The Factory of the Future: From Ideas to Invoices

Howard A. Tullman is the Executive Director of the brand-new Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship which is now being built on the campus of Illinois Tech (IIT). The 70,000 square foot state-of-the-art Kaplan Institute facility (which is the University’s first new academic building in 40 years) will provide training and programs for all undergraduate and graduate students in the innovative design, development, and delivery of new products and services as well as courses specifically focused on entrepreneurship. This “factory of the future” will help eager and entrepreneurial KI students and graduates use the tools and technologies of tomorrow to turn their ideas into invoices.

Tullman has been a serial entrepreneur, educator, venture investor and author for more than 50 years in Chicago and the founder of over a dozen successful high-tech businesses. He is the former CEO of 1871 in Chicago and, with his incredible team, grew 1871 into the Number 1 university-affiliated startup incubator in the world over the last 4 years. Prior to that role, he was the President and CEO of Tribeca Flashpoint College and Kendall College and the CEO of Experiencia. He is the General Managing Partner of two early-stage venture capital funds which invest primarily in Chicago-based technology businesses and he serves on the boards of a number of rapidly-growing Chicago companies including Snapsheet, Keeper Security, Dibit and Dumbstruck. In his spare time, he writes a weekly column on entrepreneurship for INC. Magazine.