Pop into culture

Two graduates achieve career stardom, and in the process, affect the world of American popular culture

The typical college student in the United States is still at an age at which he or she longs to be a rock star or super star—in essence, to be famous someday. But as graduates of the University of Wisconsin-Stout know, you can achieve career stardom in any profession.

Zoom to top of mind
Brian Colianni ’79, for instance, can be called the Zoom-Zoom guy. You know, from the Mazda commercials that make you want to get up and move.

Colianni joined Mazda in 2004. Through products and customer experience, his role was to execute the delivery of Zoom-Zoom, a marketing campaign that was launched in 1998. The campaign takes Mazda back to its heritage of catering to customers who truly enjoy the driving experience.

Colianni was a driving force behind the success of the Mazda brand resurgence. Now the product line is devoted mainly to vehicles that appeal to customers who want fun when they are behind the wheel.

“Zoom-Zoom is about a feeling,” Colianni said. “We want to deliver that feeling in all Mazda touch points—product experience, purchase experience and vehicle service experience.”

“Zoom-Zoom is defined as the emotion of motion,” Colianni continued.

“Everybody knows it, everybody feels it, but kids say it best when they say ‘Zoom-Zoom.’ Adults sometimes suppress their inner desire for Zoom-Zoom, but it is still there, and this is the message we try to convey in our communications.”

That explains why you can’t sit still through a Mazda commercial.

Colianni was with Mazda North American Operations for three years. First as the vice president of customer service operations and then as the senior vice president of marketing and sales.

Colianni was hired by Ford Motor Co. immediately after graduation from UW-Stout, and he has been with the company for 29 years. Because Ford owns approximately a third of Mazda, Ford management routinely moves its executives in and out of the Mazda organization and that is how he came to be the executor of Zoom-Zoom.

“I am not sure there is any one who didn’t like the feeling of Zoom-Zoom as a child,” he said.

And Colianni was no different. As a young boy he would build go-carts out of scrap lumber and old wagon wheels. His front axle was a wood board with rope strung at each end. He yanked the rope to steer down the hills near his home.

“No brakes. Just steer and hang on,” he said.

After his go-cart phase, he progressed to skate boards, then mini-bikes and motorcycles, followed by boats and cars.

“It was all of these interests that actually brought me to Stout to study,” Colianni said. And it was these same interests that led him to a successful career in the automotive industry.

A truly memorable moment, he said, was when he helped introduce the new Mazda MX5 Power Retractable Hardtop to a group of automotive journalists. He and a Mazda team convoyed from their Orange County, Calif., headquarters through the wine country and up the Pacific Coast Highway to attend the Monterey Historic Automobile Races at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and then on to the Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach.

“Hard to have more fun at work than that,” Colianni said.

Colianni, though, is most proud of the career accomplishments that made a lasting difference in the way Ford operates. For instance, in 1990 he launched the Customer Assistance Center with more than 200 customer-care agents who were trained and could be deployed to assist Ford customers with any questions or concerns; and in 1995, he established the FordStar Satellite Distance Learning Network to deliver onsite training via digital satellite broadcast network to all dealership employees. Both endeavors continue in full operation today.

“These aren’t as exciting as launching a new vehicle, but they have lasting impact on how we operate and care for our customers,” Colianni said.

Colianni now is executive director for Ford Asia Pacific and Africa. He directs business growth and customer relations for 12 countries from his headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand—where he still finds time to Zoom-Zoom.

See you in the funnies
Then there is Michelle Ollie ’92. She moved from Minneapolis to White River Junction, Vt. to open a cartoon college in 2004. It made a lot of sense, she said, given the rising interest in comics and graphic narratives.

“Comics—also referred to as graphic novels, drawn books and manga—are the fastest growing area of the publishing industry and are creating unprecedented excitement in the art, literary, design and publishing worlds,” Ollie said. “In the past few years, ‘60 Minutes II,’ National Public Radio’s ‘Talk of the Nation,’ the Chronicle of Higher Education and Time magazine have all covered this phenomenon.”

Ollie and cartoonist and educator James Sturm founded The Center for Cartoon Studies and spent a year setting up the operations, recruiting faculty and renovating an old department storefront building on the main street of town. The first class of students enrolled in the fall of 2005. Today the campus includes the special-collection Schultz Library and a studio building.

“We saw a void for such a program in higher education and an opportunity to introduce a curriculum that could address both the creation and production of comics and graphic narratives,” Ollie said.

The nation’s top cartoonists lecture at the center, she said, including Art Spiegelman (“Maus”), Chris Ware (“Acme Novelty Library”), Garry Trudeau (“Doonesbury”) and Wisconsin-based cartoonist Lynda Barry (“Ernie Pook’s Comeek”).

