Silicon Valley Workshop
TEC's extra-curricular activities are designed to give students the opportunity for hands-on experience in technology commercialization and new venture creation. These programs also reward students for outstanding innovation and creativity.

Click here to see what students learned last year.

CALL FOR APPLICANTS: SILICON VALLEY STUDENT WORKSHOP

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN MEETING SOME OF THE BIGGEST PLAYERS IN INNOVATION, ENTREPRENEURSHIP & VENTURE CAPITAL IN SILICON VALLEY OVER WINTER BREAK?

Jawed Karim and YouTube.  Max Levchin and PayPal.  Thomas Siebel and Siebel Systems.

The Technology Entrepreneur Center and the College of Engineering would like to send up to 25 students to Silicon Valley during the winter break for a 10 day technology entrepreneurship workshop and visits with startups and leading technology companies.  The trip is tentatively slated for January 3-13, 2010.

The workshop and lecture sessions will focus on innovation, technology entrepreneurship and leadership, and will feature corporate leaders, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. Students will also have several opportunities to network with prominent entrepreneurial Illinois alumni.

The program aspires to expose students to many facets of technology entrepreneurship, with firms in various stages of a startup lifecycle, and to continue to build an entrepreneurial community at Illinois. We invite Illinois undergraduate and graduate students to submit applications to attend this workshop. For full consideration, application materials must be received by 5:00 PM on October 16, 2009. 

The cost to students to attend the workshop is up to $850, which covers airfare, lodging and transportation in California.  The TEC is working to decrease the costs to students. Last year’s fee for students was $400, and we will try to match that figure. Undergraduate students may register for a special Silicon Valley Lectures in Engineering Entrepreneurship (ENG 360) course through Illinois’ Office of Continuing Engineering Education for a cost of $853, which covers course tuition and trip fees.  Undergraduates not wishing to enroll in the course and graduate students or may pay the trip fee via check or credit card directly to the Technology Entrepreneur Center. 

Applicants will be notified of their status by 5:00 PM on October 30.  Applicants that are accepted but do not wish to attend must let the TEC know of their intent by 5:00 PM on November 2, so that alternate candidates may be selected.  All accepted students must pay the trip fees or a deposit for course registration by November 6, 2009.

Click here to download the slides from the Information Sessions!

Click here to download an application!

Students selected for the workshop may pay here with a credit card.