Anoopa Sundararaj an
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

In the presence of several members
of the Board of Trustees, the Mayor of
Chicago, the President of the university,
faculty, staff and students, Illinois Tech
ceremoniously conducted the groundbreaking
of the first academic building addition to the
Main Campus in 40 years, the Ed Kaplan
Family Institute for Innovation and Tech
Entrepreneurship

Ed Kaplan’s $11 million gift and
challenge grant was announced to the Illinois
Tech community in February 2014 and was
followed closely by the announcement of the
design and programming architects at a press
conference with the Mayor in March 20141
On Thursday, August 25, 2016, the ofiicial
groundbreaking ceremony was conducted at
the Hermann Hall Expol In his introductory
speech, Bud Wendorf, Chairman of the
Board of Trustees called it, “a wonderful and
very special day," celebrating a “landmark
endeavor" for the university Alan Cramb,
President of Illinois Tech, brought attention to
the fact that Ed Kaplan, through his gift for the
new building, had become the second largest
alumni donor in Illinois Tech history

 

Student newspaper of Illinois Institute of Technology since 1928

Illinois Tech breaks ground on Kaplan Institute, first academic building addition in 40 years

The Kaplan Institute will house
Illinois Tech’s Interprofessional Projects
(IPRO) Program, Idea Shop, Mr A and Lila
Self Leadership Academy, Entrepreneurship
Academy and Jules E Knapp Entrepreneurship
Centerl The Institute of Design (ID)
faculty and staff will play an important
role in incorporating design principles
into undergraduate programs, while the
graduate school will remain at the university’s
downtown campusl According to the ofiicial
website for the Kaplan Institute, the mission of
this endeavor is to “nurture the advancement
of creative ideas, foster interdisciplinary and
external collaboration, and create a culture that
enables innovation and tech entrepreneurship
to flourish"

At the groundbreaking ceremony,
Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago,
congratulated Illinois Tech on their close
collaboration with Von Steuben High School
as part of the city’s mission to bridge the gap
between high schools and universities, and
commended the relationships fostered thereinl
Of the Kaplan Institute he said, “this building
represents the things that make Chicago
great ~ incredible architecture, philanthropy,
innovation"

The building has been designed

by John Ronan Architects, a Chicagoebased
architecture firm The lead architect, Iohn
Ronan said, “the world no longer cares
what you know It cares what you do with
what you know" and went on to say that the
Kaplan Institute would serve as an “idea
factory" to encourage “creative collision,"
leading students to be able to “transition
fluidly between thinking and making” Ronan
also talked in detail about the design of the
building, highlighting that the second floor
of the building will be enclosed in Ethylene
Tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) foil cushions,
varying the amount of solar energy entering
the building, a sustainable method that will
allow the building to respond to changes in
weather in real time, a method that is being
used for the first time in Chicago Ronan
ended his speech by pointing out that Mies van
der Rohe had three distinct styles of spaces 7
classrooms, laboratories and communal spaces
for all, adding that the Kaplan Institute will be
a space that serves as all three

Provost and Vice President for
Academic Affairs, Frances Bronet recognized
that Illinois Tech students “know how to think,
and they know how to make," emphasizing
that the Kaplan Institute would be a space to
hone those skills, helping students and faculty

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alike “spark each other’s entrepreneurial spirit?’
The President of the Student Government
Association, Hamze Sukkar said that the new
building would be a catalyst to both attract the
best and brightest students to the university, as
well as ignite the minds of those already here
to continue effective collaboration, ideation
and creation

Ed Kaplan, the primary donor for the
building, talked about the building, expected
to be completed by the end of 2018, as being
a space that will foster “human collisions"
and encourage “collaboration, cooperation,
relationship building" He also highlighted that
the building will have glass walls so that all
members of the campus will be witness to “the
next great invention coming to life"

Murewa Oguntade, a fifth year
architecture student present at the event
shared her thoughts with TechNews, saying,
“As a student at Illinois Tech, you learn pretty
quickly the significance of architecture in the
school’s history, and it just feels great to be able
to witness the continuation of that legacy"

More information on the Ed
Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and
Tech Entrepreneurship can be found on the
university’s main website at this link http:/l
webliitledu/provost/kaplaneinstitute

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Photos courtesy annstitutinnal Advancement at Illinois Tech