With over 30 area colleges and universities, there are a lot of opportunities for young entrepreneurs to learn about tech, business and innovation in Chicago. Now that school is in session, here’s a refresher about what opportunities some of these schools offer, upcoming events to watch for, and how students and community members can get involved.
Northwestern University
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NU’s Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is under the umbrella of the McCormick School of Engineering, though director Michael Marasco said most of the students involved at the center aren’t part of McCormick. Endowed in 2008, the center offers courses that allow the student to experience the entire innovation and business cycle, from prototype to business plan development. This flagship interdisciplinary project, called NUvention, offers classes in web, medical, and energy innovation.
This year, the Farley Center is launching a startup speaker series that will bring in successful entrepreneurs from around the world, such as Plug & Play founder Saeed Amidi from Silicon Valley. Just this summer, they launched Northwestern’s first summer accelerator, putting 12 teams through the program.
DePaul University
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Photo credit: Kathy Hillegonds
“DePaul’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center is a partner to the university’s nationally ranked academic entrepreneurship program in the Driehaus College of Business. The Center serves as an entrepreneurial hub for DePaul students, faculty and alumni, as well as the broader Chicago business community,” executive director Terri Lonier said.
New this year is a workshop series for students and alumni interested in starting their own businesses that will offer three workshops a month taught by DePaul faculty and staff as well as the center’s entrepreneurs-in-residence. On October 4, the center will also host a free event called Small Business Startup @ DePaul for students and members of the business community, featuring roundtables with some of Chicago’s leaders in marketing, funding, legal matters and social media. In the spring, the Coleman Center will showcase student startups at Launch DePaul, the annual student new venture competition.
Illinois Institute of Technology
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The Knapp Entrepreneurship Center is one part of the offerings at IIT, which is also planning to build the new Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship in 2015. “It helps groups who have gone to even the incubator stage, introduced them to the potential for venture funding, also gives them feedback on their business proposal and how to think about what they’re doing,” IIT provost Alan Cramb said. “The Knapp Center is a really vital part of the continuum from idea through to business formation.”
The Institute of Design at IIT is stepping up its role at the university and allowing students at all levels to get involved with its expertise—one of the ways that learning about innovation is a vital part of an IIT education, Cramb said. “We started this year letting our new students spend an afternoon at orientation with the dean of the Institute of Design talking about the innovative process and how to think about innovation,” he said.
University of Chicago
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Housed at the Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business, the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation recently expanded to allow for involvement from all students, faculty, staff, and alumni at the university, instead of just Booth students and alumni. “If a student has a business idea and wants to talk through the business model, we’re happy to meet and talk through some of the challenges and opportunities he is facing,” Tracey Elder, the senior associate director of marketing, communications, and external relations said.
It serves as the educational and programming hub for entrepreneurship, innovation, private equity, and venture capital on campus, offering events, courses, and also a business launch program called the Edward L. Kaplan New Venture Challenge. Another on-campus opportunity includes the Chicago Innovation Exchange (CIE), an incubator officially opening its doors in October. Some of the Polsky Center’s events are open to the public, while the CIE is currently accepting applications for membership.
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