Fun and games, yes, but opening any business is a 24/7 job, she said.

“I eat, sleep and drink it. To me, it’s incredibly energizing, so I’m not complaining,” Ollie said. “It reminds me of the late night hours in the lab at Stout. I love being in the moment, working on a project and looking at the clock to find out it’s morning.”

Within the school’s first two years of operations, it received approval from the Vermont Department of Education to award certificates and Master of Fine Arts degrees. And this past April, the Vermont Higher Education Council invited the center to become a member, making The Center for Cartoon Studies the first non-accredited college member since the council was founded in 1944.

“Incredible recognition for our program,” Ollie said.

But that’s just one recognition among many that the newly minted school has received.

The Center for Cartoon Studies has been featured in the New York Times, the LA Times, the Boston Globe (“The Best Idea 2005”), the Chicago Tribune and on the front page of the Washington Post.

Plus, books produced at the school are getting great reviews and winning industry awards. Two graphic biography books—“Houdini: The Handcuff King” and “Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow”—made the American Library Association top 10 young adult graphic novel list for 2008. A third book in the series—“Thoreau at Walden”—has just been released and already is getting rave reviews.

The school’s first commencement ceremony this past year was her proudest moment, though.

“I really felt a sense of accomplishment, seeing the first class graduate and my newborn son in the audience. I was on top of the world,” she said.

Her mornings now start with a cup of coffee and games with 1-year-old son Phineas. She then walks to work, following a wooded trail system that connects the residential area to the business district.

“The school fits perfectly with this quirky New England railroad village,” Ollie said. “What can I say? Where else would you open a cartoon college?”

The village of White River Junction sat dormant since its glory days of the railroad. But now the village is experiencing a rebirth, with the renovation of old buildings and the construction of new ones. A new coffee shop and a martini bar now join the Polka Dot Diner and food co-op.

“I would like to think The Center for Cartoon Studies played a role in bringing attention to the wonderful assets of this historic village,” Ollie said.

With all the attention the school is receiving, more than likely it did.

It is fortunate, then, that The Center for Cartoon Studies may not be the last great idea Ollie develops.

“I have a post-it wall of ideas,” she said.

“I try to write down good ideas and just stick them on the wall. I would love to move a few of them off the wall and into the world before the glue gives.”

Winter and spring sports summary

A national champion and a first-ever trip to the Big Dance highlighted the UW-Stout winter and spring sports seasons.

Freshman Naomi DeLara, of Kahului, Hawaii, captured the gymnastics balance beam championship in March with a school record score of 9.80. DeLara lived up to her No. 1 seed in the event going into the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association championships.

Sophomore Meghan Hargens, of Rosemount, Minn., and senior Ashley Timm, of Eden Prairie, Minn., earned All-American honors.

The UW-Stout hockey team filled the Dunn County Ice Arena consistently throughout the season as the Blue Devils battled to repeat their reign as Northern Collegiate Hockey Association champions. Stout players fought their way into the NCHA title game, only to fall in overtime to eventual national champion, St. Norbert, 4-3, but did earn a first-ever invitation to the NCAA Division III Championships. The trip was short-lived, though, as Stout lost, 4-1, at St. Thomas in the first round.

Defenseman Jack Wolgemuth, a junior from Anchorage, Alaska, was named to two All-American teams and forward Derek Hanson, a sophomore from Bemidji, Minn., was named All-West Region. Senior defenseman Jeff DeFrancesca, of Mount Prospect, Ill., was one of eight national finalists for the Hockey Humanitarian Award.

On the hardwood, sophomore Julia Hirssig, of Rochester, Minn., stepped out of the shadows and started to throw her own. Hirssig, a forward on the Blue Devils' women's basketball team, was a finalist for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference player of the year, was an All-Central Region pick and led all of Division III in shooting percentage, hitting 64.8 percent of her shots.

In track, junior Pam Sellberg, of Brooklyn Park, Minn., won the conference pole vault title during both the indoor and outdoor season and advanced to both national championships. Sophomore Ashlea Peter, of Wausau, earned indoor All-American honors in the triple jump and successfully defended her WIAC outdoor triple jump title.

The men's and women's golf teams wrapped up their second seasons as varsity programs, with the men's team under consideration to advance to the national championships.



UW-Stout defensemen Jeff DeFrancesca was one of eight finalists for the Hockey Humanitarian Award, presented by BNY Mellon Wealth Management.






