Stay connected. Give back. Keep building.
Whether you’re a UW–Madison graduate building a career or a company, or a Lab alum who got your start here, the Tech Exploration Lab is a place to stay close to what students are building, share what you’ve learned and keep building yourself.
- UW–Madison alumni: mentor student teams, bring a project or venture, meet the talent who will build what’s next, or support the Lab with a gift.
- Lab alumni: come back and help the students following your path. Your experience, from your first prototype to where you are now, is exactly what today’s teams need to hear.
Start here: join the Technology & Innovation Network
The Network is the easiest way to stay plugged into the Lab: a community of alumni, industry leaders and innovation practitioners who stay connected to what the Lab is building and learning. We’ll reach out when there’s a student team that could use your perspective, a challenge in your space or an event worth attending. You choose how and when to engage.
Ways to get involved
Mentor and advise
The most direct way to give back is to share what you know. Work with student teams as a mentor, hold office hours, speak at a Build Night, judge at BuildFest or Demo Night, advise a specific cohort, or take a deeper role as an Executive-in-Residence. We’ll find the right fit for your time and expertise.
See some of the Lab’s recent student ventures and innovation projects to find what sparks your interest.
Open doors for student founders
Twice a year, Founder Lab teams travel to San Francisco to meet investors and UW alumni in the Bay Area. Wherever you are, you can host a team, make an introduction or become a design partner who lets a student venture run an early pilot.
Bring a project or venture
Have a problem you want to explore or a venture you’re working on? Alumni can work with the Lab the same way industry partners do, bringing a real challenge to a student team to explore, prototype and test with AI and emerging technology. Projects are scoped and priced to your needs.
Contact us to bring a project →
Give to the Lab
Your gift directly supports student innovation: venture programs, industry projects, Build Nights, hackathons and the tools students need to turn ideas into action.
Make a gift online → (specify the Tech Exploration Lab Fund, 112170239)
To discuss giving options, contact Caitlin Gates, Managing Senior Director with the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association, or Sandra Bradley, Executive Director of the Lab.
Come find us
The Lab is open. Alumni are always welcome to drop in, attend events, work in the space or just see what students are building. Build Nights, Lab Office Hours, Fourth Wednesday mixers and Demo Night are all open to you.
To stay connected, subscribe to our email list and follow our calendar. Questions? Email us.
1403 University Ave., Madison, second floor.
About the Tech Exploration Lab
The Lab is led by the Wisconsin School of Business in collaboration with the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. We connect students, industry partners, researchers and alumni around real problems, applied AI and emerging technology.