From the Classroom to the Real World

Transcript

Do you have an idea you like to bring to life, an invention or business to improve your community? Illinois Tech signature Interprofessional Projects Program allows you to work with a team of student to solve real world problems. Chemical engineering, student Bilal and this team, are working on a startup company and he’s here to tell us all about it. Bilal, please take it away.

– Thanks for the intro Alex, hi everyone. Illinois Tech has always had an influential position in my life. With my dad once being professor here, I spent most of my summers sitting in his office, peering outside his window, watching students walk by, little did I know that one day I would be one of them. In my opinion, one of the most fascinating aspects of the university has severe Interprofessional Projects Program, also known as IPRO. IPRO classes bring students of all different majors along with faculty and industry professionals together to solve real world issues, whether that be working with robots or designing greenhouses, there’s an exciting project for every student to work on. I believe this program truly allows students to find their passion, gain leadership skills and truly learn to innovate, to solve real world problems. Take me for example, last I took a course called social innovation design and I got the chance to create and lead my own group in a project. After I finished the course, I recruited a larger team composed of all university undergrad students. Steming from engineering, applied mathematics, economics and computer science. From there, we spent weeks researching and interviewing professionals to truly develop our idea into something with more impact and meaning. And once we establish that, we decide to create our very own startup company. Our company is called Square1, and our goal is to create a web application to help connect minority homeless youth in Chicago area with local resources. With the help and support of the university, my team and I are currently in the pro creating very first prototype of the app. It’s truly amazing to think that our hard work and effort, while still being students, has a potential to create such a positive change in the world. That’s all for me, sending it back to you, Alex.

– What an inspiring story Bilal, that is amazing. At Illinois Tech, students do more than learn, they learn to do and create. Here, you’ll gain an entrepreneurial mindset that will help you become a leader in the next generation, thanks again.