Freshman Naomi DeLara became the first UW-Stout women's gymnastics national champion when she won the balance beam event at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association championships in March.

A Brief History

UW-Stout’s Into the Book program, named in honor of the program’s first selection, Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, was born at a Dec. 3, 2002 meeting of the university’s First Year Experience Subcommittee.

At that meeting, chaired by Associate Dean of Students Shirley Murphy, subcommittee member Jacqueline Bonneville gave an overview of common reading programs across the nation and the decision was made that in-coming freshmen at Stout would profit from such a program. As the newly elected chair of the English and Philosophy department, I was theoretically a member of the subcommittee but, because I had taken a sabbatical during the fall semester, our former department chair, Susan Thurin, served in my stead. She also agreed to chair the Into the Book Committee, which was to consist of a mix of faculty, staff and students. Committee members were to choose a book to be used in the summer and fall of 2003. I took over chairing the committee the following year.

To prepare them for the Into the Book program, incoming freshmen are notified that they will be expected to read the same book over the summer as a preview to the kind of intellectual activity that will await them at the university. When they arrive in August, after having presumably read the book, they are placed in discussion groups which are led by a wide range of faculty, staff and student volunteers. Later in the semester, the book is to be used in freshman English classes and in any other university courses for which it is relevant.

Meeting primarily during the spring semester the committee looks at a wide range of books before making a decision. Everyone in the university is invited to contribute recommendations and attend a committee meeting to argue for their choices. In general, committee members look for books that are of high intellectual and artistic merit and try to balance a wide range of concerns that have been brought forward by various members of the university community. Thus we have been asked to make sure that our selections in various years will appeal to both men and women, deal with multicultural and disability issues, deal with controversial topics (but not topics that are too controversial!), balance liberal and conservative viewpoints, help freshmen develop their leadership skills, and so on.

Our selections over the years have included the Krakauer book, the true tale of a young man who attempts to find himself in the Alaskan wilderness with tragic results; Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian science-fiction novel concerning the importance of books and free thought; Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed, an examination of the struggles of the working poor in America; Art Spiegelman’s Maus, a graphic novel depicting the Holocaust and its on-going effect on one American family; and, most recently, The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien’s short story collection concerning the Vietnam War and its aftermath. Former English department faculty member Mark Decker and current faculty members Jean- Marie Dauplaise and Michael Martin have served as trainers for the Into the Book discussion leaders.

The fall of 2008 Into the Book selection is local author Michael Perry’s Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time. In turns hysterically funny and deeply tragic, this New York Times best-selling collection of essays recounts Perry’s return to his home town of New Auburn, Wis., after 12 years away . Although Perry’s primary goal is to find a quiet place to write, he also joins the volunteer fire and rescue department, leading to a variety of adventures. It is the committee’s hope that this year’s crop of freshmen will find Population 485 as enjoyable and worthwhile as we do.

Message from the chancellor

We have adopted the phrase Inspiring Innovation for UW-Stout since it captures the dynamic quality of our past, present and future. So, it is entirely appropriate to adopt the theme for this Outlook publication. It reflects the qualities of our graduates, women and men who have carved out successful careers, who have had an impact on their organizations, their communities and yes, this society. These successes are our successes as they reflect back on us, our programs, our faculty and staff, and the positive learning environment we have established here.

And let me tell you, it’s hard to narrow our story list to just these few pages. But keep your success stories coming. It makes our job producing this magazine harder. And we love it.

In this issue, you will read about two alumni who have achieved an almost rock star quality in their careers — reaching the pinnacle of their professions as leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs and affecting America’s pop culture along the way.

You also will read about alumni developing robotic technology and machine intelligence to keep troops off the battlefield.

On the lighter side, you will read about a couple getting married on our football field, an industrial designer who designed a cake pan for Martha Stewart, a teacher who taught a young Diana Ross, a toy designer who makes action figures, a graduate student who fights forest fires in remote mountainous regions, an author who uses monkey analogies to write about business, an entrepreneur who helped design an online resume builder, a murder mystery party planner and an exotic jewelry designer.

The breadth of your talents amazes me. And I learn from you.

Because we cannot possibly profile all the success stories we receive in just two issues a year, we also are launching an online alumni experts list — so we all can learn from each other. Check out our early efforts. Please contribute your knowledge to it.

I look forward to being inspired by future stories in Outlook as well as our new alumni experts list.

I am proud to serve as your chancellor. Best of luck in all that you do.

Breaking ground on a campus centerpiece

UW-Stout broke ground on a Jarvis Hall renovation and expansion project this summer. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

The addition will be the home of the academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, including the emerging areas of biotechnology and nanotechnology.

