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65th Edition

📍 This Week’s Lineup:

⏳ Silicon Stories in Illinois

📊 Chart of the Week

📆 Events Around the City

🔙 Previous Editions of the Driver’s Seat

⏳ Silicon Stories in Illinois

Silicon Innovators in Illinois

• Nobel Prize-winning physicist and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor John Bardeen co-invented the first transistor in 1947.

• At UIUC, he led in the creation of new research programs focused on superconductivity, quantum liquids, and semiconductors.

• Bardeen's graduate student, Nick Holonyak, invented the LED, which helped the university's role in the semiconductor industry and as a leading supplier of engineers and materials scientists.

• Another UIUC alumnus, Chih-Tang Sah, pioneered CMOS technology and co-led early silicon IC fabrication at Fairchild Semiconductor.

Innovation Beyond Silicon

• The state of Illinois is leading the next era of computing beyond silicon, pioneering advancements in quantum computing.

• In January 2024, researchers from UIUC developed a diamond-based semiconductor with the highest breakdown voltage and lowest leakage current to date.

• Breakthroughs in post-silicon technology in Illinois will advance efforts to meet growing electricity demands.

A New Era for Illinois

• The $53B CHIPS & Science Act set aside $5B for the National Semiconductor Technology Center, set to advance semiconductor technologies, offering Illinois a significant opportunity.

• Illinois placed a bid to house the $5B NSTC, leveraging our central location and diverse ecosystem.

• In 2022, Illinois launched the Manufacturing Illinois Chips for Real Opportunity (MICRO) Program to provide tax incentives for semiconductor and microchip manufacturers. This initiative aims to boost semiconductor innovation within our state.

📊 Chart of the Week

Chicago is becoming a hub for AI innovation, driven by past milestones like the first paper on neural networks being published here and present-day achievements such as having a strong technical talent pool, numerous lab facilities, and a high concentration of data centers.

The chart above highlights our state's status as an AI hub, featuring the third-largest talent pipeline of graduates in core AI fields and the third-highest number of job postings for AI roles.

By combining Chicago's passion for consumer technology with AI, we can deliver practical solutions directly to our diverse community of users.

🗺️ Events Around The City

Chicago SaaS July Happy Hour

• Hosted by Chicago SaaS Software Group

• Monday

• RSVP

C2ST Science in the City Gala

• Hosted by C2ST

• Tuesday

• RSVP

Intercom for Startups

Join Intercom’s Early Stage Program to receive a 90% discount.

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And reminder about the TechChicago Week events happening at Drive Capital:

Pre-Seed Between the Coasts

• Hosted by Drive Capital, Matchstick Ventures, and Cooley Chicago

• Monday July 22

• RSVP

AI Tinkerers #10

• Hosted by Drive Capital, Brex, and Wilson Sonsini

• Tuesday July 23

• RSVP

TechChicago Week Deep Tech Kickoff

• Hosted by Drive Capital, Wilson Sonsini, and UChicago

• Wednesday July 24

• RSVP

Product Invitational Chicago

• Hosted by ZoCo Design and Drive Capital

• Thursday July 25

• RSVP

TechChicago Week Healthcare Innovation Breakfast Panel

• Hosted by Architect Health, Wilson Sonsini, Drive Capital, and Lightbank

• Friday July 26

• RSVP

🗞 Latest Editions:

#64 - TechChicago Week at Drive Capital

#63 - Major Chicago Exits

#62 - The Chicago AI Agent Strategy

#61 - Bedrock Materials Moves HQ from SV to Chicago

#60 - Water Innovation in Chicago

👋 See you next week!

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