Q/A with Ashley Moy, CEO, Cast 21, and Alex Niemczewski, CEO, BallotReady Earlier this month we released our Illinois Innovation Index, detailing record levels of entrepreneurship activity from Illinois universities, with over 800 companies founded and $630 million in funding raised over the last five years. Index findings also showed that Illinois is retaining more of these companies than […]
Q/A with Haven Allen, Executive Director, mHUB Incubators and coworking spaces like 1871 and MATTER coalesce Chicago’s digital/IT and healthtech startup communities, create jobs, and drive economic development. With the creation of the makerspace mHUB, Chicago’s manufacturing and product development community will also have a centralized location to meet, collaborate, and create. mHUB’s creation is the result […]
Q/A with Andreas Roelofs, Director, Chain Reaction Innovations and Nano Design Works, Argonne National Laboratories Known for its strengths in supercomputing and clean energy, Argonne National Lab has a long tradition bringing together some of the world’s foremost scientists and most advanced facilities to take on many of the world’s biggest challenges. Continuing the tradition of collaboration […]
Since our inception more than 25 years ago, the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition (ISTC) has worked to promote and enrich the state of Illinois’ research and technology community. Over the last several years in particular, the state has experienced significant growth in activity dedicated to fostering an Illinois economy centered around innovation. To celebrate […]
Immigration was one of the most talked about issues of the 2016 presidential election. With the election now behind us and a new administration entering the White House in 2017, immigration reform will continue to be top of mind. For this issue of Catalyst we’d like to explore the critical role that immigrants play in […]
By Mark Denzler, Vice President & COO, Illinois Manufacturers Association, Mark Harris, President & CEO, Illinois Science and Technology Coalition and Warren Ribley, President & CEO, Illinois Biotechnology Innovation Organization Illinois’ research and development (R&D) tax credit expired in 2016 and has yet to be renewed. Why is that a big deal? R&D tax credits help boost private […]
By Michelle Chitambar, PhD, Research Enterprise Director, Office for the Vice Chancellor for Research, Southern Illinois University In 2015, Forbes ranked the top 50 entrepreneurial universities in the US, based on the number of alumni and students who have identified themselves as founders and business owners on LinkedIn. While it was predictable to see universities […]
Q+A with prolific healthcare business leader Tim Walbert This issue of Catalyst takes you inside the mind of healthcare business leader Tim Walbert, CEO of Illinois-based Horizon Pharma. What follows is an edited interview with Mr. Walbert — about launching and growing a healthcare business in Chicago, Horizon’s “patient-first” approach to medicine, and what motivates […]
By Daaron Dohler, Operations Lead, R&D Strategic and Professional Affairs, Takeda Pharmaceuticals Teaching in the high school classroom is rapidly evolving as teachers embrace new technology and students gain access to information from around the globe. The Illinois Science & Technology Institute is helping teachers and students go even further by providing an opportunity to tackle […]
By Mark Tebbe, Chair, and Alya Woods, Director, ChicagoNEXT, World Business Chicago On April 21st venture investors and key players in the Midwest’s tech scene came together for the 2016 Chicago Venture Summit, produced by ChicagoNEXT, an initiative of World Business Chicago. The first Chicago Venture Summit was held in 2014 with a goal of drawing […]