Kickstart: Engineering and politics in Wisconsin

Engineering education in Wisconsin got tangled in a political debate about diversity, equity and inclusion, and it looked for a while that the state's public universities were going to suffer as a result.

In the end, though, a compromise held, which is good news for a new $347 million College of Engineering building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. And that's a big deal in plastics circles, because Wisconsin educates a lot of the sector's future engineers.

The issue started this summer, when Republican leadership in the state Legislature tried to eliminate DEI practices in the University of Wisconsin system. For leverage, they held up staff raises and construction projects.

UW President Jay Rothman brokered a deal that freed up those funds — including $200 million for a new engineering building in Madison — in exchange for a cutting staff positions focused on DEI.

But then the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents surprised everyone and rejected the compromise on Dec. 9. Alumni who had planned to donate $150 million for the $347 million engineering building were disappointed and said the project would not move forward without the state funding, according to the Milwaukee BizTimes.

After hearing from university officials, the Board of Regents reversed course and voted 11-6 on Dec. 13 to support the compromise.

The regents and university officials are unhappy with what they considered political meddling in university business. But one noted that there was nothing about the resolution that changes their goals and commitments related to inclusion, belonging and access.

How much would you pay for a 3D printed home?

According to Crain's Detroit Business, Detroit's first 3D printed house is nearly finished being built, and now it's listed for sale. The 988-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-bathroom home in the Islandview neighborhood (near Belle Isle) is listed for $224,500.

For some perspective, I moved to Detroit 10 years ago this month, and at the time the expectation from my friends in Ohio was that I could buy a house for $5 in the city. Detroit had just filed for bankruptcy a few months earlier. I guess you could say the real estate market was depressed.

That's not the case today, although $227 a square foot seems pretty steep, even in the elevated 2023 real estate market.

One local broker told CDB that the pricing reflects that this is new construction, low maintenance, energy-efficient and offers buyers many of the amenities of the nearby Indian Village and West Village neighborhoods.

The average American cares a lot about being more sustainable but still uses 140 plastic bags every year.

Those are some findings from a recent survey of 2,000 U.S. adults that asked them to rate their efforts of becoming more sustainable in the past five years.

Some more highlights:

Only 18 percent would give themselves an "A+" for sustainability.

Two-thirds (66 percent) said they seek more products from recycled or plant-based materials and 58 percent look for products that are biodegradable.

What inspires people to become more sustainable? No. 1 on the list is watching documentaries (53 percent), followed by living through the COVID-19 pandemic (50 percent), reading scientific research (50 percent) and wanting to make changes for their health (48 percent).

Way down the list are meeting a partner who is more earth-friendly (17 percent) and encouragement from family or friends (11 percent).

Is it possible that peer pressure actually has the opposite impact when it comes to sustainability? Judging from news stories about climate change and electric vehicles, I would not be surprised.