Explore tools, programs, and communities at UW that support student innovation, from SIL’s resources to UW’s broader innovation ecosystem.
SIL Tools & Resources
HuskyFetch
(Spring 2026)
A safe, robust API providing representative UW data for hackathons, coursework, and prototyping.
Containerized Images
(Spring 2026)
Ready-to-use environments that lower the barrier to prototyping, so you can focus on problem-solving instead of setup.
UW Innovation 101
Critical information for UW student innovators at any phase of your project.
UW Policy
Information on UW policy relevant to student innovation.
Consultations
Meet with the SIL team for project guidance. We’ll help you scope projects, navigate UW policies, use SIL tools, or find the right home for your ideas outside our lab (CoMotion, RSOs, etc.).
Other Campus Innovation Resources
UW Funding & Opportunities
- CoMotion Innovation Gap Fund — Supports the early-stage development of innovations with potential to enable new products and services.
- DubHacks Next — A 16-week program supporting talented builders with workshops, tailored advising, community events, and a showcase Demo Day.
- Lavin Entrepreneurship Program — Selective, multi-year program for undergrads building startups. Includes courses, mentorship, and Seattle network access.
UW Hackathons
- DubHacks — UW’s hackathon for tech innovation and teamwork.
- WINFO Hackathon — The annual hackathon sponsored by Women in Informatics (WINFO).
Specialized Computing Access
- Cloud Resources — Offers students access to cloud computing platforms and tools to facilitate scalable, flexible computing for projects and research.
UW Innovation Centers and Services
- Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship — Startup competitions, Buerk Accelerator, mentorship, and early-stage funding for student ventures.
- CoMotion — UW’s innovation hub offering IP advising, licensing marketplace, startup support, and mentorship.
- CoMotion IP Advising — Schedule a consultation.
- Software Innovation Patents and Copyrights — Guidance on how copyright protects your code, when patents may apply, and how to choose the right path for your software innovation.
- Global Innovation Exchange (GIX) — A joint institute between UW, Tsinghua University, and Microsoft, focused on real-world tech challenges.
- Innovation Month — Annual campus-wide festival each May with 60+ events, competitions, workshops, and talks celebrating cross-disciplinary innovation.
- iStartup Lab — Startup-building workshops, projects, and pitch opportunities.
- UW’s Innovation Imperative — A university-wide initiative empowering students, faculty, and researchers to imagine, learn, and build solutions to major societal challenges.
Student RSOs Supporting Innovation
- CSEED — Entrepreneurship community within Computer Science & Engineering.
- Husky Coding Project — A student organization focused on collaborative software development.
- Husky Innovation & Ideas — Interdisciplinary community for student innovators.
- TEDx at UW — Student-run group hosting TED-style talks and events.
- UW Research Computing Club — Supports computational research by providing access to a cloud credit program and UW’s Hyak supercomputing cluster.
- Women in Informatics (WINFO) — Inclusive community for women and nonbinary students in informatics. Hosts an annual WINFO hackathon.
Other Helpful Resources
- UX @ UW — User experience design process support.