Wisconsin Technology Council

Mark Bakken, who has been a company founder as well as an investor whose HealthX Ventures boasts a portfolio of nearly three-dozen companies, will be inducted into the Wisconsin Technology Council’s “George Mosher Memorial Investor Hall of Fame” during the Nov. 13-14 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium. “Mark Bakken and his team have built HealthX into one of #Wisconsin’s most successful #venturecapital firms, in part because his background as an #entrepreneur taught him what other promising companies need. Bakken has consistently stepped forward to invest in and otherwise help young companies and entrepreneurs.” - Tom Still Learn more and register for the symposium: https://lnkd.in/gBiJPahF #startup #funding #leadership

We live in an age of skepticism. It can range from distrust of science to doubting the value of a college degree; from lack of faith in religion to believing all news media are biased; and from questioning whether climate change is real to falling for “deep fakes” in social media. Is it any surprise that today’s mood of suspicion – even cynicism – would extend to how U.S. elections are managed and verified? Going behind the curtain to explain how elections are administered in #Wisconsin, from registration to casting, counting and certifying votes, was the topic of a Wisconsin #Technology Council luncheon Oct. 22 in #Madison. It involved leaders of the bipartisan 'Pillars of the Community' project, which is working to build #election confidence across the country, as well as state and local officials on Wisconsin’s front lines. Article: 'Inside Wisconsin: Layers of #security, tech behind Wisconsin elections reassuring' https://lnkd.in/g7EFvTp7 via Tom Still

The line-up for the #Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium gets more impressive by the week! To go along with the Microsoft presentation on Nov. 14 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison, Nov. 13 will kick off with Erik Iverson, the chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF). About 40 companies will present in separate tracks each day (we’ll announce that line-up soon); Dan Olszewski of the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship | Wisconsin School of Business will accept the “Triple E” award; and our panel discussions and Office Hours are attracting some of Wisconsin’s leading entrepreneurs, investors, researchers and development experts. My “Inside Wisconsin” features a recent Tech Council #Innovation Network luncheon on #election administration, #security and #technology. We hope to see you soon! - Tom Still Learn more in our latest newsletter! https://lnkd.in/gDKcb-yC #entrepreneur #startup

Erik Iverson chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), will join Tech Council President Tom Still for a Nov. 13 keynote conversation to launch the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium. WARF became the nation’s first #university #technology transfer organization when it was established in 1925 by University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist Harry Steenbock of Vitamin D fame to provide a better system for patenting novel inventions. Today, it has evolved into a platform for investors to help commercialize early stage technologies while giving back to the UW-Madison and beyond – all the while serving as an #innovation policy voice nationally and internationally. Since becoming chief executive officer in 2016, Iverson has led efforts to expand WARF’s lines of #business and its #investment arm. Learn more and register: https://lnkd.in/gbB5-6Vp #Wisconsin #startup #entrepreneur #commercialization

A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison current and former #biomedical #engineering students sliced through the competition at a national collegiate inventors competition to win first-place with their combination forceps-scalpel device. The win gets Lauren Fitzsimmons, Molly Paras and Zach Spears a $10,000 prize and an accelerated patent process, which the trio already had been planning to seek after the competition. Article: 'UW–Madison students' 'Nerve Ninja' wins national inventors competition' https://lnkd.in/gHniV7vt via Wisconsin State Journal #university #Wisconsin #startup #entrepreneur #innovation

Event (11/20 at Alliant Energy Center): 'FutureQuest' 'FutureQuest' connects companies to over 5,000 middle school students from #DaneCounty. The FutureQuest exposition will involve hands-on activities allowing students to explore #career and #academic opportunities to become Future Ready. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gd5-uENj #Wisconsin #entrepreneur #education

Dan Truttman’s introduction to “regenerative #farming” came when he was a kid growing up on his family’s dairy farm and he was dispatched to pick rocks in a field. “I remember thinking, ‘We picked these rocks last year… why do they keep coming back?” Truttman recalled. “That’s when I realized the more the soil was tilled, the more soil would get washed away and the more rocks would pop up.” Although his grandfather was among the region’s first contour farmers, the process of using rotational “cover crops” and terraces to curb runoff and replenish tired soil was still a work in progress at the time. It remains a priority today on this fifth-generation farm as Truttman, his family and farm hands strive to make a 525-head herd more productive through #technology and careful husbandry of land and animals alike. It’s the kind of management practice that could become even more prevalent in #Wisconsin if a coalition of farmers, producers, researchers and others win a National Science Foundation (NSF) Foundation grant focused on sustainable #agriculture throughout the #food chain. Article: 'Inside Wisconsin: Regenerative farming techniques can help drive future of agriculture' https://lnkd.in/gsw_SW5T via Tom Still

The 2024 #Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium is fast approaching and we’re unveiling some of the highlights, such as the announcement that Dan Olszewski of the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship | Wisconsin School of Business will receive our annual Excellence in Entrepreneurial Education award in #Madison. We’ll announce company “pitch” selections soon, as well as more about speakers, panelists and other highlights. Registration has been strong! Our Oct. 22 luncheon in Madison will feature two advisors to former presidents talking about “#election #tech.” The latest edition of “WisBusiness.com: The Show” features Buckley Brinkman, who leads the Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing and Productivity (WCMP). My “Inside Wisconsin” takes a trip to Blanchardville to visit a dairy farm that practices regenerative #farming on its land. Read about the above and more in our latest newsletter! https://lnkd.in/gqY3-csK #startup #entrepreneur #technology

The latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” features Buckley Brinkman, executive director and chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing and Productivity (WCMP). Brinkman talks about what kind of services WCMP offers to manufacturers and how #AI is vital to being more innovative and productive. Watch the episode: https://lnkd.in/gFezqsck #Wisconsin #manufacturing #innovation #technology #leadership

Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship | Wisconsin School of Business leader Dan Olszewski, whose career spans teaching, #mentoring and running a young company, will accept the “Excellence in Entrepreneurial Education” award, 11/13 at the #Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium. Also known as the “Triple E” award, it was launched by the Tech Council to highlight the importance of teaching and mentoring entrepreneurs. Learn more and register for the symposium: https://lnkd.in/gPaZyXpR #startup #entrepreneur #education