The $43.2 million project will remodel 66,400 square feet of the current building and add a three-story addition and one-story classroom wing totaling 90,900 square feet. There will be space for science instruction, research, general assignment classrooms, as well as space for the mathematics, statistics and computer science department.

An outdated classroom wing with 11,400 square feet will be demolished and replaced.

The original Jarvis Hall was built in 1970. Named for John Jarvis, who served as vice president of Academic Affairs from 1962 to 1973, Jarvis Hall has served as the primary instruction area for the sciences at UW-Stout.

Sustainable eating

The first UW-Stout student to enter the Xcel Energy Young Entrepreneurs’ Written Business Plan Competition brought home the prize.

Ryan McKone, of Superior, Wis., won first place in the fourth annual competition, which was held at UW-River Falls April 18-19.

McKone, a business administration major, wrote a business plan for Crush, an urban eatery that would be the area’s first LEED-Commercial Interior certified restaurant. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a green building rating system for environmentally sustainable construction.

According to the plan, Crush would specialize in local artisan cheeses, small-batch cured meats and great wines. Crush also would use local suppliers and offer a rotating menu, focusing on fresh, seasonal and locally grown products in a trendy, casual atmosphere.

McKone received a $1,000 cash award for his winning entry, and his name has been inscribed on the Traveling Lydecker Award.

UW-Stout realigns and adds programs

One of UW-Stout’s biggest strengths is its academic programs. Since July 1, the programs have been reorganized into four new colleges to further strengthen the university’s mission and polytechnic identity.

The realignment creates four colleges: The College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences; the College of Management; and the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. A Center for Interdisciplinary Collaboration also will be created, and the Graduate School remains unchanged.

The former structure included the College of Technology, Engineering and Management; the College of Arts and Sciences; the College of Human Development; the School of Education; and the Graduate School.

No academic programs, outreach units or positions were eliminated as a result of the realignment, which had received approval from the Faculty Senate and the Senate of Academic Staff.

“The realignment positions UW-Stout to meet the current needs of faculty, staff and students and positions the university for increased competitiveness and future growth,” said Provost Julie Furst-Bowe, who led the realignment process for Chancellor Charles W. Sorensen.

“UW-Stout's new program alignment creates the necessary synergy, a basis
for collaboration, that will strengthen programs,” Sorensen said. “With the rapid changes taking place in all areas of the workplace, academic programs must be able to adjust to meet those new demands. We owe this to our students.”

The realignment is designed to achieve five major goals:

• It groups similar programs, departments and disciplines in units so they are better able to address common issues.

• It capitalizes on trends and opportunities that have emerged during the past decade, such as increased student interest in health and human service related programs, the growth of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) as a concept in education, and an increase in the number of management programs at UW-Stout.

• It strengthens UW-Stout’s polytechnic identity and positions the university among its national polytechnic peers. It also expands technology transfer and outreach efforts to more fully recognize economic growth and collaborative partners.

• It develops an administrative structure that is more descriptive and understandable to internal and external audiences, including potential faculty and staff hires.

• It provides a more coordinated approach to interdisciplinary and collaborative programs and facilitates joint appointments, team teaching, and faculty-student research initiatives.

Under the new model, the UW System Board of Regents is considering a UW-Stout proposal that calls for adding 17 new bachelor’s and master’s degree programs over the next seven to 10 years.

“It is an ambitious plan,” Furst-Bowe said. “Currently UW-Stout has a relatively small number of undergraduate majors, and it is our goal to expand our program array in areas consistent with our mission and our polytechnic designation.”

UW-Stout is finalizing the planning for two new engineering programs: a Bachelor of Science degree in plastics engineering and a Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering. Both of these programs are pending final approval from the Board of Regents, which is needed before the degree programs can be offered in the fall of 2008.

Six other undergraduate and graduate degree programs have been given planning permission from UW System officials: Bachelor of Science degrees in professional studies, applied social science, science and technology education (dual certification) and science education. Master’s degree programs in science and technical communication is being planned, as is a master of fine arts program.

“Ideas for these programs came from faculty groups working with area professionals to meet needs in high-demand employment areas,” Furst-Bowe said. “This plan will benefit students as they will have additional majors to select from — majors that will lead to jobs in engineering, teaching and the social sciences.”

The other programs are in various stages of development and review by UW System officials. The complete list of the programs is available at the provost's Web site.

Where there are rocks, students help people roll

From left, Ryan Marsel, Scott Harbarth, Jon Breen and Steven Swoboda. Photo courtesy of the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram.

A case study in lean manufacturing systems meets real world at UW-Stout — with an emphasis on “world.”

