Q&A WITH GERALD C. BLAZEY, Ph.D Vice President for Research and Innovation Partnerships; Northern Illinois University In this issue of Catalyst, we sit down with Northern Illinois University Vice President Gerald C. Blazey, Ph.D, to discuss NIU and Discover Financial Services’ new campus collaborative innovation opportunity, Discover Campus Innovator Program, launching this fall. Tell us about […]
Q&A with Co-Founder & CEO of Black Tech Mecca – Fabian Elliott In this edition of Catalyst, we talk with Fabian Elliott, Co-Founder & CEO of Black Tech Mecca, to discuss the current state of Chicago’s Black Tech Ecosystem and the city’s role in expanding diversity and inclusion in tech. Black Tech Mecca is […]
Q/A with Dr. Alicia Löffler Associate Provost for Innovation and New Ventures; Associate Vice President for Research; and Executive Director, INVO, Northwestern University In this issue of Catalyst, we sit down with ISTC/I Board Member Dr. Alicia Löffler to discuss how Northwestern is helping to commercialize the university’s groundbreaking research and promoting innovation and […]
Q/A with Dan Berglund, President & CEO, SSTI The Federal government plays an instrumental role in advancing science and technology innovation in the United States. Illinois is a top 10 state in receiving critical investment in basic science and R&D, which has been a driver of our economy and led to countless discoveries and innovations. To […]
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 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 […]
Pictured: Chris Gladwin (right) with David Baker, VP of External Affairs at Illinois Tech (left), and David Weinstein, founding chairman of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC, center) (Photo courtesy: David Baker) Q&A with one of Chicago’s most prolific tech entrepreneurs – Chris Gladwin This issue of Catalyst takes you inside the mind of serial […]