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manifest: educating for innovation
Real-world problems are at the core of the educational
experiences known as Interprofessional Projects (IPROs).
Businesses, governmental bodies and other organizations
bring business and technical issues to teams of IIT students.
Teams have a semester to define the problem,
conduct research, consider alternatives and offer solutions.
Entrepreneurial IPROs, informally called EnPROs, are
a specialized offshoot of this approach. Funded by trustee
Ed Kaplan and a part of the Ed Kaplan Entrepreneurial
Studies Program, an EnPRO exposes teams to the entrepreneurial
process. They produce a product concept and a
business plan, which they present to a review panel that
includes venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs.
Winning teams can receive up to $20,000 to take their new
product concept further on the road to commercialization.
The Leadership Academy, another innovation, was created
to bolster the human potential of all undergraduate
students. Fostered by gifts from trustee Al Self, his wife,
Lila, and trustee John Mitchell, the academy gives
students special opportunities to advance their personal
effectiveness and leadership skills. Students with exceptional
leadership potential earn scholarships.
Innovative programming is not limited to undergraduates
or to the Main Campus. At Chicago-Kent College of
Law, law students have been exceptionally receptive to the
interprofessional concept, seeking collaborative activities
with their colleagues across the university. In Bosnia,
IPRO teams and their advisers, under the direction of
Chicago-Kent, have set up Internet and intranet servers
and legal databases to rebuild that country’s legal infrastructure.
Other legal and interdisciplinary initiatives
have promoted the rule of law through technology in
Kosovo, Macedonia and Poland.
One of the most innovative programs at the Downtown
Campus is the Center for Law and Financial Markets,
which prepares students and industry professionals in
both legal and financial aspects of capital markets.
The campaign has been especially important for three
initiatives that make the legal system accessible to
ordinary people. The first is the Justice Web Collaboratory,
a partnership with the National Center for State Courts
that puts Web-based communication at the disposal of
judges. The second enables workable pro se representation
(representing oneself without a lawyer); the Institute of
Design and Chicago-Kent are collaborating on this project.
The third is the Illinois Technology Center—pro bono work
funded by all of the legal services organizations in Illinois
and indirectly by the Chicago Bar Foundation.
LEADERSHIP MENTORING RONALD PASKO, A COMPUTER SCIENCES MAJOR, APPRECIATES THE BENEFITS OF
THE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY’S MENTORSHIP PROGRAM.
“LAST YEAR,” PASKO SAID, “I WAS INTRODUCED TO LORENZO DELEON, AN IIT ALUMNUS, PRESIDENT OF A
SUCCESSFUL CORPORATION, COMPUTER-SCIENCE INDUSTRY GURU, AND OVERALL NICE GUY. THE PERSONAL
DIRECTION THAT THIS EXPERIENCE HAS LENT ME HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL EXPERIENCES IN MY
LIFE. HAVING NEVER HAD A TRUE ‘GAUGE’ OF MY SKILLS FROM INSIDE THE INDUSTRY, LORENZO HAS TAUGHT ME
MUCH ON HOW TO MARKET MYSELF, UTILIZE MY SKILLS, AND PUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE FIRST.”
WINNING VENTURE CAPITAL JESSICA COFFEY,
A MATERIALS ENGINEERING MAJOR AND CAMRAS
SCHOLAR, SAID IT SUCCINCTLY AT HER ENPRO’S
PRESENTATION FOR A LOW-COST SPIROMETER: “THIS
DEVICE COULD BE FOR ASTHMATICS WHAT BLOOD
SUGAR TESTING KITS ARE FOR DIABETICS.” ALUMNUS
IRVING FOOTLIK AGREED AND OFFERED THE TEAM
$20,000 ON THE SPOT TO CONTINUE DEVELOPING AN
AFFORDABLE, HOME-USE DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE.
19 ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY