Each year, we at the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (ISTC) release detailed metrics benchmarking Illinois’ innovation economy through our Illinois Innovation Index. At the university-level, this includes the annual data on the volume of startup companies spun out of university entrepreneurship and commercialization initiatives, as well as research activity and output across the state’s campuses. While we view this work as vital for assessing Illinois’ progress in key economic development areas, taking this big-picture view of innovation can overlook the groundbreaking research being conducted by world-class researchers at campuses across the state.
