Last week on January 17th, the Class of 2025 took on the winter chill of the Windy City for the annual ESTEEM Chicago Trip! Chicago has a stellar reputation as a booming tech hub with a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem and, of course, as the home of deep dish pizza. It’s tough to say which we were more excited about.

Our day began at mHub, an innovation center and incubator for physical product development and manufacturing. Shaking off the early start, we hit the ground running with tours of the facilities and a behind-the-scenes look at where the magic happens. We got a special insight into the work at Marmon Holdings thanks to a thoughtful panel discussion with recent ND graduates Alex Deye ’24 and Ethan Wickham ‘23 and former ESTEEMer Thomas Penny ‘23 that shed light on their experiences transitioning from Notre Dame to a major enterprise. Through a Q&A session, we got the low-down on working in Chicago, giving us a sense of what it might be like to live on the banks of Lake Michigan after graduation

Next, it was on to the Chicago branch of one of the world’s largest global design and innovation companies - IDEO. We explored their workshop - a real candyland for the engineers and designers among us - and got to see what it takes to develop the disruptive, creative solutions that IDEO built its brand on. After IDEO Partner and Managing Director Steve Schwall and Product Designer Jamie McCoy offered their perspectives on working at IDEO, Talent Lead Molly Livingston led us through a whirlwind guide to recruitment and the job hunt - a topic that’s top of mind for all of us as graduation looms!

We then headed off to catch up with ESTEEM alum and professor, John Flatley ‘11, at his other gig working at a little-known company called Google. Our class was thrilled to tour their office space in the heart of the city and were treated to a panel discussion with four employees from across the business. They offered us a perspective into life at one of the world’s largest tech companies, from the sweet perks to the challenges of adapting to such a large organization. The trip to the 11th floor deck with its fabulous view of the Chicago skyline was a particular highlight!

After a quick break for lunch, it was on to our penultimate stop - 1871. Named in honour of the year of the Great Chicago Fire, 1871 is an independent innovation hub to support founders. Our tour through the facilities gave us a sense of the kind of work they do to support early-stage founders, exemplifying the favorable innovation ecosystem in Chicago.

Our final stop was at TechNexus, a venture collaborative that played host to an engaging panel discussion with local entrepreneurs and active members of the startup community. We were given the opportunity to really dive into their personal journeys and learn more about their careers in Chicago - and get recommendations on the best bites in the city!

Speaking of food, our day culminated in a networking event with ESTEEM and other ND alums accompanied, of course, by classic Chicago deep dish pizza. After a day exploring the city and the opportunities, we were able to connect with the ESTEEM grads who now live and work in Chicago.

There may be days on the lake ahead for some of us, but for now, it was back to South Bend and on with the spring semester. Go Irish!

Originally published by Sadbh Boylan at esteem.nd.edu on January 24, 2025.