tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12661191.post116085518597545684..comments2023-11-02T06:32:16.443-05:00Comments on It's Just A Blog: The University of Illinois -- A Millionaire Factory?Westyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11349549360672400647noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12661191.post-1160972414680604022006-10-15T23:20:00.000-05:002006-10-15T23:20:00.000-05:00...you hear about...Might it be that the grass see...<I>...you hear about...</I><BR/>Might it be that the grass seems greener on the other side of the fence? With as familiar as you are with the U of I, of course you're going to see all the cracks in the sidewalk. <BR/>But I think the positives are just as strong as most of our competitors, for whom it's harder to see negatives because we're viewing from afar.Westyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11349549360672400647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12661191.post-1160946292309840012006-10-15T16:04:00.000-05:002006-10-15T16:04:00.000-05:00WestyB.E.T.? Check out today's Boondocks cartoon ...Westy<BR/><BR/>B.E.T.? Check out today's Boondocks cartoon :-) <BR/><BR/>I still think that many of these folks really cut their teeth elsewhere, outside of the Champaign-Urbana doldrums. Having spent many years in both the engineering and business school here, there's something missing about the environment that keeps us from having that environment of creativity and entrepreneurship. After all, the most technically adept folks tend to scoff at the "entrepreneurial" classes that are often only offered in General Engineering (which has to be the weakest of the group of ME, ECE, and CE), and take them as blow-off courses.<BR/><BR/>Another possible hypothesis is the attitude toward students among faculty. On one side, you hear about how faculty members at Stanford and MIT encourage their students to go off and make things happen in the real world. On the other hand, at Illinois you see many engineering faculty often ignore their students' best interests, and end up with a very jaded view of the field. Similarly, for whatever reason, we are having a very difficult time maintaining our top business faculty, as well. A very real part of that is the relatively backwater environment that is Champaign-Urbana.<BR/><BR/>My question is - given the quality of the engineering programs, do you think that our beloved U. has actually underachieved in commercializing cutting edge technology?<BR/><BR/>And Westy - you should set your eyes a little higher than being a millionaire. As long as you don't go off an do something silly like have kids, you'll be worth a million bucks within a dozen years :-)<BR/><BR/>-ChairmanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com