I have thoroughly enjoyed your class as I have intimate experience with many aspects of the material covered. Straight out of school (BSEE - U of I, 1998) I was the eighth employee to join a tech start-up (Nanovation Technologies, Inc.) . . . we had $4M in the bank. . . over the next 2yrs we grew to 170 employees and raised $90M!! All without VC capital - ONLY ANGELS! Shortly after the crash of 2000 we filed bankruptcy. . . chapter11 . . . then chapter7 liquidation. Quite a roller-coaster ride . . . at 27, my stock options were worth millions . . . by 28, I was all washed up, left with only the memories of my phantom fortune. Shortly after, I was recruited out west to Cali. This is now my second time around the start-up block and as each of you know it's pretty gloomy out there. Interestingly, in the first four years of my career I have been exposed to both market extremities - the glory days of 1999-2000 when investors would dig deep into their pockets upon the mere mention of dotcom or telecom, to the current drought which has left many of my engineering colleagues out in the streets.

That being said, to date my perception has been limited to the technical side of technology commercialization. Through GE493, education of the business segment has provided a valuable compliment to my experiences.

Tom Pierson
Process Engineer

I wish these programs and courses existed when I completed my BSEE degree at UIUC in 1977. Clearly, they facilitate the transition from academia to industry and provide students with career alternatives that would otherwise be unavailable. UIUC truly has a progressive Engineering program and Engineering "on-line" has made it particularly convenient for professionals to continue learning.

George W. Hoeltje, P. E.
Assistant Professor / Program Coordinator
William Rainey Harper College