Home | Lubar Entrepreneurship Center

Get Involved

A network of experiential courses that integrate entrepreneurial thinking into existing curriculum from business to the arts.

Student Startup Challenge

Students develop ideas into prototypes with the help of workshops, mentorship, and UWM resources.

Milwaukee I-Corps

Funded by NSF, faculty and students work with local business mentors to explore commercializing research ideas.

Pop-Ups

Engaging experiential workshops that encourage creative thinking, innovation, and fosters Milwaukee's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Innovation Talks

One-hour intimate talks with a local entrepreneur or community innovator where students meet and network with like-minded people.

Innovators Expo

A free public event that showcases the newest student, faculty, and staff startups and celebrates entrepreneurship.

Grow your ideas with us.

The UWM Lubar Entrepreneurship Center is a powerful resource for entrepreneurs, innovators, and anyone who wants to make a positive change in their community. From courses and programs to workshops and networking opportunities, LEC provides the tools you need to transform your ideas into reality, whether you’re a UWM student, faculty, or staff.

Featured Student Entrepreneur of the Month: Ross Younger

UWM Innovators

Damage Detection

Superhydrophobic Coatings

121 SSC student enterprises in seven years

421 participants trained in lean launch

2,902 customer interviews conducted

>3,600 students engaged in pop-up workshops in 2018 – 2019

I wouldn’t have approached an outside mentor without the Student Startup Challenge. They coached me on how to introduce myself to someone and what questions to ask that would give me the information I needed.

Alexis Nash

Human Resources, M.S., '16

I would not have found my partner, Lu Han, if it hadn’t been for the publicity from the Student Startup Challenge. With his connections and the networking we’ve gained from participating, Tech Goggles is moving forward as a viable product.

Erika Pliner

Industrial Engineering, M.S., '13

The Startup Challenge is hands-down the biggest boost for my business plans. It’s really unusual to encounter that kind of investor at this early stage.

Jesse DePinto

Mechanical Engineering, B.S., '13

We believe education and entrepreneurship are the pathways to a happy, productive, and rewarding life.

Sheldon Lubar

Founder, Lubar & Co.

Through I-Corps you conduct many interviews with potential clients. You try to figure out what the problem is in a quantifiable and objective fashion. Having done that, you are better prepared to build a product.

Dave Clark

Interim Dean, College of Letters and Science