Tech Exploration Lab fuels innovation on campus and beyond
UW–Madison’s new Tech Exploration Lab—a collaboration between the Wisconsin School of Business and the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery—is officially open for business. Launched earlier this year, the lab seeks to drive innovation and cultivate entrepreneurial ecosystems across campus, industry, and the state through industry engagement and multidisciplinary student experimentation with emerging technologies. Students from across campus can use the lab to pursue their own passions, work on industry-directed projects, and even earn micro credentials with a focus on AI and other in-demand skills. The lab hosted an open house on April 24, with nearly 70 students showcasing their semester-long projects.
Crowning champions at WSB’s new consulting case competition
In April, students from across the country participated in the inaugural Wisconsin Invitational Consulting Case Competition. Eighteen undergraduate teams from nine business schools (including Big Ten universities like Michigan, Indiana, and Purdue) competed in the two-day event, with a team from WSB taking the top prize on their home turf. The winning team included students Mitchell Carroll (BBA ’25), Olivia Lemanski (BBA ’25), Matthew Howe (BBA ’25), and Lauren Schulze (BBA ’25).
Even in its inaugural year, the event is already considered a top-tier case competition given its scale, caliber of students, and significant prizes awarded. The competition was made possible in part thanks to generous gifts from Ravi Mhatre and Kathryn Bojack, parents to a Badger alum, and from alumnus Jay Laabs (BBA ’98), CEO of Spaulding Ridge. Leading corporate partners, including Accenture and Bain & Company, also provided sponsorship of the event.
Undergraduate program rises to new heights
WSB’s undergraduate program is now ranked #7 in the nation among public universities. That’s according to Poets&Quants’ 2025 ranking of the Best Undergraduate Business Programs in the U.S., which also placed WSB’s program at #22 overall—a five spot increase from the previous year. The school earned high marks for admissions standards, career outcomes, and average starting salaries.
Marketing research from Jan Heide highlighted in national publication
Harvard Business Review recently featured research from Jan Heide (MBA ’82, PhD ’87), the Michael E. Lehman Distinguished Chair in Business and a professor of marketing at WSB. In the featured study, Heide—an internationally recognized expert in marketing—focused on so-called “consultant espionage,” and how companies can reduce information leakage when outside experts are brought in. Heide’s research interests include distribution systems, strategic partnerships, and marketing strategy. Heide is also the recipient of the Mahajan Award for Lifetime Contributions to Marketing Strategy Research by the American Marketing Association Marketing Strategy Special Interest Group.
The Donor Digest is a quarterly round-up of stories made possible by gifts to the Wisconsin School of Business (WSB) Fund. Contributions to WSB help the school implement transformative learning experiences and curricula that uniquely prepare students for post-graduation success. Read past stories about donor impact and the power of philanthropy.
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