Mission Statement

Vision

Organization and Leadership

History

Mission Statement

As Northwestern University's only interdisciplinary entrepreneurship and innovation forum, InNUvation aspires to kindle the entrepreneurial spirit by providing opportunities for education and idea-exchange, thus fostering commercialization and new venture formation.

Vision

To make Northwestern an example of how to utilize resources and talent to further entrepreneurial excellence in a university setting.

Organization and Leadership

President: Kvar Black (kvarblack2010@u.northwestern.edu)

Marketing Director: Caitlin Lin Chai (linchai2012@u.northwestern.edu)

Finance Chair: Alix Deymier (alixdeymier2010@u.northwestern.edu)

Technology Director: Allison Bedell (allisonbedell2013@u.northwestern.edu)

 

Chapters:

 

• Kellogg Entrepreneurship Club:Our Kellogg chapter was the initiation point of InNUvation. In 2008, PEEK's Entrepreneurship division was merged with the InNUvation Kellogg chapter to form the Kellogg Entrepreneurship Club.
  President: Sunil Pandita (spandita2010@kellogg.northwestern.edu)
  External Representative: Shobit Chugh (schugh2011@kellogg.northwestern.edu)
• Medill InNUvation: Our Medill chapter was formed in 2007. The Medill chapter aims to promote new ventures of journalism, marketing and communications.
  President: Bryan Chauvel (bchauvel@northwestern.edu)
• Graduate Chapter: Our Graduate chapter was formed in 2008. Once divided as McCormick and Weinberg chapters, the new Graduate chapter brings Engineering, Arts, and Sciences students together to form a stronger group.
  Co-presidents: Chris Ryan (christryan@gmail.com) and Wei Zhao (wei-zhao@northwestern.edu)
• Feinberg Chapter: The Feinberg Chapter was established in 2007 to bring the mission of InNUvation to the medical school and serve as a resource for healthcare and biomedical activities.
  President: Suraj Gupta (suraj@md.northwestern.edu)
• Law School Chapter: Description coming soon.
  President: Dargie Anderson (m-anderson2010@nlaw.northwestern.edu)
• Undergraduate Chapter: Our Undergraduate chapter is a combination of all undergraduate schools at Northwestern. The undergrad club hosts and supports many InNUvation events.
  President: Yemi Adetiba (yemiadetiba2007@u.northwestern.edu)

   

  Events Directors:

   

  Entrepreneur Idol Chair: Christina Chao (christinachao2007@u.northwestern.edu)

  NU Venture Challenge Director: Aniket Kaloti (aniketkaloti2010@u.northwestern.edu)

  Speaker Director: Swathy Prithivi (swathyprithivi2010@u.northwestern.edu)

History

• 2003 ~ 2004
• Founded October 23, 2003 by Sam Shank (Kellogg '04, founder of travelpost.com) with support from Evanston Illinois Technology Enterprise Center (ITEC) and the Northwestern University Technology Transfer Program (TTP)
• 200 Students join the listserv
• Co-sponsors the Kellogg Cup, an annual business plan competition


• 2004 ~ 2005
• Cooper Marcus (Kellogg '05) chairs president
• Lab tours (LIMS robotic lab, DevLab), Entrepreneurship panels, TTP presentations, and networking events sponsored
• Wiki-based website created


• 2005 ~ 2006
• David Gardner (Kellogg '06) and Josh Seigel (Kellogg '06) co-chair presidents
• Expansion to Kellogg, McCormick graduate and undergraduate chapters (and law school rep)
• Sponsor of Inaugural Small Business Opportunity Conference (NU Law School)
• Advisory board organized and convened
• Fall: TTP presentation, idea-exchange workshop, and speaker series
• Winter: Business plan writing, marketing research, and financial pro-forma workshops
• Spring: Expansion of group to further reach students
• Website upgrade to Joomla-based platform


• 2006 ~ 2007
• James Sulzer (McCormick PhD) and Todd Melby (Kellogg '07) co-chair presidents
• Merger with NUTEC (Undergraduate club), McCormick Entrepreneurship Club, and Life Sciences Technology Club (Feinberg) as chapters
• Establishment of Law, Medill, and Weinberg graduate chapters
• 1100 student, faculty, and business professionals subscribe to listserv
• Establishment of different free hidden object games free NUvention (Tood Melby, Swami Gnanashanmugam and do you search for spongebob atlantis game Neel Patel - Kellogg, Feinberg, Feinberg) - Seven high level faculty members from Kellogg, McCormick, Law and Feinberg join offering "Medical Innovation" classes - a two-quarter medical technology development course (Fall 2007) focusing on identifying unmet clinical needs, innovating novel medical technology, and delivering this innovation to the bedside. Innovation/business life cycle from ideation to prototyping and business plan development translates academic pursuits into tangible medical innovations that will impact patient care. (more about NUvention)
• First Applied Research Day, learning research around campus
• First NU Venture Challenge, the campus-expansion version of the Kellogg Cup - 200 participants, 60 ideas, and over $27,000 prizes awarded


• 2007 ~ 2008
• Andrew Chen (Kellogg '08 - founder of CoNotes.com) and Stanley Tsao (McCormick, PhD) co-chair presidents
• Merger of the Weinberg/McCormick graduate clubs
• Merger of the Kellogg Club
• 1100 student, faculty, and business professionals subscribe to listserv
• Applied Research Day, learning research around campus
• NU Venture Challenge, the campus-expansion version of the Kellogg Cup - 100+ participants, 36 ideas, and over $22,000 prizes awarded


• 2008 ~ 2009
• Bo Zhao (McCormick, PhD) and Marc Lim (Feinberg, MD) co-chair presidents