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54 Startup Weekend
September 23-25 | In-Person
54 is a 3-day startup event where students from different backgrounds come together to form teams and launch a successful startup. Think hackathon, but more open-ended. No experience required. Just bring yourself, some friends, and good ideas. Food, swag, & workspace will be provided at the Siebel Center for Design.
54 hours. Go!
Keynote Speakers
Rohan Gupta | Co-Founder & CEO @ Quillbot
Rohan is the CEO and Co-Founder of QuillBot, a cutting-edge natural language processing startup with over 20 million monthly active users. He combined his passion for technology and artificial intelligence with his entrepreneurial drive to form QuillBot in 2017 with the help of his Co-Founders, David Silin and Anil Jason. QuillBot is on a mission to make writing effortless. In September 2017, QuillBot was acquired by edtech company Course Hero. He holds a B.S. in Finance and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Rohan is passionate about technology, philosophy, and changing the world.
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Julia Haried | Co-Founder & Chair of the Board of Directors @ MakerGirl
Julia co-founded MakerGirl in 2014, a not-for-profit organization working to bridge the gender gap in STEM by educating students ages 7-22 through multi-level educational programs.To date, MakerGirl has educated over 6,100+ girls in 28 states across the country. She currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors and consults at Deloitte Consulting. Julia earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Julia is a Chicago native, loves playing with her niece and nephew, hikes with her husband above 14K+ ft (and below), and is a Forbes 30 Under 30 Recipient.
Judges, & Mentors
Mona Jawad | Mentor
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Sathwik Reddy | Mentor
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Anil Jason | Mentor
Benjamin Lough | Judge
Josh Jay James | Mentor
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David Silin | Mentor
Stephanie Faraci | Judge
Manu Edakara | Mentor
Michael Sun | Mentor
Valeri Werpetinski | Judge
Philbert Chen | Mentor
Our Team
Michael Parekh
Co-Director
Adith Narayanan
Co-Director
Last year's impact:
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