UW–Madison Innovate Week Sept. 26-29: Learn and connect at innovation, entrepreneurship and research commercialization events
UW–Madison Innovate Week (Sept. 26–29) is for campus innovators—from faculty to students and staff—who want to maximize impact for research, turn an idea into a product or service, start a company or organization, or take inspiration from innovative leaders and the entrepreneurial mindset. Workshops, talks, webinars and networking events will addresshealthcare, design thinking, energy and climate tech, social impact, artificial intelligence, business, and pathways to impact and career success for technology innovators.
Innovate Week is coordinated by Discovery to Product (D2P) and the UW Innovate Network and partners, all of which offer training, funding and mentoring to advance campus innovation, entrepreneurship and research commercialization.
Registration is open for Innovate Week events, including:
• Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Showcase, featuring the entrepreneurial journeys of exceptional Badger alumni, from a former walk–on and co–captain of the UW basketball team who founded a top company that leads in workplace culture, to an Emmy award– winning producer and brand strategist who creates high–impact talent partnerships and the co–founder of an innovative educational nonprofit whose recent TED Talk earned more than 1 million views.
• MAU; A film screening and in–person “Q & A” with design thought leaders Bruce Mau and Ayemobisi “Bisi” Williams, co–founders of the globally renowned design consultancy Massive Change Network (MCN).
• Moving your Tech out of Academia, an interactive panel for graduate students, postdocs, and other UW–Madison and alumni researchers and tech innovators pursuing research they hope to commercialize.
• Energy Startups and Climate Tech Investment, a discussion with startups, venture capital investors, NGOs, and researchers to discuss the unique challenges of commercializing energy and climate tech innovations, and the knowledge, support, and benefits offered by various investors.
• NSF I–Corps Pathways to Impact—Ideas Worth Pursuing, a hands–on workshop for graduate and undergraduate student researchers that will help participants adopt an entrepreneurial mindset and think about impact beyond the laboratory.
• Finding Success—Where is Your Career Headed? A lively discussion with business builder Andrew Shafer, MBA, founder, and author of Strategic ROADMAP: An intentional, memorable approach to achieving success.
• Demystifying the FDA Regulatory Path and Profession for Medical Devices and Software, an overview of medical device regulatory pathways for faculty, postdocs, graduate students and others translating research into commercial healthcare products.
• The Present and Future of Open–Source AI: Leveraging LLMs for Research & Commercial Innovation, with Sebastian Raschka, author of the popular Ahead of AI magazine, former UW–Madison professor, and Lead AI Educator at Lightning AI.
Additional opportunities include Healthcare Innovation Office Hours with the Isthmus Project, UW Health’s Innovation Hub, and an Innovators Meetup for graduate students, undergrad founders and entrepreneurially curious postdocs and research staff.
All events are free of charge and open to UW–Madison faculty, students and staff and affiliates.
Events such as the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Showcase, MAU; A film screening and in–person “Q & A,” and Energy Startups and Climate Tech Investment, are also open to alumni and the public.
See the event listings at https://innovate.wisc.edu/uw–madison–innovate–week/ for details.
Participating organizations and programs offering events include Innovate Network members and partners: Center for Technology Commercialization (CTC), UW–Madison Data Science Institute, Discovery to Product (D2P), Division of Information Technology, Forward BIOLABS, Isthmus Project/UW Health, Master of Science in Design + Innovation program, StartUp Learning Community, Technology Entrepreneurship Office (TEO), Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship and the Wisconsin Energy Institute.
“Innovate Week is one of the ways that Discovery to Product (D2P) and UW’s Innovate Network serve as the front door to the campus entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Abram Becker, interim director, D2P. “It’s a terrific opportunity for campus innovators to hear from and connect with entrepreneurs, thought leaders, programs and resources, and to be inspired to advance innovations to impact.”
Event and registration information is available at https://innovate.wisc.edu/uw–madison–innovate–week/.
ABOUT DISCOVERY TO PRODUCT (D2P)
Discovery to Product (D2P), the cross–campus innovation and entrepreneurship office within the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education (OVCRGE), provides entrepreneurial training programs, direct mentoring and grants to campus innovators. D2P annually serves 400 UW faculty, staff and students and grants over $1 million in funding, and has helped launch or grow 117 UW startups. D2P.wisc.edu
ABOUT THE UW INNOVATE NETWORK
The Innovate Network is a collective group of university and affiliate entrepreneurial support organizations working to enhance collaboration, support campus innovators, and foster a campus culture of entrepreneurship. The Innovate Network is coordinated by UW Discovery to Product (D2P). Innovate.wisc.edu