Last winter, manufacturing engineering students at UW-Stout worked with a team of industrial engineering students at Başkent University, located in Ankara, Turkey. The two university teams developed a new manufacturing process for Ankara-based Kifas Manufacturing — the maker of custom wheelchairs and supplies for individuals in the Middle East who have low income and are disabled. The company works directly with humanity aid agencies, such as the Red Cross.

During winter break, the UW-Stout students traveled to Turkey and, along with the Başkent students, finalized and implemented a new plant layout. The layout will increase production from 50 wheelchairs a month to 250.

The new layout also will ease the introduction of a new line of all-terrain wheelchairs into the manufacturing process. The rugged wheelchairs are being manufactured to withstand the harsh terrain in developing countries.

Going for the gold, in Olympic suit design

The design work of Ryan Muraro, a junior from Waukesha, Wis., may soon be in the international spotlight.

Muraro designed the suits to be worn by British speed skater Phil Brojaka and by the Ukrainian speed-skating team — all possible contenders in the next winter Olympics.

Brojaka, who dates Muraro’s sister, asked Muraro to design his speed-skating suit in 2007. In one night, Muraro sketched 20 ideas, and Brojaka picked one. The suit went into production nine months later. Brojaka already is wearing the suit in competitions.

Because of that success, Brojaka’s agent approached Muraro about designing suits for the Ukrainian speed-skating team. In two hours, Muraro sketched five designs, and one has been produced.

Muraro, who studies industrial design in UW-Stout’s art program, hopes to design additional suits in the future.

Student earns Coast Guard achievement medal

Petty Officer Jodie Bray-Commings, of Spooner, Wis., did not hesitate to offer her assistance last summer when the I-35 bridge collapsed in Minneapolis. She patrolled the disaster site by boat, providing security for rescue operations and transporting key, high-profile personnel to necessary locations. Bray-Commings was on stand-by duty when President Bush toured the disaster site.

Her performance during the aftermath of the disaster was just one example of why she was named the 2007 Ninth Coast Guard District Reserve Enlisted Person of the Year.

Admiral Thad W. Allen, the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and its highest ranking member, presented Bray-Commings with a medal and citation for “superior performance of duty” March 21. The citation, which also documented her other heroic efforts, covered her service to the Coast Guard Station in Duluth from August 2006 to March 2008.

Bray-Commings is a student majoring in technology education.

An education that transcends cultures

Chancellor Charles W. Sorensen and Provost Julie Furst-Bowe were keynote speakers at the second annual International Symposium on Excellence in Education, hosted by e-TQM College of Dubai.

Sorensen focused his presentation on leadership. Furst-Bowe spoke about the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

The e-TQM College is the first online higher education institution in the Middle East. It specializes in the area of Total Quality Management and related topics.

While there, Sorensen signed a memorandum of understanding with e-TQM that outlined potential programs the two institutions can share, such as curriculum and faculty exchanges.

The two universities match in several programs including business management, hospitality and tourism management, golf enterprise management and teacher education.

Wacky machine contest builds complicated burger

The School of Education’s technology education program hosted its first Rube Goldberg Machine Contest for Wisconsin high school teams March 11.
The contest brings the cartoons of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Rube Goldberg to life. For the contest, teams are given a simple challenge for which they must create a machine — an assembly of ordinary objects and mechanical gadgets — to solve the problem in a convoluted way.

This year’s challenge was for teams to assemble a hamburger in a minimum of 20 steps — the more steps, the better the machine.

Andrew Behnke, a sophomore from Loyal, Wis., was the student coordinator who launched UW-Stout’s event for high schoolers. As a high school senior, Behnke was the captain of his school’s Rube Goldberg team. His team won the regional contest and also placed second in the national competition.

Behnke plans to launch a collegiate contest at UW-Stout next.

Fuel for 65 cents per gallon

David Hubbard '71 spent $8,500 and several months to convert a touring bike into a biodiesel dream, which gets 65 cents per gallon. He used skills in engineering, welding, machining and electronics learned at Stout to make the bike conversion.

For the past eight years, David Hubbard ’71 has been running all of his farm equipment—including backhoes, dozers, track hoes and skid loaders—on cooking grease converted into biodiesel fuel. But four years ago, he also began using his home-brewed biodiesel in something a little more fun.

Hubbard purchased a used 1986 BMW touring bike and decided to make it biodiesel, too. He removed the original BMW engine and replaced it with a three-cyclinder Daihatsu diesel engine from a new commercial lawn mower. Hubbard spent two winters adapting the diesel engine to the bike’s frame and putting together a cooling system.

