Diana Kotsonis discovered her passion for computer science during her junior year at college. Now a senior at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, she started out in biology. Since switching majors last year, she has been eager for more workplace experience. So when Kotsonis heard about a new course that promised hands-on programming opportunities, she quickly added it to her fall schedule.
As part of the class, student teams got to select from among 23 different projects with local, regional and national companies, each focused on a real-world problem. One pitch immediately stood out to Kotsonis: helping GE HealthCare support improvements in clinical charting for hospitals’ labor and delivery departments. The project bridged her top academic interests — healthcare and computer science — and she knew a solution could have a huge impact on patients.
“I’ve always wanted to make a difference,” Kotsonis says.
Matthew Grubis, Diana Kotsonis, course instructor Amber Field and David Ertl
Kotsonis and her classmates are among the first participants in the N+1 Institute, an interdisciplinary hub within UW–Madison’s computer science department. Launched in May of last year, N+1 facilitates industry collaboration in both the classroom and the lab, spearheading research projects, internships, hackathons, scholarships, and seminars.
Collaboration breeds breakthroughs
N+1 focuses on work in three core fields: AI, Web3, and edge computing, a strategy in which data processing moves closer to the data source. In 2023, just as N+1 began taking shape, GE HealthCare was searching for opportunities to engage with research communities focused on edge computing, which underpins its patient monitoring system. In a stroke of perfect timing, GE HealthCare became the N+1 Institute’s first industry member, expanding on a relationship with UW–Madison that spans more than 40 years.
“These relationships between industry and universities are where breakthroughs happen, and we all get to share in that success,” says UW–Madison alumnus Matthew Grubis, now chief engineer of monitoring solutions for GE HealthCare’s Patient Care Solutions business. “Everybody wins.”
David Ertl, Executive Director of the N+1 Institute at UW–Madison and Roshy Francis, GE HealthCare Senior Vice President, Research & Development
Student research brings practical experience to the classroom
But the biggest winners may be the students. GE HealthCare is helping design courses that will teach the state-of-the-art skills necessary to be competitive in the job market. And, through N+1’s internships, workplace visits, and capstone projects, undergrads and graduate students can gain practical experience with the latest technology. For example, to support classwork and research, GE HealthCare provides monitoring technology like Portrait Mobile, a wireless and wearable device that provides a continuous, real-time view of a patient’s vital signs.
As part of their project, Kotsonis’ student team work to support the development of algorithms to make labor and delivery charting applications more intuitive, freeing healthcare providers to concentrate on caring for patients face to face. This project has replicated real-world experience, especially in the “soft” skills the typical undergrad class doesn’t cover, like effective group communication.
“Professional work is different than course projects, because you have to come up with ideas that lots of people like, rather than just your group and your professor,” says Kotsonis.
Easing transitions from academia to the office
To tailor their solution to the company’s needs, Kotsonis’ team meets weekly with engineers at GE HealthCare; these mentors provide direction on specific goals, like broadening the search function, along with general problem-solving advice. This sort of industry exposure can ease what Grubis calls the “impedance mismatch” between expectations at school and the office — a disconnect that forces an often-rocky adjustment from lectures and problem sets to the working world. By offering a glimpse into a professional engineer’s daily workflow, N+1 is helping students make more informed decisions about their future.
“Few of us come out of school knowing exactly what we want to do or what our first jobs will be like,” Grubis says. “These relationships between industry and universities show students what opportunities are out there.”
On the other hand, senior engineers have discovered that the students’ fresh perspective is a perfect antidote to well-worn routines and patterns of thinking.
“Their eagerness, their open minds, help us look at the problem through new eyes,” Grubis says. “Mentoring these students is making us better engineers.”
