The University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering has signed a memorandum of understanding with Silicon Valley data storage company Western Digital Corporation. The agreement marks the launch of the college’s first corporate innovation hub—a new model for deep, long-term collaboration between industry and academia.
Through this new partnership, UW-Madison and Western Digital will work together to accelerate research, innovation and workforce development in areas such as quantum computing, spintronics, advanced materials and biomedical applications.
The agreement outlines opportunities for collaborative research projects that draw on the strengths of UW-Madison’s world-class engineering faculty and Western Digital’s leading-edge technologies. It provides workforce development initiatives, such as capstone design experiential learning, student internships, co-ops, recruiting pipelines and professional development programming. To further foster daily collaboration and innovation, it offers Western Digital researchers the potential to secure industry partner space on the seventh floor of the college’s forthcoming new building, the Phillip A. Levy Engineering Center.
“This is a milestone moment for the College of Engineering,” says Devesh Ranjan, Grainger Dean of the College of Engineering. “Our corporate innovation hubs will bring industry leaders like Western Digital into the heart of our college—working side by side with our faculty, researchers and students to drive breakthroughs and prepare the next generation of engineers.”
San Jose-based Western Digital Corporation is the college’s first corporate innovation hub partner. During a campus visit the week of Sept. 16, 2025, Western Digital representatives learned about several college expertise areas that align with the company’s interests. Here, they are part of a larger group that toured the lab of Lei Zhou, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering whose research centers around precision mechatronics.
Under the memorandum of understanding, the college and Western Digital also will explore a master research agreement to streamline future projects, while facilitating Western Digital’s engagement with the college’s industrial consortia, college research centers such as the NSF-funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, career fairs, and annual on-campus project review sessions.
Western Digital leaders will participate in consortia technical talks and mentorship programs on campus, providing students valuable perspectives, insights and experiences and offering the company access to top engineering talent.
“This is a practical model for industry-academia collaboration: shared space, shared challenges, shared results,” says Carl Che, Western Digital senior vice president in the office of the chief technology officer and research.
A new model for future industry engagement, the Western Digital partnership sets the stage for other companies to join the College of Engineering corporate innovation hub network—deepening the college’s connections with industry and amplifying the real-world impact of its research.
“Western Digital is the first, and we hope many more will follow,” says Ranjan. “By embedding industry partners directly within our ecosystem, our corporate innovation hubs will accelerate innovation while preparing our students to lead from day one.”
To start a conversation about how your company can become a College of Engineering corporate innovation hub partner, contact Russ Johnson, college director of corporate relations, russ.johnson@wisc.edu.
Featured image caption: Western Digital Corporation is the college’s inaugural corporate innovation hub partner. The week of Sept. 25, 2025, leaders from Western Digital, which is based in California, visited UW-Madison to meet engineering faculty, staff, students and leaders and tour College of Engineering facilities.