The Center's motto, solving environmental problems through research, has been carried out in an ongoing series of partnerships with industry. Most of these partnerships are with Wisconsin-based industries, including foundries, utilities and paper mills. Naik is still in charge, assisted by Assistant Director Rudi Kraus, and by research associate Shiw Singh. The rest of the technical staff is comprised of graduate and undergraduate students in engineering. Student workers benefit from the experience of working on real-life research problems, and they earn while they learn.
Students find that their wages are a welcome source of income for paying their educational expenses.
He adds that six years ago, he didn't have a single engineering student pursuing a graduate degree in recycling. That picture has changed considerably as more companies demand engineers who are skilled in this area. Many of Naik's former students are employed as engineers throughout the state. They work for city governments, state agencies such as the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and in private industry. A Pioneer in Recycling Research Naik himself has worked in both public and private settings.