Eric Baumgartner, Ph.D.

Executive Vice President of Academics Milwaukee School of Engineering

Milwaukee WI

Prior to joining academia, Dr. Eric Baumgartner spent 10 years at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is an expert in higher ed leadership.

Contact

Milwaukee School of Engineering
View more experts managed by Milwaukee School of Engineering

View all Experts

Spotlight

Jul 15, 2024

3 min

Higher education, biotech and innovation - will the future be part of the 2024 campaign?

As the RNC brings national attention to Milwaukee, discussions are expected to cover pivotal topics such as biotechnology, innovation, and higher education. And as the Republican National Convention 2024 begins, journalists from across the nation and the world will converge on Milwaukee, not only to cover the political spectacle but also to dig deeper on the key issues that may decide the election. To help visiting journalists navigate and understand these issues and how and where the Republican policies are taking on these topics our MSOE experts are available to offer insights. Dr. Wujie Zhang, Dr. Jung Lee, Dr. Eric Baumgartner, Dr. Candela Marini, and Dr. John Walz are leading voices nationally on these important subjects and are ready to assist with any stories during the convention. Dr. John Walz President Expertise: Thought leadership on higher education, relevancy and value of higher ed View Profile “Engineering is not a very diverse field,” Walz said. “I want to continue to push those boundaries and make our programs open, to see more and more under-represented students come here and succeed here, and do well here.” MSOE president John Walz works to make 'hidden gem' not so hidden. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel May 17, 2023 Dr. Wujie Zhang Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Expertise: Biomaterials; Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering; Micro/Nano-technology; Drug Delivery; Stem Cell Research; Cancer Treatment; Cryobiology; Food Science and Engineering (Fluent in Chinese and English) View Profile “We accidentally noticed that we can make the hydrogel particle red blood cell shaped,” he explains. “We started then to make artificial red blood cells to mimic pretty much all aspects of red blood cells.” You're Somebody's Type MKE Lifestyle January 24, 2020 Dr. Jung Lee Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Expertise: Bioinformatics, drug design and molecular modeling. View Profile Dr. Eric Baumgartner Executive Vice President of Academics Expertise: Thought leadership on higher education, relevancy and value of higher ed, role of A.I. in future degrees and workforce development. View Profile MSOE serves as an educational resource to Wisconsin companies is building an A.I.-ready workforce. In 2018 MSOE was the first in the nation to launch a B.S. in Computer Science with a sole focus on A.I. and machine learning. Wisconsin Governor’s Task Force on Workforce and Artificial Intelligence December, 2023 Dr. Candela Marini Assistant Professor Expertise: Latin American Studies and Visual Culture View Profile “Contrary to stereotypical images of Native Americans trying to stop ‘progress’ by fighting against mines and pipelines projects, the Menominees’ sustainable forestry stands out as a clear example of resource management that actually thinks about, and works for, the future,” said Marini. The MSOE Mindset visits the Menominee Indian Reservation MSOE Online April 11, 2019 . . . Media Relations Contact To schedule an interview or for more information, please contact: JoEllen Burdue Senior Director of Communications and Media Relations Phone: (414) 839-0906 Email: burdue@msoe.edu . . . About Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Milwaukee School of Engineering is the university of choice for those seeking an inclusive community of experiential learners driven to solve the complex challenges of today and tomorrow. The independent, non-profit university has about 2,800 students and was founded in 1903. MSOE offers bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering, business and nursing. Faculty are student-focused experts who bring real-world experience into the classroom. This approach to learning makes students ready now as well as prepared for the future. Longstanding partnerships with business and industry leaders enable students to learn alongside professional mentors, and challenge them to go beyond what's possible. MSOE graduates are leaders of character, responsible professionals, passionate learners and value creators.

Education, Licensure and Certification

Participant

Institute for Education Management

Harvard University Graduate School of Education

2016

Ph.D.

Mechanical Engineering

University of Notre Dame

1993

M.S.

Aerospace Engineering

University of Cincinnati

1990

Show All +

Biography

Dr. Eric Baumgartner is executive vice president of academics at MSOE. He provides strategic leadership and direction across academic disciplines and oversees institutional effectiveness, the Applied Technology Center (ATC), Walter Schroeder Library and Registrar’s Office, as well as the Pieper Family Endowed Chair for Servant-Leadership and the Uihlein/Spitzer Chair of Entrepreneurship. Prior to joining MSOE he served as dean of the T.J. Smull College of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio Northern University. He previously was a senior member of the engineering staff at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Baumgartner also taught at UCLA and Michigan Technological University. His research areas of expertise include robotics and automation, higher education, and manufacturing.

