Inventing the Future

Mike Grall of Fulcrum Solutions watches PEAR (Piano Education in Augmented Reality) founder Mason Baloun use a virtual reality headset. Paul L. Newby II

Housed at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, the Tech Exploration Lab focuses on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, Internet of Things, machine learning, and robotics. Students work on innovative projects under the guidance of alumni and industry partners who offer mentorship and resources. Among them: creating an app that assists Alzheimer’s caregivers and refining the user experience on Airbnb’s website.

Launched last semester, the Tech Exploration Lab is a cross-campus collaboration led by the Wisconsin School of Business and the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. Its 14 industry mentors are UW alumni from leading firms in retail, tech, and venture capital, including Salesforce and Amazon.

“We believe the best learning happens when students engage with real problems from industry,” says Sandra Bradley MS’90, the lab’s executive director. “Our mentors and partner companies are the driving force behind that experience. By bringing their toughest challenges into the lab, companies not only give students an invaluable opportunity to experiment, but they also gain something just as powerful: fresh thinking, rapid prototyping, and insights that can directly advance their own innovation efforts in a low-risk environment.”

For Cub Foods CIO Luke Anderson ’98, mentoring students is a way to support the next generation of innovators.

“The Tech Exploration Lab has been a great resource for us to explore how AI can benefit our business, without the high risk that usually comes with early experimentation,” he says. “Through our engagement with the lab, we’ve been able to surface fresh ideas from talented students, test potential applications in a low-stakes environment, and get clearer insights into where AI could drive real value for our operations.”

Kurt Kober MBA’07, an entrepreneur and the former division president of the Honest Company, worked with a student team that developed an AI model to monitor changes in skin health.

“I came into the Tech Exploration Lab to mentor students, but I walked away with something I didn’t expect: momentum,” Kober says.

“The lab’s interdisciplinary, experimental spirit gave me the space — and the spark — to test an idea I’d been quietly incubating in the wellness space. Sometimes, the best breakthroughs happen when curiosity, collaboration, and a little Badger grit collide.”

Published in the Fall 2025 issue