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Chicago (and the surrounding area up to Milwaukee) has a long history in manufacturing and machining, and I think we're squandering that advantage. That, or th

Chicago (and the surrounding area up to Milwaukee) has a long history in manufacturing and machining, and I think we're squandering that advantage. That, or the expertise has been laid off and/or evaporated and it's just not available any more. The academic environment literally has no idea how to integrate with this community, especially UIllinois. That comes with a bit of a bias - I'm an alumnus - and I honestly feel UI, especially Champaign/Urbana, is a basket case when it comes to outreach with industry. Or ask pmarca if you don't want to believe me.

hermitdev 10y ago
I graduated from Illinois Institute of Technology. IIT, with UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago) had a lot of community outreach programs to get students to commit to community service. It sometimes worked, sometimes didn't. One of the programs I helped out in was to repaint the public spaces of the public housing near campus and do some basic repairs. Alot of it, at the time, amounted to painting over graffiti in the common spaces, fixing hinges on gates, etc. As far as industry outreach, I felt IIT did a pretty good job. I can't speak to UIC or UI. I worked on research projects as an undergrad sponsored by industry interests. If we needed a dev kit or some low dollar product from a local industry manufacturer (such as Motorola), there wasn't usually an issue getting it gratis.
- tptacek 10y ago
  Champaign is really not culturally affiliated with Chicago. It's about the same distance from Chicago as it is from Indianapolis or St. Louis. The quality and ambition of the CS programs at Chicago and Northwestern are I think more important pressure points for the tech scene here. But: I wouldn't want to concede that the Chicago tech scene is a real problem.
WillEngler 10y ago
I take Uptake (Chicago industrial IoT unicorn, http://uptake.com/ http://uptake.com/) as a positive case of Chicago's tech scene embracing the area's manufacturing strengths.
- joezydeco 10y ago
  I'm heavy in IoT projects and I'm wary of Uptake. Can't put my finger on it - maybe it's the extremely high sizzle-to-steak ratio. Or maybe just because I see everyone scammed by Groupon falling for it all over again. I see groups like 640/Climate putting their shoulders into it and doing heavy work. I look at Uptake and see a floor of marketing reps.

hermitdev 10y ago

I graduated from Illinois Institute of Technology. IIT, with UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago) had a lot of community outreach programs to get students to commit to community service. It sometimes worked, sometimes didn't. One of the programs I helped out in was to repaint the public spaces of the public housing near campus and do some basic repairs. Alot of it, at the time, amounted to painting over graffiti in the common spaces, fixing hinges on gates, etc. As far as industry outreach, I felt IIT did a pretty good job. I can't speak to UIC or UI. I worked on research projects as an undergrad sponsored by industry interests. If we needed a dev kit or some low dollar product from a local industry manufacturer (such as Motorola), there wasn't usually an issue getting it gratis.

tptacek 10y ago
Champaign is really not culturally affiliated with Chicago. It's about the same distance from Chicago as it is from Indianapolis or St. Louis. The quality and ambition of the CS programs at Chicago and Northwestern are I think more important pressure points for the tech scene here. But: I wouldn't want to concede that the Chicago tech scene is a real problem.

WillEngler 10y ago

I take Uptake (Chicago industrial IoT unicorn, http://uptake.com/ http://uptake.com/) as a positive case of Chicago's tech scene embracing the area's manufacturing strengths.

joezydeco 10y ago
I'm heavy in IoT projects and I'm wary of Uptake. Can't put my finger on it - maybe it's the extremely high sizzle-to-steak ratio. Or maybe just because I see everyone scammed by Groupon falling for it all over again. I see groups like 640/Climate putting their shoulders into it and doing heavy work. I look at Uptake and see a floor of marketing reps.