CHICAGO, IL — (Marketwire) — 11/19/12 — 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, . “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, , and Supporting Sponsors , , , and .
“Growing the awareness of the local technology industry, with the support of companies like our Presenting Sponsor, , 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 ; Supporting sponsors , , , and ; and Participating sponsor companies , , , , and .
ITA and Backstop congratulate all the 2012 ITA Fall Challenge Finalists on their great achievements.
Anthony Stephan
Eduardo Garcia Berrocal
David Biedrzycki
Dinesh Kesavan
Jesse Young
Mbaunguaraije Tjikuzu
Eric Bellefontaine
John Kakumanu
Vincent Schramer
Zhihao Yuan
Ross Epstein
Seth Nelson
Dabin Ding
Jason Fairfield
Jeremy Archer
Michael Begun
Sean Hogan
Daniel Mane
Grant Rotskoff
Henry Steinitz
Bill Waldrep
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
Sean Deitz
BM Hossain
Garrett Padera
Jack Petraitis
Anthony Phelps
Celeste Wallace
For more information about the ITA and the Fall Challenge, visit .
The (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 .
Contact the ITA at , follow the discussion on Twitter at , and visit to find out more about how ITA supports the growth of the local industry.
, 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.
Dorothy Radke
Talent Initiatives
ITA
+1.312.924.1044
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