Homecoming 2013 Coming soon to a campus near you William Syvongsa TECHNEWS WRITER I’m going to be _ honest with you all. Our students are really is. And they have reason to be. Homecoming on our campus is not like it is on other campuses. “ W h e n I thin k Homecoming, I think of the kick- off to fall on a college campus. Schools will have a football game it,” said Ryan Miller, the Director of Campus Life. Our school does not have a football team. And the dance that happens every year is more of a social get together than a formal, dress-up affair This is just what students who have attended America think. , “I had no idea what homecoming was about until my third year here at HT,” is the sentiment of Sharbacha Edward, St. Lucia, when asked about homecoming; she arrived in 2010. International students who arrive on IIT’s campus may share Sharbacha’s views on Homecoming. I find myself explaining to of homecoming and I would like to everyone what homecoming is like on our campus. One of the many perks of being a ’ student is to be able to attend networking events in our backyard of Chicago’s thriv- ing entrepreneurial scene; on a deeply dis— counted or free basis. One of these many opportunities is the Chicago Council on Science and Technology’s periodic programs, semi— nar and discussion series. Established in 2007 to “educate, engage and advocate an increased public understanding of science and technology’s impact on society”, the Council brings together some of the most dynamic communities in the Chicagoland area; including universities, research and development centers as well as industry experts to talk about scientific develop- ments. — On September 10, the entre- preneurship hub of 1871 in Merchandise From my experience, homecoming is a celebration of our school. It is the tradition of welcoming back our school’s alumni to celebrate the past and confused about what homecoming the present by offering activities for alumni and students alike. It is an opportunity to connect, network and socialize with alumni. They o f visit their alma mater, a place they may not have been to in a while and they want to know what life is like now and the current students and a fancy dance associated with get a chance to hear what life used to be like. Everyone gets a chance to talk about what it really means to be a student of Illinois Institute of Technology. That is the formal explanation. Our campus has many activities that are geared toward our college in the United States of demographic. We don’t have a ‘”"fo'rmal dance,‘Wé have a Bog Bush. We don’t have a football game, we have homecoming soccer games. We don’t have spirit teams, we have students who plan activities that we 4th year Physics student from hope other students will come to and show some IIT pride. But I digress. What I’m trying to say is that IIT Homecoming is what we make of it and I hope that we can make something great of it this year. There is a Whole international students the meaning week of activities planned starting 23 September 2013. The theme take this opportunity to explain to ' this year is.‘Superheroes’. Check I out the calendar at www.iit.edu/ homecoming. Mart hosted “The Landscape of Techpark Innovation,” an interactive discussion on incubators — and how these entrepreneur- ial idea factories could prove to be keys to America’s economic progress. The panel consisted of Kapila Viges, Director of En- terpriseWorks Chicago at the University of Illinois; David Baker, Vice President for External Affairs at IIT; Steve Collens, Se- nior Vice President at The Pritzker Group and one of the premier thinkers behind 187.1; and John Flavin, Executive Director at Chicago Innovation Mentors. The mod» erator was Iim O’Connor In, Managing Director MVC Capital and Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Chicago- 1and Entrepreneurial Center. Collens spoke briefly about the history of 1871 — an entrepreneurship hub for over 220 companies, with mostly web-based startups using the space to col- laborate and grow. Baker spoke about a university’s mission to support economic development in the surrounding com- munity, and how IIT has essentially trans- formed the Bronzeville landscape with the establishment of IITRI (the IIT Research Institute in Tech Park, which hosts 26 companies and over 300 employees en— gaged in some profoundly interesting re- search) and the Idea Shop, among other things. Flavin spoke about the Chicago Innovation Mentors, a team-based men- toring system based off MIT’s support groups, and how UIC, Northwestern Uni- versity, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chi- cago and Abbott Industries, among other partners, have come together to connect entrepreneurs to funding, partners, talent and mentorship — playing a firm role in establishing Chicago as one of the “Top 10 cities to start a digital tech business.” The panel fielded some tough questions from the audience about the future of technology based entrepreneur- ship in Chicago— only 10 percent of start- ups succeed within five years; so univer- technewsiit.com OPINION 2 CAMPUS 3 A8E 4 SLIPSTICK 6 [image courtesy of Union Board 1871 hosts CZST event with strong IIT presence Utsav Gandhi CAMPUS EDITOR sities and R&D labs play a major role in providing mentorship to faculty, students and other invested members. 1871 has valuable office space available to IIT students wishing tostart a business of their own and connect with like-minded peers from other Chicago— land universities as well as mentoring from Chicago’s most dynamic brains. Students wishing to learn more about this should contact Nik Rokop, Director of the Knapp Entrepreneurship Center at the Stuart School of Business, at nrokop@ stuart.iit.edu. Becoming a student member has valuable perks — besides a more informed perspective on scientific and technologi- cal innovations happening around the world as we speak, attending these events also gives you a chance to network with established stalwarts in academia and in— dustry. Visit c25t.org/membership for more information.