UWM-Johnson Controls partnership could be model for Lovell at Marquette

As UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Mike Lovell prepares to move to Marquette University, he's not ruling out recreating a research partnership similar to a successful one between UWM and Johnson Controls. 

On Monday, Lovell and Johnson Controls' MaryAnn Wright told attendees at the Wisconsin Tech Summit about the existing partnership, which has generated seven patents, drawn more than $35 million in federal grant money and has created a path for promising UWM students to become Johnson Controls scientists. 

"One of the great things about me going to Marquette is that I will be uniquely positioned to create partnerships that no one's ever thought of before," said Lovell, when asked about taking the idea to his position as president of Marquette. Lovell told reporters that he's well-acquainted with faculty at Marquette's engineering school, and had been approached, shortly before accepting the chancellorship at UWM, to consider a partnership between the two schools. 

Wright, a vice president of engineering and product development, stressed that the partnership between UWM's College of Engineering and Johnson Controls will not end with Lovell's departure. 

"This transcends Mike and I," she said. "We wanted a partnership that has such deep roots and is so meaningful that regardless of where we happen to be, it will continue to live on and thrive." 

But she also did not rule out a future collaboration, noting that Johnson Controls has a research partnership with Milwaukee School of Engineering and also partners with UW-Madison to do battery and systems testing at the Wisconsin Energy Institute in Madison.