UWM App Brewery Posted on June 3, 2015June 3, 2015 by Ryan Artmann Tucked away in a second-floor room in the UWM Alumni House, developers in the UWM App Brewery are working away in a small lab fit with powerful computers and a great view of Lake Michigan. The UWM App Brewery is collaboration between schools on campus, the largest benefactor being the School of Information Studies. However, the App Brewery employs students from various disciplines, including computer engineering and applied science students, software engineers, and graphic designers from the Peck School of the Arts. There are currently 12 students working in app development, and the lab is directed by Mark Jacobson and a team of three full-time staff members: Dustin Hahn, Joel Herron and Hunter Ruth. Hahn, the accounts and project manager, walks around inside the perimeter of the building admiring its history while he talks about the mission, projects and team of the App Brewery. “One individual on our team is even a film major, but he’s really excited about technology,” says Hahn. “He’s rocking it out and learning to program through this internship.” One of the App Brewery’s more recent projects is an app created in collaboration with the Sojourner Family Peace Center that acts as a tool for discreetly connecting victims of domestic violence to police and other emergency services. The app provides comprehensive information on prevention and intervention services. Hahn explains that teamwork is vital the development of apps. “We’re using the assembly line process [on our projects], which makes collaboration much tighter,” says Hahn. “Production happens much more symbiotically.” The Brewery, which has been in business for about two years, has been through a lot of changes in its short existence. What started in the Zilber School of Public Health, located in the former Pabst Brewery has now found duel homes at the Innovation Accelerator building in Wauwatosa and the UWM Alumni House.