IIT plans new Innovation Center on South Side campus - Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

IIT plans new Innovation Center on South Side campus

A 5-story, 100,000-square-foot building on the South Side campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology will house workshops and media labs focusing on innovation, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Thursday.

The state-of-the art building will offer students and faculty a centralized facility designed to promote innovation and transition new ideas into products and processes, a release from the mayor's office said.

The building will house IIT's Idea Shop, Leadership Academy, Entrepreneurship Academy and Institute of Design, the release said.

"The new Innovation Center promises to be an investment in both the education offered at IIT and the future of Chicago," Emanuel said in a statement. "It will help unlock the potential of thousands of students while providing Chicago businesses with a pipeline of new products, processes and talented graduates to hire."

The center "will combine the power of higher education with Chicago-style imagination, determination and boldness to fuel innovation. It will be the bridge between the classrooms and the technology park — a portal to the future," IIT President John Anderson said in the statement.

The Innovation Center will also be home to IIT's Interprofessional Projects Program, designed for collaborative projects by multidisciplinary teams rather than solo disciplines, a release from the mayor's office said.

It will also provide a space for companies at University Technology Park and around Chicago to tap into the talent of IIT students. The technology park is currently home to 27 companies in a 4-building complex, including 15 startups in the incubator.

After the center is built, IIT will be able to increase the number of CPS Students who participate in its Exelon Summer Institute and Boeing Scholars Academy program from more than 100 to more than 200, the release said.