Build something real.
Find out if your idea is worth building, or take on a real problem from a company.
The Lab is open to every major: business, engineering, health sciences, design and beyond. With today’s AI tools, anyone can build a prototype. What matters is building the right thing. Find the assumption that could sink your idea, and test it before you spend a semester building.
You don’t need an application to start.
Find your starting point
You have a problem you can’t stop thinking about.
Join the Four-Week Sprint and test it with real users, or apply to Explore/Discover to work on it all semester with mentors.
You have a prototype or first users.
Venture Build pairs you with MBA students to go deep on customers and market fit. Founder Lab takes the strongest ventures into pilots with real customers.
You bring the market insight, not the code.
You can lead a venture here without a technical background. Bring the customer insight and the business case. We’ll help you build a prototype with AI tools and connect you with technical teammates when you need them.
You need a team, or the right teammate.
Come to a Build Night or BuildFest. That’s where most Lab teams meet, and where builders find the business, design or technical skills they’re missing.
You don’t have an idea yet.
Pick a real problem from one of our industry or campus partners at a Problem Drop, or apply to work on a company project through Applied Industry Innovation.
You just want to see what it’s about.
Come to a Build Night or Lab Office Hours. No sign-up needed.
Three ways in
1. Show up
No application. Drop in for an hour.
- Lab Office Hours, Mondays: bring a question, get unstuck or just look around.
- Build Nights, Thursdays: co-hosted with Transcend. A guest speaker opens the evening, followed by open project time with mentors. Check the calendar
- Monthly mixers with alumni, mentors and industry partners.
- Workshops and skill-building sessions: check the calendar.
- Volunteer: help run Lab events and get an inside look at how it all comes together.
2. Build
No application. A few hours a week.
- Four-Week Sprint: runs each semester, starting with a Problem Drop of real challenges from our partners. Bring your own idea or pick one of theirs, test it with real users and share what you learned.
- BuildFest: the Lab’s fall hackathon. Twenty-four hours to build, with mentors, judges and real-world challenges from industry and campus partners.
- Digital Health Challenge: runs from fall through spring and leads to a spring competition with cash prizes.
3. Apply
Selective. A full semester. Applications open at the start of each semester.
The Venture Pathway: for students turning an idea into a venture.
- Explore/Discover: Is the problem real? Build, test and work with mentors to find out whether your idea is worth pursuing.
- Venture Build: Is there a business? Work with MBA students through the Wisconsin School of Business’s New Product Innovation course on customer validation, market fit and go-to-market. Fall only.
- Founder Lab: Will it work in the real world? A cohort of five teams running pilots with design partners. Two founders from each team travel to San Francisco to meet investors and UW alumni. The Lab takes no equity.
Learn more about the Venture Pathway →
Applied Industry Innovation: for students who want hands-on experience without starting a company. Work on real problems from industry partners and campus researchers, applying AI and emerging technology to challenges that don’t have easy answers yet. Selected students are paid hourly or with a stipend.
Full for Fall 2026. Applications reopen in January 2027.
Lab Associates: paid undergraduate positions inside the Lab. Run experiments with AI and frontier tools, support Lab operations and serve as a peer mentor to students across every program.
Full for Fall 2026. Applications reopen in January 2027.
What you leave with
- Evidence from real users, not just a good idea
- A working prototype, built with the tools professionals use
- A business model and go-to-market plan
- Mentors, teammates and connections with industry and alumni
- A place at Demo Night, the Lab’s student showcase each semester, with judges visiting every station and competition for cash prizes
Stay connected
Subscribe to our email list, join our Discord and follow the Lab calendar. Questions? Email us.
Find us
1403 University Ave., Madison, second floor. Look for the tan building marked 1403.
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.