Top Illinois Tech Students Identified through 2012 ITA Fall Challenge
Undergraduate Bill
Waldrep from the University of Chicago and PhD Student Murph Finnicum From the
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign win the
2012 Fall Challenge Presented by Backstop Solutions Group
Chicago, IL – November 19, 2012 – The Illinois Technology Association
(ITA) proudly announces the winners of the 2012 Fall Challenge Presented by
Backstop Solutions Group. The Final
Challenge brought 55 students to Chicago, introducing them to Illinois
technology companies to attract them to the growing Chicago tech industry.
Bill
Waldrep of the University of Chicago, Jesse Young from IIT, and Garrett Padera
from the University of Illinois at Chicago earned the top 3 scores for
Undergraduates, each receiving cash prizes of $5,000, $2,500, and $1,000
respectively. Ph.D. student Murph
Finnicum from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign took the top honor
for advanced degrees.
“Illinois
is home to some of the top technology universities in the country and we want
to encourage students at these schools to stay in Illinois when they graduate,”
said Governor Pat Quinn. “The ITA Fall Challenge helps connect our
brightest students with some of our most innovative companies and builds the
talent pool for future economic growth.”
“The
2012 ITA Fall Challenge has driven the visibility of our company and introduced
us to the next generation of talented technologists,” said Chris Brown, Director
of Engineering, Backstop
Solutions Group. “Our company
connected with some of the brightest engineering minds coming from our local
universities. We look forward to welcoming them to the local tech industry.”
Students
in attendance participated in interviews with Presenting Sponsor, Backstop Solutions Group, and Supporting
Sponsors ADP, kCura, Nokia, and redbox.
“Growing
the awareness of the local technology industry, with the support of companies
like our Presenting Sponsor, Backstop
Solutions Group,
will bring much needed technology talent to the local industry,” said Fred
Hoch, President ITA. “Attracting and retaining top technology talent,
fostered by the world-class universities here in the Midwest, not only fuels
the economic growth of the region but establishes Chicago as a tech hub on a
national level, attracting new businesses and funding.”
The
ITA thanks Presenting Sponsor Backstop
Solutions Group; Supporting
sponsors ADP, kCura, Nokia, and Redbox;
and Participating
sponsor companies Applied
Systems, Centro, ChannelIQ, MBX
Systems, and
Nxt Team.
ITA and Backstop congratulate all the 2012 ITA
Fall Challenge Finalists on their great achievements.
Bradley University
Anthony Stephan
Illinois Institute
of Technology
Eduardo Garcia Berrocal
David Biedrzycki
Dinesh Kesavan
Jesse Young
Loyola University
Mbaunguaraije Tjikuzu
Northern
Illinois University
Eric Bellefontaine
John Kakumanu
Vincent Schramer
Zhihao Yuan
Northwestern
University
Ross Epstein
Seth Nelson
Southern Illinois
University
Dabin Ding
Jason Fairfield
University
of Chicago
Jeremy Archer
Michael Begun
Sean Hogan
Daniel Mane
Grant Rotskoff
Henry Steinitz
Bill Waldrep
University of
Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Zachary Avila
George Brova
Steven Canning
Jaehyun Cho
Murph Finnicum
Chase Geigle
Matthew Hoffman
Brent Hronik
Sean Hurley
Devesh Jhunjhunwala
Eric Johnson
Thomas Johnston
Eric Joyner
Elizabeth Kelly
Xiang Li
Nicholas Lu
Sean Massung
Kerui Min
Zachary Reizner
Rohit Sanbhadti
Tianhui Shi
Kyle Spesard
Michael Staszel
Brian Wang
Alexandar Zhu
University
of Illinois at Chicago
Sean Deitz
BM Hossain
Garrett Padera
Jack Petraitis
Anthony Phelps
Celeste Wallace
For
more information about the ITA and the Fall Challenge, visit http://illinoistech.org.
About the ITA
The Illinois Technology Association (ITA) is the
driving force behind the growth of Illinois' vibrant technology industry.
Providing programs and services focused on development, visibility, and talent
attraction, ITA accelerates the growth of member company’s businesses. ITA
brings growth-stage industry companies together, leveraging the connections and
experiences of the community to increase the overall success rate of the local
industry. Championing the development and application of technologies and
leveraging its transformative nature, ITA is an invaluable resource for growing
companies. For more information about ITA, please visit www.illinoistech.org.
Contact
the ITA at headquarters@illinoistech.org,
follow the
discussion on Twitter at @itabuzz,
and visit
www.illinoistech.org to find out more
about how ITA supports the growth of the local industry.
About
Backstop Solutions Group
Backstop Solutions Group, LLC is a privately held
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform company, providing cutting-edge software
to hedge funds, funds of funds, endowments and other institutional investors.
Backstop Solutions was founded in 2003 and is one of the fastest growing
software providers in the financial services industry. Backstop Software is
used by more than 350 firms throughout the United States, Europe and Asia and
has been repeatedly recognized by industry leading managers and service
providers as a top technology provider in the alternative asset management
field.
Contact: Dorothy Radke, Talent Initiatives, ITA,
+1.312.924.1044, dradke@illinoistech.org