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NEW KAPLAN INSTITUTE AT ILLINOIS TECH FRONT DOOR TO
EMPLOYMENT; DESIGNED TO HELP STUDENTS INTERACT WITH BUSINESSES, THE WORLD
Every
Illinois Tech Undergraduate
Student in Every Discipline to Problem-Solve Through
Project-Based
Work in Contemporary, Highly-Collaborative Space
CHICAGO (Thursday, October 25, 2018) – Illinois Institute of
Technology today opened a sparkling, new 70,000 square foot home for
student-driven innovation and entrepreneurship. Unlike other university
innovation centers (which are more about being a platform for start-ups), The
Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship takes a
hands-on approach to problem solving with dynamic projects, collaborations and
real outcomes and products. It is devoted to fostering collaboration among all
of Illinois Tech’s students, faculty, alumni and business partners – and is
designed to develop the home-grown and diverse technical talent needed in
today’s business world.
“At Illinois Tech, we make it possible for our students to learn
by inventing, creating and solving,” said Illinois Tech President Alan Cramb.
“The Kaplan Institute will immediately become one of the nation’s most
important platforms for active learning at the university level. It will also become
the centerpiece of our mission to make a future in science and technology
possible for talented young people here in Chicago and across the world.”
The Kaplan Institute is helmed by Chicago’s veteran entrepreneur
and investor, Howard Tullman, who has
been at the forefront of Chicago’s innovation boom, spending the last five
years leading the city’s tech hub 1871
and decades before directing high-tech start-ups and helping major educational
institutions reinvent themselves.
“The Kaplan Institute’s focus is to turn out highly qualified, instantly
employable students for jobs that haven’t been invented yet, trained to use
technologies that we are just now creating, in order to address problems that
we do not yet know are going to be problems,” said Tullman, university professor
and executive director of the Kaplan Institute. “In this building, the creative
and imaginative ideas of the school’s students and faculty will become
meaningful innovations for our city, region and beyond.”
The university’s first new academic building in nearly 40 years provides
all Illinois Tech students with a variety of wide open collaboration spaces for
project-based experiences, contains state-of-the art prototyping and
fabrication facilities, and serves as the home for the university’s renowned Institute
of Design. In addition, the Kaplan Institute breaks out of the classroom model to
give students myriad ways to invent, create and discover through hands-on,
team-based learning.
Located in the heart of Illinois Tech’s historic campus, the Kaplan
Institute will draw students and faculty from all disciplines. Every undergraduate
student on campus – regardless of field of study – will be connected to one
another through interdisciplinary learning opportunities. Students are already
in the process of tackling issues such as agriculture in an urban environment,
applying robotics to vertical farming; using Big Data to improve first
responder responsiveness; generating an interface that bridges the foreign
language gap and improves trust and communication between families and Chicago
Public Schools; and many others. As this work moves into the Kaplan Institute,
project teams will be able to collaborate and connect, faculty will drop in to
coach and mentor, and business collaborators will have a much larger presence and
engagement in the students’ education.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined Cramb and Provost Peter
Kilpatrick, along with major business partners, university faculty, staff and
students for this afternoon’s grand opening events celebrating the city’s
newest innovation hub.
"Technology and entrepreneurship
continue to be Chicago’s fastest growing industry sectors – we as a City
recognize the value of supporting innovation and talent," Mayor Emanuel
said. “The Kaplan Institute under Howard Tullman’s direction will expand,
diversify and broaden one of the world’s largest tech talent pools right here
in Chicago, and I am excited to see the impact these students and graduates
will have on our City’s future."
The Kaplan Institute is established
in large part from a gift of $11 million from Ed Kaplan – a 1965 Illinois Tech
alumnus and longtime member of the University’s Board of Trustees – and his
wife, Carol. Kaplan, a Chicagoan who studied mechanical engineering, co-founded
Zebra Technologies, a global leader in bar code technology.
“Through the Kaplan Institute, Illinois Tech students, faculty and
alumni will have all the resources they need to turn their concepts, ideas and
problems into real solutions. Students now have the opportunity and ability to
go beyond the norm of technical education and focus also on ingenuity and invention,”
Kaplan said.
Other major donors to the Kaplan
Institute include: S.R. and Kaye Cho; Martin Cooper (EE ’50,
M.S. ’57) and Arlene Harris; The Crown Family; A. Steven and
Nancy C. Crown; Lester and Renee S. Crown; Janet and
Craig Duchossois/The Duchossois Family Foundation; Michael P.
Galvin; The Grainger Foundation; Arthur W. Hill; Victor A. (CHE ’64) and Faye
Morgenstern/Morgenstern Family Foundation; Walter (ME ’44) Nathan and
Ann Nathan; Madhavan K. (M.S. IE ’68) and Teresa R. Nayar/Nayar Family
Foundation; Robert C. Pew and Susan Taylor/Dornick Foundation;
Edward (ME ’43) and Renee Ross/Renee & Edward Ross Foundation;
Steelcase, Inc.; Tellabs Foundation; Ralph Wanger; Alan (ME ’71) and
Suzanne Wendorf.
Notably, more than 50 percent of the
individuals and organizations listed are not alumni of Illinois Tech, but have
invested because of their commitment to the mission and future of the student
success that will be developed through the Kaplan Institute.
The horizontal, expansive
and light-filled building was designed by John Ronan Architects. (Photos and video can be found here.) Conceived as a hybrid of campus space and building, the
design is organized around two open-air courtyards through which visitors enter
the building, and which serve as collision nodes for chance meetings and
information exchange across departments. The design of the Kaplan
Institute is also forward-thinking in its approach to sustainability. The
second floor of the building, which cantilevers over the ground floor to
provide sun shading, is enclosed in a dynamic façade of glossy white ETFE foil
cushions which can vary the amount of solar energy entering the building through
sophisticated pneumatics. The ETFE foil is 1 percent the weight of glass
and gives the building a light, cloud-like appearance. The building has
also received LEED gold certification.
The open, white interior spaces – a blank canvas that fosters the feeling
of a single community of users – are punctuated with Post-It Note colors and
sleek Steelcase furniture. Dry erase paint on the interior walls transform them
all into teaching surfaces and ideation centers. The building provides flexible
adaptive spaces to accommodate a wide range of interdisciplinary classes and
project types. The interior spaces can be reconfigured easily and support a
wide variety of uses. For more, go to iit.edu/kaplan-institute.
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About
Illinois Institute of Technology: Illinois
Institute of Technology, also known as Illinois Tech, is a private,
technology-focused research university, located in Chicago, offering
undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, architecture,
business, design, human sciences, applied technology, and law. One of 21
institutions that comprise the Association of Independent Technological
Universities (AITU), Illinois Tech offers exceptional preparation for
professions that require technological sophistication, an innovative mindset,
and an entrepreneurial spirit. Visit iit.edu.