If your company is putting AI agents to work, or deciding whether to, this brief is for you. Companies are giving AI agents real permissions faster than they’re learning how those agents fail. So at …
News
Celebrating the BuildFest 2026 Winners
Badger BuildFest 2026 brought about 200 students from across the UW-Madison campus for 24 hours of building. They produced nearly 50 projects across three tracks, with support from more than 30 mentors, judges and sponsors …
End of Summer Celebration Recap
On August 17, the UW Tech Exploration Lab and the Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Hub co-hosted an End of Summer Celebration at 1403 University Ave, part of ForwardFest 2026. The evening brought together students, founders, industry professionals, …
Welcome Tom Yen, Ph.D., as the Lab’s new Associate Director, Emerging Technologies & Innovation Programs
The Tech Exploration Lab is thrilled to welcome Tom Yen, Ph.D., as the Lab’s new Associate Director, Emerging Technologies & Innovation Programs! Tom has spent over 30 years leading human-centered product development for major medical technology …
Join us at the Tech Exploration Lab this Fall
Applications for our fall programs open in late August across three tracks: Venture Pathway, Industry Innovation, and Innovation Translation. But here is the important part. You don’t need to be in a formal program to …
Spatial Intelligence Ideathon Recap
On Saturday, July 18, the UW Tech Exploration Lab hosted its first Spatial Intelligence Ideathon — a one-day student pitch competition built around two real technologies: SGA-AR, a spatially grounded AI framework developed by Professor …
Winners from the Lab’s Digital Health Challenge + Demo Night Spring 2026
Celebrating Innovation and Venture Momentum Last week’s Tech Exploration Lab Demo Night brought together a mix of students, industry partners, alumni, and the broader innovation community for an evening of showcasing applied innovation. Student teams …
All Spring 2026 Demo Night Teams
See a map for the April 10 Demo Night Health, Wellness & Human Performance NeuroTrackMobile-based system designed to monitor subtle changes in neurological function for individuals with Multiple Sclerosis, using daily tests and passive data …
Fresh Ideas and Emerging Talent: Highlights from the Xorbix Hackathon
This past weekend, Xorbix Technologies partnered with the Lab to run a hackathon, where student teams tackled a real-world AI and data challenge. In just a few hours, students generated a wide range of creative …
Open House Momentum
Our January 30 Open House was packed and not just with people, but with ideas. Students explored demos, learned about the Lab and campus ecosystem, and stayed to connect. Huge thanks to student orgs TECH, …