Areas of Expertise

Space Exploration

Higher Education

Robotics and Automation

Manufacturing

Accomplishments

NASA Group Achievement Award, Mars Science Laboratory SA/SPaH Subsystem Development Team

2013

NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal

2004

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Robotics and Automation Award

2008

Affiliations

Ohio Energy and Advanced Manufacturing Center : Board of Directors
American Society of Engineering Education (ASME) : Member

Social

Media Appearances

Milwaukee School of Engineering ditches quarter system for semesters. Will it be better for students?

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel print

2023-08-29

The move-in scene at the Milwaukee School of Engineering last week felt familiar, but this school year will stand out in one key way: After decades of operating on the quarter system, the school and its nearly 3,000 students are switching to a semester schedule.

What may sound like a small shift overlooks the importance of the academic calendar on campus life. It dictates the rhythm of a university, signaling when students silo themselves away to study, when professors plan exams and when tuition bills are due. Different schedules can help or hinder learning, and play a role in internships, study abroad and transfer opportunities.

MSOE’s Newest Leader Knows How to Drive Robots – on Mars

Milwaukee Magazine print

2017-10-02

The Milwaukee School of Engineering’s new vice president of academics, Eric Baumgartner, includes on his resume a decade at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the storied spaceship-design center (small city, really) in the hills near Pasadena, Calif. – and the colorful camp of tech wizards portrayed in The Martian.

As a senior engineer, Baumgartner was involved in developing a series of increasingly complex Martian rovers, peaking with the Curiosity Rover, which could (still can) scoop up chunks of Martian ground and examine them with sophisticated instruments. Baumgartner leaves a longtime job at Ohio Northern University to become chief academic officer at MSOE, bringing along an impressive background that will help in both guiding technology-related programs and wooing potential donors.

Former NASA engineer appointed VP of academics at MSOE

MSOE News

2017-02-07

“I am incredibly humbled and excited by the opportunity to serve as the next vice president of academics at Milwaukee School of Engineering. MSOE has a long-standing commitment to excellence in engineering, business and nursing education,” said Baumgartner. “I look forward to collaborating with the faculty and staff to continue the growth and development of the academic programs at MSOE so that both the institution and its graduates have a positive impact on the region and the nation.”

Selected Publications

An RGB vision system for the automatic calibration of industrial robots

IEEE International Conference on Electro Information Technology (EIT)

Khorbotly, S., Yoder, J.D., Baumgartner, E.T., Chaffin, T.R.

2016

Robotic vision is widely used to provide feedback for the calibration and operation of autonomous robots. In many situations, the automation of the robot requires tracking one or more points of interest on the robot or in its surroundings. In this work, we developed and tested a camera-based vision system that can detect multiple points of interest and discriminate them into up to three groups. This is achieved by exploring the Red, Green, and Blue color layers in a single video feed. The experimental results show the proposed system's ability to accurately locate and distinguish three points of interest mounted on an industrial robot.

Experiments comparing precision of stereo-vision approaches for control of an industrial manipulator

Experimental Robotics

Yoder, J.D., West, J., Baumgartner, E., Perrollaz, M., Seelinger, M., Robinson, M.

2013

Despite years of research in the area of robotics, the vast majority of industrial robots are still used in “teach-repeat” mode. This requires that the workpiece be in exactly the same position and orientation every time. In many high-volume robotics applications, this is not a problem, since the parts are likely to be fixtured anyway. However, in small to medium lot applications, this can be a significant limitation. The motivation for this project was a corporation who wanted to explore the use of visual control of a manipulator to allow for automated teaching of robot tasks for parts that are run in small lot sizes.

Teachless teach-repeat: Toward vision-based programming of industrial robots

IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation

Perrollaz, M., Khorbotly, S., Cool, A., Yoder, J.D., Baumgartner, E.

2012

Modern programming of industrial robots is often based on the teach-repeat paradigm: a human operator places the robot in many key positions, for teaching its task. Then the robot can repeat a path defined by these key positions. This paper proposes a vision-based approach for the automation of the teach stage. The approach relies on a constant auto-calibration of the system. Therefore, the only requirement is a precise geometrical description of the part to process. The realism of the approach is demonstrated through the emulation of a glue application process with an industrial robot. Results in terms of precision are very promising.