Illinois Tech Magazine | Illinois Institute of Technology

The Hard Pivot

Martha Razo (AMAT, M.S. ’17) took the reins of her family business when it was teetering in the red, and saved it with a series of fearless face-to-face pitches. Now she’s building her second business convention off the success of the first.
Constructive Change

Jimmy Akintonde (ARCH ’95) started with a small office in a half-vacant building. His construction business now has tackled some of the largest projects on Chicago’s South Side—including co-development of the Barack Obama Presidential Center.

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The chief alumni publication of Illinois Institute of Technology, Illinois Tech Magazine is published as a print/web edition each spring and fall, and as a web-exclusive edition each summer by the Office of Marketing and Communications in collaboration with the Office of Advancement. It showcases outstanding Illinois Tech alumni who...

President’s Message

Letter from the President

Letter from the President Innovations often start small. But with the right amount of support, mentorship, and fortitude, our fledgling ideas can grow to become astounding endeavors. And those endeavors, in turn, will inspire others to follow. As I read about the continued accomplishments of our alumni, I am always...

Features

The Hard Pivot

A few months after working on the floor of Guero Pallets, learning how to operate every machine and forklift, Martha Razo (AMAT, M.S. ’17) was handed a shoebox full of receipts. It was her father’s “filing system.”

Features

Light(ing) a New Path

Kaiwei Tang (M.B.A. ’06, M.DES. ’14) was sitting in a New York subway station, shortly after leaving his job working for a major phone manufacturer. He swore he’d never build another phone in his life.

Features

Constructive Change

Constructive Change

The first office Jimmy Akintonde (ARCH ’95) used for his business was barely able to accommodate two desks. The two extra chairs that clients would hopefully sit in someday made it seem a bit crowded, but he had faith.

Features

Good Medicine

“It’s about solving problems,” says Nancy Paridy (LAW ’83). Solving problems in the medical field—using the most modern, innovative models possible— is what Paridy has been advocating for decades. The effort has paid off: she now helps run the top-ranked rehabilitation hospital in the country.

Features

Building a Battlefield AI

Nidhal Bouaynaya (M.S. EE, CE ’02) had reservations about artificial intelligence. It went against everything she was comfortable with as an engineer who preferred things that were clear and predictable.

Spotlight

Stellar Career

SOME PEOPLE ASPIRE TO MOVE mountains. But Daniel Eckhardt (EE, AMAT ’12) aspires even higher: he wants to move spacecraft into the stars.

Spotlight

Outdoors Is for Everyone

TO DEVELOP A “HARD” MATERIAL product good enough to stand out amongst an army of software apps at the prestigious TechRise Chicago pitch competition, longtime friends Qudsia Khan (ARCE ’09, M.A.S. STE ’11) and Sana Jafri had to come up with an idea that wasn’t just promising, but timely.

Athletics

Record Breaker and Leader, In and Out of the Pool

Student-athletes in STEM fields, Anna Slominski (CE, M.S. TE ’23) believes, can have a harder time coming out as queer. Slominski, who uses the pronouns they/them, has served as both an academic leader and prolific record-breaker on the university’s swimming and diving team.

Alumni News

Bob Hoel (BE ’70)

Letter from the Board Chair

Letter from Alumni Board Chair Bob Hoel Success is typically defined as an achievement in our personal lives, careers, or relationships. However, success takes on a unique meaning to each of us, and no matter what that is, our success is a direct representation of what happens when we reach...

Alumni News

Class Notes

William “Bill” Bahnmaier (ME ’60), Fort Belvoir, Va., former instructor emeritus at the Defense Acquisition University, recently qualified as a volunteer docent at the National Museum of the United States Army in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

Philanthropy News

Philanthropy News

An incredibly generous estate gift from the late James Hill Jr. served as a major catalyst to endow the previously established Nate Thomas Legacy Scholarship at Illinois Tech this spring.

Alumni News

Obituaries

Obituaries S. R. Cho (M.A.S. CHE ’66) S. R. Cho, an Illinois Institute of Technology Trustee Emeritus who was recognized in South Korea as an international business icon, died in March 2024 at the age of 89. Cho was honorary chairman of the influential Hyosung Group, a South Korea-based industrial...

Alumni News

In Memoriam

In Memoriam Alumni | Faculty and Staff | Friends Alumni Ralph Pearson (AS ’40) John “Buck” Larry Donoghue (CE ’41) Sherwin P. Asrow (CE ’44) Leonard F. Ault (IE ’48) Martin Leonard Black (IE ’48) Herbert M. Sachs (EE ’48, M.S. ’58) Bert J. Toppel (PHYS ’48, M.A.S. ’50, Ph.D...

Alumni News

Take Five

Maurice Dawson, assistant professor of information technology and management and director of Illinois Tech’s Center for Cyber Security and Forensics Education (C2SAFE), researches and travels the world speaking and advising on cybersecurity as a global issue, particularly in developing countries.

VICE PRESIDENT FOR ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT AND STUDENT AFFAIRS

Mallik Sundharam

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

Chelsea Kalberloh Jackson

CONTENT DIRECTOR

Andrew Wyder

MANAGING EDITOR

Tad Vezner

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS

Lauren Brennan
Casey Halas
Scott Lewis
Brianne Meyer
Kayla Molander

ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN

Scott Benbrook

PHOTOGRAPHY

Jamie Ceaser
Kevin Monko
Bonnie Robinson

WEB EDITION

Brian Bailey
Peter Beltemacchi
Abbey Betancourt-Vargas

Illinois Tech Magazine is published two times a year by the Office of Marketing and Communications

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