Photo: Michael Goss
All of these terms could be used to describe Taylor Harvey (SOC 4th year). Confident, curious, and creative, Harvey, and his team at MonkeyBars—a tech events startup he co-founded—coordinated IIT’s first-ever Hackathon in 2012. Harvey brought the 24-hour tech competition to IIT to help foster a sense of community and nurture tomorrow’s Web developers and designers. More than 100 participants attended the 2013 Hackathon, which was held in February at IIT’s Idea Shop.
While the university’s new fundraising endeavor—Fueling Innovation: The Campaign for IIT—comprises six priority areas, at its core are students such as Harvey, faculty such as cancer researcher Jialing Xiang, and alumni such as prosthetics designer Michael Morley (BME ’08). The history of IIT is inextricably linked to innovation and IIT is where the next generation of innovators is making history. For Harvey, it is also making something more.
“The concept of making my own life has the strongest appeal for me. ‘Fueling innovation’ requires that one be a student first,” Harvey explains. “I value the learning and experience process. I like the idea of owning my achievements as well as my failures, and having the freedom to express myself, impacting the world around me.”