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May 15, 2025

Lab marks 10 years of impact

Tech Policy Lab

The Tech Policy Lab’s recent 10 Year Celebration was a bit of a family reunion. 

The event on May 5 brought together multiple generations of TPL affiliates: alumni, students, co-directors, faculty, and current and former staff. They came together from around the state to celebrate the 10th birthday of the program that has and continues to impact them.

Tech Policy Lab 10-year event group photo.
Co-Directors, faculty, alumni, staff and students came together to mark 10 years since the Lab was founded.

“The Tech Policy Lab is a research institution, but our impact is measured just as much in people,” said Co-Director Ryan Calo. “It was lovely and powerful to see so many Lab alumni who achieved their dream of working in tech policy—whether industry, academia, or government.”

The gathering started with a networking event at The Graduate in Seattle, where attendees had a chance to catch up before the Co-Directors each spoke about their journey with the Lab and what it meant to them. Co-Director Emeritus Batya Friedman, who retired in January, was honored with a special gift: a photo of the Co-Directors’ first gathering as a foursome, from a unique angle.

Co-Director Emeritus Batya Friedman opens her gift of a print of the directors' meeting.
Co-Director Emeritus Batya Friedman opens her gift of a print of the Co-Directors’ first meeting as a foursome.

Afterward, attendees moved upstairs to the Mountaineering Club, the rooftop venue at The Graduate that overlooks UW. The conversations flowed between old friends and new ones, with Co-Directors connecting with their past students and getting to know newer members of the Lab. 

 

Alumni, faculty, staff and students gather at the Lab's 10 Year party.
Alumni, faculty, staff and students gather at the Lab’s 10 Year party.

Alumni, faculty, staff and students gather at the Lab's 10 Year party.

“Students meeting alumni and seeing the things they are working on was an important part of the event,” said Lab Program Manager Alex Bolton. “I think relationships were made that hopefully lead to some mentoring as well. It was cool for alumni to see what something they were a part of has become.”

For Calo, it was powerful to stand back and see what he and the other Co-Directors have built. 

“It is hard to believe it has been over a decade since Batya, Yoshi, and I founded the Tech Policy Lab,” he said. “It’s even harder to believe all that we’ve accomplished—the award-winning research, the many distinguished visitors, and all of the incredible alumni who contributed to the Lab over its 10 years.”

Read more about the Lab’s 10 years of impact here: https://techpolicylab.uw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/TPL-10-Year-Report.pdf.