Now he and his wife enjoy riding all over the West Virginia hills—on 65 cents per gallon.

Making the fuel is a weeklong process that involves kitchen grease, potassium hydroxide, methanol and lab equipment. Although his cents-per-gallon cost does not include his labor, he enjoys being able to fill his five-gallon tank for $3.25.

“At 70 miles per hour, I can go 350 miles,” Hubbard said. “Not bad.”

Editors of Popular Mechanics magazine agree. They saluted Hubbard in their July 2007 issue for his eco-friendly touring bike project.

Putting a Stout degree to work

Peter Castrilli ’71 has recently joined Raytheon Corp. as business development executive.

His responsibilities focus on providing Raytheon support services to the U.S. Department of Defense in the Pacific Rim and also in support of mission support services for U.S. military test and training ranges and installations in the United States and its territories and internationally.

“While attending UW-Stout, I was fortunate enough to have studied under several professors who encouraged students to ‘think outside the box’ by going beyond what was in the traditional curriculum and applying it to other ambitions,” Castrilli said. “You can’t get much farther apart from my original career in the contract food service business to being a U.S. government defense contractor.”

He and his wife Peggy have lived in the Washington, D.C., area since 1977, where playing golf, fox hunting on horseback and watching Washington politics takes up the majority of their free time.

All in the family

Jon C. Sandstrom ’07 has joined the family business, HM Graphics in Milwaukee, as its newest account executive. Sandstrom, grandson and namesake of the company’s founder John E. Sandstrom, is the first member of the third generation of HM Graphics family members to become a full-time member of the business.

He will be working directly with two of his uncles to service and handle production management for some of HM Graphics’ largest accounts, including Hewlett Packard, Standard Register and Bader Rutter Advertising.

In addition to joining his family in business, he joins fellow UW-Stout alumni, including aunt Kathy Ann Sandstrom-Kronforst ’84, vice president of marketing, and uncle David Sandstrom ’88, vice president.

Yacht builder’s work also his home

Helping to build some of the world’s most luxurious yachts and going home to a nice house on dry land may be what happens in the life of the typical luxury boat builder, but not Greg Siewert ’84. He’s taken his career home with him, living on a yacht with his wife Barbara on and off for the past three years.

“In all, we’ve put about 6,000 nautical miles under the keel,” Siewert said.

The couple has been from the Caribbean all the way up through the Erie Canal system.

“I think the Erie Canal is a hidden gem and national treasure,” Siewert said. “The locks and canals themselves are a wonder of engineering.”

Lack of space is one of the main problems with living on a yacht, he admits. And he doesn’t plan on living on a yacht forever.

“We’re thinking it’s time to get back on dry land for a while. Our boat is for sale now.”

You go, girl

While growing up in Oshkosh, Alison Jansen Almos ’03 had a female technical education instructor in her graphics class. Although it did not inspire her at the time to become what is now called a technology education teacher, it showed her that she could.

Now Almos is the one proving to young female students that they, too, can become technology education teachers; but not just any technology education teacher—a great one.

Almos, an industrial technology teacher at Sandburg Middle School in Golden Valley, Minn., was named the Minnesota Technology Education Association New Teacher Excellence award winner for 2007. The award is given to an outstanding teacher with fewer than five years of teaching experience.

Almos is in her fourth year of teaching. She enjoys the hands-on aspects of her class and believes the students have an opportunity to grasp concepts in real applications.

Leading the learning curve

Kevin Wilde ’80 was named the 2007 Chief Learning Officer of the Year by Chief Learning Officer magazine.

Wilde leads the training efforts at General Mills and is credited with creating a learning atmosphere across the company. He is responsible for talent management, executive development and the Leadership Institute.

Wilde joined General Mills in 1998 and has since helped the company become recognized for its innovative development work. General Mills has been ranked the sixth best company in the world for developing leaders and also in the top 10 best companies for development three years in a row by Training Magazine.

Wilde credits his success to years of experience and a willingness to change with the times.

“I am still learning,” he said. “I am surrounded by very energized and talented people who are wonderful role models.”

“I am having a blast.”

Fighting fires…on land and on metabolism

Wanda Wildenberg fights fires as a smokejumper for the U.S. Forest Service. As a graduate student in the food science and nutrition program at UW-Stout, Wildenberg is interested in creating the right high-energy diet for individuals in her line of work.

A smokejumper's primary job is to suppress wildfires in remote mountainous terrain of the western United States. Smokejumpers parachute into the danger area of a fire and often are the first firefighters on the scene.

