UW Tech Exploration Lab

Where emerging technologies meet real-world problems

The UW Tech Exploration Lab brings students, industry partners, and emerging technologies together to explore real-world problems and discover new venture opportunities.

Some explorations begin with challenges brought by companies and sector experts. Others start with students who are passionate about building with technologies like AI, digital health, XR, and robotics. Through structured frameworks, industry mentorship, and hands-on experimentation, the Lab helps students identify meaningful problems, test solutions, and shape early-stage ideas into ventures that matter beyond the university.

A collaboration between the Wisconsin School of Business, the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, and partners across campus, the Lab connects business insight with technical capability to help the next generation of innovators turn emerging technologies into practical solutions.

For Students

Whether you’re curious about emerging technologies, exploring a new idea, or looking to work on real-world challenges, the Lab provides the environment, mentorship, and tools to help you build and experiment.

Students work in multidisciplinary teams, apply structured innovation frameworks, and gain hands-on experience with frontier technologies while developing the skills needed to lead technology-driven ventures.

Students in the Lab:

• Explore emerging technologies such as AI, XR, robotics, blockchain, and IoT
•  Work on real-world challenges brought by industry partners
• Develop and test new venture ideas
• Collaborate with students from across campus
• Connect with mentors, alumni, and industry professionals

“Working on DermaVision through the Tech Exploration Lab has been one of my most meaningful experiences at UW–Madison. The Lab connected me with peers passionate about AI and healthcare, provided access to advanced tools and mentorship, and helped me turn an early idea into real progress. It’s more than a lab—it’s a launchpad.”

For Industry

The Tech Exploration Lab gives companies a way to explore emerging technologies and new ideas in a fast-moving, low-risk environment.

Industry partners bring challenges, datasets, and strategic questions to the Lab, where student teams explore potential solutions, new applications of emerging technologies, and early-stage venture opportunities.

Industry partners can:

• Share real-world challenges to guide student exploration
• Identify new use cases for emerging technologies
• Engage with highly motivated student talent
• Gain fresh perspectives on strategic innovation opportunities
• Build relationships with potential future interns and employees

“The Lab is unique in that it connects students from across campus with advanced tools and industry mentorship to rapidly prototype and gain essential skills for an increasingly AI-driven world. It’s exciting to watch entrepreneurial ideas develop, and there is significant value in bringing the best of Google’s AI to support students’ exploration.”

— Kristin Storhoff, Google

For Alumni

Alumni play a vital role in helping guide the next generation of innovators.

Through mentorship, collaboration, and engagement, alumni help students navigate real-world challenges and bring practical insight into emerging technology exploration.

Ways alumni can engage:

• Mentor student teams exploring new technologies
• Share industry perspectives and real-world problems
• Host challenges, workshops, or innovation sessions
• Attend lab showcases and networking events
• Support the Lab through partnerships or sponsorship

“I came to the UW Tech Exploration Lab to mentor, but left with momentum. The Lab gave me the space—and the spark—to test a wellness idea I’d been quietly incubating. Working with sharp, driven students helped turn that early vision into a viable concept. It was a powerful reminder that innovation thrives on curiosity, collaboration, and a little Badger grit.”