Hands-On Experiences in Research and Beyond
Derek Bergstedt’s interest in chemical engineering began in fourth grade when a career assessment test suggested they pursue the discipline. Over the years as they learned more about the field, it...
Student and Alumni Stories
Find Stories
Unlocking Your Potential
Cooper Runzel had been working in manufacturing jobs at Lake Cable in the Chicago suburb of Bensenville, Illinois, for many years. After working his way up to a plant manager position, he started...
Aircraft Research at the Cutting Edge
After starting his degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and taking some community college courses, Joseph Borrelli found himself looking for aerospace engineering programs in the...
An Exciting Time in the Space Industry
Liz Karagiannes joined nearly 1,000 other undergraduates in applying for the 2023 Brooke Owens Fellowship and was one of the 47 that were selected. As a fellow, Liz will be working at Lockheed Martin...
Rethinking Justice
An unemployed veteran with mental health issues commits a nonviolent crime in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood, which could put them behind bars for years. Instead, they visit the Cook County...
‘A Cornerstone of Hope’
Public service—and Chicago—run in Myetie Hamilton’s blood. At 48, Hamilton (M.P.A. ’03) serves as vice president and executive director of City Year Chicago and as board president of the Chicago Park...
Designs on a Dream
In 2021 Alzira Maldonado Protsishin (M.A.S. ARCH ’14) won the American Institute of Architects Chicago (AIA Chicago) Dubin Family Young Architect Award—a title that, on the surface, might suggest a...
A Life-Changing Experience
An internship at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston provided an extraordinary opportunity for Amr Alshatnawi to build new skills and strengthen his values of scholarship, excellence, and service....
Building Tools to Improve Nuclear Facility Safety
Xin Zhang first joined Illinois Institute of Technology as a master’s student, receiving his degree in 2015. He says the main draw was “the prestigious reputation of the engineering programs and the...
Hoping to Solve the World’s Most Mysterious Problems
As the recipient of a United States Department of Energy fellowship, Hans Johnson has gained the opportunity to work on cutting-edge quantum computing research at the Fermi National Accelerator...