Chicago Tribune (Jan. 26) -- Illinois is seeing a surge of startup and innovation spinning out of its universities, especially in biomedicine and information-technology software development. And licensing of university-developed patents is seeing especially strong growth. Lesley Millar-Nicholson, director of the office of technology management at Illinois, mentioned monthly “social fuse” events on the U. of I. campus, in which students pitch their business ideas and look for partners in areas where they need help.
Related story: Chicago Inno (Jan. 27) -- Universities are a unique breeding ground for rising entrepreneurs, able to accumulate all the scattered ingredients for building a thriving company through their own academic networks—nurturing a winning idea, recruiting talent, finding mentorship, workspace, and securing venture capital.