October 14, 2025

Empowering Student Innovators

Building Change Together: The Story of the UW-IT’s Student Innovation Lab

Hi, I’m a Husky Innovator!

My name is Bella, I’m a fourth-year Informatics and Interdisciplinary Honors student, and I am always cheering on UW. Whether it’s the Husky football team or the brilliant students I’ve met across campus, I’m continuously inspired by the energy and drive that define this university.

Finding My Path

As an Interdisciplinary Honors student, I’ve been trained to explore intersections across disciplines. Over the past few years, I’ve discovered my voice and purpose in leveraging data, policy, effective leadership, and disruptive innovation to empower students to engage with UW’s tools and resources.

Last fall, I was searching for ways to get involved, gain professional experience, and make an impact on my community. That search led me to Dr. Helen B Garrett, the UW’s Registrar, whose mentorship opened my eyes to the systemic problems UW students face with registration, data, and information systems. 

Exploring Barriers to Student Innovation

Reaching out to Dr. Garrett led to an experiential learning internship with the Office of the University Registrar, where I was given the opportunity to dive deeper into two challenges that students face: (1) the chaotic and broken student journey to a major, and (2) the barriers to student-led technological innovation at UW.

Since then, I have been actively involved in conversations across different campus units about improving the major exploration and application process. These discussions involve identifying bottlenecks, learning from students’ lived experiences, and brainstorming new tools and information pathways to help students navigate major selection with more clarity and support.

The other key issue I focused on was barriers to student innovation. I noticed my brilliant classmates and peers identifying real problems with UW technology (e.g., registration, scheduling, or everyday tools) and coming up with new ideas. Unfortunately, many of these student innovators were met with policy restrictions, lack of access to data, or unclear project pathways. There wasn’t a clear process for them to get the necessary resources and support.

Changing our University through UW-IT’s Student Innovation Lab

Partnering with Pranav Madhukar (another student innovator), the Registrar, and UW-IT’s Student & Educational Technology Services team, I co-founded the UW-IT Student Innovation Lab (SIL). The lab’s purpose is to empower UW students from all disciplines to explore solutions to problems facing the UW community. SIL provides the necessary tools and resources to identify problems, experiment with solutions, and connect with mentors, while ensuring that projects align with UW policies and long-term sustainability goals.

Our first innovation tool is the HuskyFetch API. Funded by a grant we received from the Student Technology Fee (STF), the API will provide students with nonsensitive university data (no personally identifiable data) to use in class projects. By giving students safe, easy access to UW data, it empowers them to turn ideas into action. To take initiative and build creative, data-driven solutions to the everyday problems they see on campus.

If you’re interested in learning more, sharing feedback, or getting involved with the Student Innovation Lab, I’d love to hear from you! Reach out to me directly (iboult@uw.edu) or email studentinnovation@uw.edu. Check out their website here: https://sites.uw.edu/studentinnovation/about-us/

It’s Your Turn to Take Action!

Through my journey at the UW, I have learned that students hold more power than we often realize. If you see a problem or have an idea, you can take initiative. This can sometimes be as simple as having conversations about the problems you identify. I might never have gone down this path had I not approached Dr. Garrett after a guest lecture in an Honors class. 

The UW is full of opportunities and support, but there’s always more work to be done. The next great solution might start with you. And if you choose to act, the people and resources to support you are here if you look for them. All it takes is courage and willingness to seek out the support that’s here for you.