Gies Business News and Stories
Explore the ideas, people, and impact shaping Gies College of Business. From faculty research and student experiences to alumni achievements and donor impact, these stories highlight how our community is advancing business knowledge and creating real-world change.
University of Illinois launches campuswide Entrepreneurship Minor
Jul 22, 2026
For the first time ever, students from across the University of Illinois can now pursue an entrepreneurship minor. Beyond core courses from both Gies Business and Grainger Engineering, the minor allows students to choose from more than 70 elective courses from within their respective colleges to round out the minor.
Entrepreneurship Student Accountancy Business Administration Alumni Finance Faculty
iVenture alumni DeepWalk listed among Forbes’ Accessibility 200 list
Jun 25, 2026
Forbes Accessibility 200 highlights products, software, and services that allow people with disabilities to have equitable access to information, content, public spaces, employment, and life experiences.
iVenture Cohort 12 building the future with artificial intelligence
Jun 24, 2026
iVenture Accelerator is an immersive program for student founders that accelerates growth with a full-time summer sprint and 11 months of continuous education throughout the academic year.
iVenture alumnus DoubleSpot modernizes recreation management for campuses and communities
Jun 10, 2026
Inspired by his internship with the Los Angeles Dodgers and supported through the iVenture Accelerator, Sean Chang built software that streamlines scheduling, registrations, events, rentals, and facility operations into one platform.
Agritourism hub Agrivoy claims Voitik Prize at Cozad New Venture Competition
May 28, 2026
Jeff and Forough Haskel, two University of Illinois iMBA students from Texas, turned a frustrating search for a Wyoming ranch vacation into a startup idea called Agrivoy — an “Airbnb for agritourism.” After developing the idea through the Cozad New Venture Competition, Agrivoy won the $3,000 Voitik Prize for online MBA-led teams.
Healthcare Innovation: How one iMBA student is improving the birthing experience
May 27, 2026
Galina Mihalkina, a Gies iMBA student, helped develop PeriAssist, a medical device aimed at reducing trauma during difficult childbirths by filling a gap between existing tools. As the project’s business lead, she handled strategy, stakeholder mapping, and commercialization, helping the team win awards and move toward funding and patents.
Gies Business senior is tackling cybersecurity efficiency through research and entrepreneurship
Apr 30, 2026
Gies Business senior Atharv Vasisht is developing Legion SDI, a prototype platform designed to integrate and optimize enterprise cybersecurity tools, potentially reducing threat detection and response times by over 80%.
NexLoop could bring delivery robots to campus sidewalks
Apr 29, 2026
A University of Illinois student co-founded NexLoop, a startup building autonomous delivery robots designed for campuses. Their multi-compartment robots can carry different types of items at once and use AI for efficient routing.
Sol brings added safety and empowerment to wheelchair operators
Apr 24, 2026
Carter Schott developed Sol, a USB-powered lighting system for wheelchairs that improves visibility and allows users to signal for attention. Supported by the University of Illinois’ entrepreneurial ecosystem, he is refining the product through user feedback and pilot testing while working toward bringing it to market and expanding adaptive technology solutions.
MailWand hopes to revolutionize digital conversation management, starting with rebuilding email for the AI era
Apr 22, 2026
MailWand is an AI-powered email client founded by Gies Business student Runzhao Hu that transforms cluttered inboxes into structured, actionable workflows. Instead of treating emails as messages, it organizes them into prioritized tasks, categorized workflows, and key insights using AI.