Celebrating UWM’s Innovators

UWM’s Innovators Expo is an annual celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship that showcases a collection of UWM community prototypes, ideas, startups, student orgs, partners, classes, and innovations in an exhibit format. This is an opportunity for participants to showcase their progress and hard work that has been made over the past year.

The Innovators Expo is an electric event with attendees ranging from UWM’s Chancellor Mone, UWM donors, family and friends, and Milwaukee community members. This year, the LEC is introducing a Design Open portion where presenters will deliver 45 min mini-workshops on a variety of topics such as health design, team collaboration, and others. 2024 will also see a roundtable discussion centering on the theme of ‘radical collaboration.’

The 2024 UWM Design Open & Innovators Expo will be held in person on May 10, 2024. The deadline to apply to present at the Expo is April 12th, 2024.

2024 UWM Design Open & Innovators Expo Format

• 11:30am > Event begins

• 12:00pm > Kick-off of the day

• 12:00 - 1:00pm > Lunch N' Learn Plenary

• 1:15 - 2:15pm > Design Open (concurrent workshops in the LEC, 45 min each)

• 2:30 - 3:15pm > Round Table Discussion: "Radical Collaboration"

• 3:15 - 3:30pm > Innovators Expo Kick-off (brief remarks by LEC team, others)

• 3:30 - 5:30pm > Expo Tabling & Poster Session (soft ending, refreshments provided)

Design Open Workshop Sessions

New to this event this year is the component of a Design Open series of 5 concurrent workshops where attendees will explore different topics relating to design, entrepreneurial thinking, and innovation. A brief description of each workshop is noted below:

• Proposing a Purpose: From Intentions to Results 
  • Three modules will be explore by attendees to this workshop: 1) Intention-setting 2) Mind-mapping, and 3) The ‘Purpose-‘ Model Canvas. Attendees will chart their own purpose during this guided workshop that helps attendees way-find their way to a fulfilling life and career.

• Sustainability Re-Visited
  • Attendees at this workshop will work together to define expanded views of sustainability while re-framing everyday problems through its multiple lenses, with an eye towards possible solutions.

• Incorporating a Community-Based Design Project Into Medical Education 
  • How could community leaders, patients, clinical & operational staff, providers, and medical students make meaningful contributions to the creative design process for a mobile health clinic focusing on maternal health?

• Teaching Inclusive Design: An Opportunity for Radical Collaboration
  • Inclusive Design is a methodology that enables and draws on the full range of human diversity. Inclusive design may address accessibility, age, culture, economic situation, education, gender, geographic location, language, and race. Attendees to this workshop will be guided in active collaboration to brainstorm how teaching inclusive design can be integrated into course work and research in a variety of academic disciplines.

• Design for Well-Being: Tools and Practices for Co-Creating Communities of Well-Being 
  • Well-being in innovation and entrepreneurship is necessary to sustain people and their work. This session explores how the principles of mindful self-compassion support personal well-being, align with Lean Launch, and co-create bridges to diverse communities of well-being.