A crew member on a long shift can work off 5,000 to 6,000 calories a day. Therefore, a smokejumper’s physical condition is important.

“Everyone has different metabolism,” Wildenberg said. “We need to feed ourselves for performance.”

Wildenberg is in Missoula, Mont., this summer with her smokejumping crew. In her spare time, she will work on her diet plan, which is her master’s thesis. She plans to receive her master’s degree in May 2009.

Still plays with toys

Technically, he sculpts toys, but Scott Wilkowski ’98 isn’t afraid to say he still has a child-like appreciation for them.

“Most of the work I do is realistic figures, mainly various athletes from all major sports,” Wilkowski said.

Besides sports figures, he’s sculpted musicians.

“The favorite sculptures I’ve made are busts of Henry Rollins and Chuck D of Public Enemy for a magazine cover,” Wilkowski said. “Both Rollins and Chuck D are major influences of mine.”

Right now Wilkowski and his team are working on a figure for comic artist James Kochalka, who also happens to be an instructor at the Center for Cartoon Studies co-founded by Michelle Ollie ’92 (see this issue’s cover story).

“It’s awesome because we’re big fans of his work,” Wilkowski said of Kochalka.

Wilkowski’s favorite part of the toy making process, though, is seeing the final product in stores.

“It can be a real surprise,” Wilkowski said.

Centenarian taught home economics to Diana Ross

Alma Winzer Stahl ’30 celebrated her 100th birthday March 3, 2008. Her family threw her a party March 1.

After Stahl graduated from the Stout Institute, she responded to a need for teachers in Detroit. She was an elementary school teacher in the Detroit public school system from 1930 to 1935, until she started her family.

Stahl and her late husband John T. Stahl had five daughters and one son.

Once her children were in school, Stahl accepted the position of home economics teacher at Cass Technical High School in Detroit. There, she taught many students, including Diana Ross.

Today, Stahl is listed among the honorary members of the Cass Tech Hall of Fame. She enjoys spending time with her six children, 12 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.

Bold and beautiful

You may catch her on cable television’s Home Shopping Network selling her Simply Tracey collection, or you may see her bigger, bolder work in Nordstrom and other high-end specialty stores.

Tracey Mayer ‘82, a designer of men’s and women’s jewelry, travels extensively throughout south Asia in search of inspiration. Unusual or interesting stones, coins and whatever else that may catch her creative eye become signature, conversation-starting pieces.

“My clients are impulsive and selective in what they buy, and they want jewelry to enhance not define who they are,” Mayer said.

Mayer uses high-end 950 silver, which gives her jewelry a brighter, whiter finish; and she works with a host of semi-precious stones, coins and shells. Her pieces also include white and black mother of pearl, hand-carved by artists in the remote mountains of Indonesia—with each piece taking three weeks to complete.

A party to die for

Want more than the usual dull conversation about work, kids and real estate at your next party? David Wachtendonk ’03, who loves a good mystery, has a solution.

His Web site host-a-murder.com helps hosts plan a Murder Mystery Maniacs party, at which guests help solve a murder committed during the event.

Someone at the party is designated the murderer, and everyone else is given a motive, weapon or opportunity (two of the three). Guests question each other to try to solve the case. Hosts can choose from more than 40 scenarios and entertain 10 to 100 guests.

“Our most popular event is our 1920s Speakeasy Scandal. Our most popular corporate event is called ‘Dump the Trump,’” Wachtendonk said.

Wachtendonk said he gets his best scenarios from his customers. His most unusual request to date has been to customize a murder mystery for the vessel MyOctopus, one of the world’s largest private yachts.

21st century resumes

Roderick Sauskojus ’98 is helping job searchers everywhere post their resumes online.

Sauskojus and co-creator Micah Johnson launched GigTide, an online resume builder and hosting application last year.

“GigTide was a collaborative idea that came from my own resume-creating experience,” Sauskojus said. “Not everyone is a designer with the skills to create an engaging online resume.”

Using GigTide, individuals can create and post online resumes and cover letters using templates and resume-writing tips. Once the resumes are created, individuals also can link to online portfolios, slideshows and video.

Sauskojus said GigTide separates itself from the competition because its interface runs smoothly and looks the same on any browser and operating system.

Since the service launched, the site has received tens of thousands of visits from more than 100 countries and received positive feedback from bloggers around the world.

Serious about monkey business

Mick Hager


Steve Tyink

Mick Hager BS ’82, MS ’83, Steve Tyink '82 and fellow writer Sandy Wight created an easy to read, fun book on serious business topics. “Monkey Business: 7 Laws of the Jungle for Becoming the Best of the Bunch” is written as a fictional, but true-to-life story featuring monkeys as the main characters.

