Inside Illinois Tech's new idea factory
If you only build a new building once every half-century, it better be pretty special. And if you’re building it on a campus that was home to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the building better make a statement. The new Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation & Tech Entrepreneurship does both.
The 70,000-square foot, $37 million Kaplan Institute building on the Bronzeville campus is a gleaming showcase for some of the school’s signature programs.
The Kaplan Institute will be the new home of IIT’s Institute of Design, which previously was located in the Loop. and it’s The school’s Interprofessional Projects Program, which brings together students from various fields of study to work on projects, also will reside at Kaplan. Motorola Solutions Foundation donated $65,000 to IPRO.
The Kaplan Institute will pair students with corporate partners, such as AT&T, SoftBank Robotics and Magic Leap on projects. “We’re hoping Kaplan will provide the same matchmaking functions that 1871 did to solve some of these problems,” said Howard Tullman, former CEO of startup incubator 1871, who started as executive director of the Kaplan Institute in May.
