prevent wrongful cuts, grant terminations, and delays. You can learn more in “UW Advocates for Research Funding” and “A Resource Worth Fighting For,” and on the university’s federal relations website.

In the meantime, the summer issue of On Wisconsin offers concrete examples of UW faculty, students, and alumni contributing to the public good. You’ll read about breakthroughs in medicine and engineering. You’ll meet people who have advanced the fields of business and journalism. And you’ll discover innovative courses that are keeping campus at the forefront of the artificial-intelligence revolution.

This being UW–Madison, you’ll also have a bit of fun. Hear about a historian’s collaboration with pop star Bad Bunny; take a last nostalgic stroll through Paul’s Book Store; jog along with the annual Crazylegs Classic; and relive the 1985 UW film shoot for the Hollywood comedy Back to School. Even in an uncertain world, we hope this issue inspires a summer’s worth of smiles.