The book explains “exactly what happens in lousy organizations and how they drive the passion right out of people, along with quality service,” Hager said.

On the positive side, readers also will learn how “to create a world-class service culture that truly engages employees and creates an incredible experience for the customer,” Hager said.

Hager teaches at Fox Valley Technical College and is president and founder of Mick Hager and Co. LLC, a professional speaking firm in Green Bay. Tyink founded Attach, an experience design company, and currently is vice president for business innovation at Miron Construction.

Boy meets girl, makes touchdown

Alumni Eric and Amy Moe were married July 14, 2007 on the 50-yard line of UW-Stout’s football field. Their reception was held at the Memorial Student Center.(Photo courtesy of V Imagery + Design)

When the wedding guests of Eric ’03 and Amy ’98 Moe arrived to the site of the couple’s ceremony, they arrived to the 50-yard line of the Don and Nona Williams Stadium at UW-Stout.

As the couple’s names and wedding information scrolled across the scoreboard, the pastor gave a sermon that reflected ideals of teamwork, commitment and responsibility—all things that are involved with athletics—and applied it to a marriage.

Were the guests surprised? Not at all. The wedding invitations (a.k.a. football tickets) prepared the guests for the unusual wedding location and theme.

“I threw out there the idea of getting married on the football field halfheartedly just to see what she’d say. It just seemed right seeing as how much time I had spent as a football player and coach,” Eric Moe said. “She surprised me by saying, ‘Yeah, that’d be cool.’”

“I always wanted an outdoor wedding,” Amy Moe said.

A pan design even Martha Stewart approves

Buy a Bundt pan from the Martha Stewart Collection, and you’re likely supporting the work of Shawn Krcma ‘03 who works for Nordic Ware in Minneapolis.

Krcma is an industrial designer who has designed a lot of cookware, including a Christmas tree pan, a sea shell candy mold, several Bundt pan variations and a Santa pan.

“It would be hard to pick one as my favorite, but the Martha Stewart Kugelhopf is one of them,” Krcma said.

This pan was featured on the Martha Stewart Show. “She sent a film crew to Nordic Ware here in Minneapolis to film several of the operations involved in producing the pan for her.”

So how did the opportunity come about? “Nordic Ware was approached by Macy’s and Martha Stewart to create an updated version of the Kugelhopf pan, which is a German style of cake pan,” said Krcma.

“I would say having my work highlighted on the Martha Stewart Show is probably the highlight (of my career) so far.”

Up to the challenge

Best friends Craig Anderson and Mark Anderson graduated from UW-Stout in 1989 with applied math degrees. The two have worked together at various companies, including two ventures that they co-founded, since graduation. Currently, they work for Teledyne Scientific Co.—one of the companies that comprises Team Oshkosh, the creator of the unmanned ground vehicle TerraMax. Craig Anderson and Mark Anderson worked on the planning for the vehicle and engineered its autonomous software.

The TerraMax may look like a monster-size Tonka truck, but it may one day save the lives of military troops.

The TerraMax is an unmanned ground vehicle built by Team Oshkosh. Team members and best friends Craig Anderson ’89 and Mark Anderson ’89 were the software architects behind the “brains” of this smart vehicle, which can navigate and drive entirely on its own with no human driver and no remote control.

“My son thinks his dad builds transformers for work,” Craig Anderson said. “How cool is that?”

The two UW-Stout graduates and the rest of Team Oshkosh built the TerraMax to compete in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency sponsors competitions like the Urban Challenge to encourage the research and development of robotic technology and machine intelligence to keep troops off the battlefield and out of harm’s way. The military plans for one-third of its fleet of operational ground combat vehicles to use unmanned technology by 2015.

The software that Craig Anderson and Mark Anderson engineered for the competition allowed the TerraMax to demonstrate human-like driving behaviors, including merging into moving traffic, obeying traffic laws, passing, queuing, parking, observing intersection precedence rules and even replanning in the event of a road blockage.

“It was not uncommon to work upwards of 90 hours per week testing and fine tuning the TerraMax behaviors in preparation for the qualifying events,” Craig Anderson said.

The team’s 14 months of effort paid off when DARPA Director Tony Tether announced that the TerraMax made the cut primarily because of its “A++” qualifying run involving merging into live traffic.

“The team placed in the top 11 along with Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon University and Virginia Tech,” Mark Anderson said.

During the Urban Challenge qualifying rounds, the Discovery Science Channel profiled several Urban Challenge teams, including Team Oshkosh, for a five-part series titled “Robocars” that ran earlier this year.