After A Long Marriage to Midwest : A Howdy Account of 'Midwest Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit.'

After writing about one observing virtually last week, this is about the one I attended in-person. For good or bad, for right or wrong, I need to write about this summit and the subject it covered. I had been living in Illinois for the last 4 years with a body of work which has potential to impact much larger world. Simply, there are reverberations all over the US and all over the home nation of India while working from a local canvas. There can be many people like me who work local but think and impact global. Here the importance should be given to local environment conducive to effect global change. I have said few times and proudly so, I am based out of Illinois – with a tag ‘the Land of Lincoln’. It has been four years in this state – using local resources given by Illinois and working on global imagination. Though foreigner, I cannot be foreigner for very long, even in a foreign land. I cannot be like a frog in a well forever, without knowing anything about the surroundings or imagining about something far away. In a way, I need to propagate Illinois for giving me every possible help in this unexpectedly long tenure. For example, it is a great suburban setup with access to cities like Naperville, Aurora, Chicago which helped me sustain for so long where I lived and worked in a way that drew resources from these places to spread positivity elsewhere. As I had seen, the home and close quarters bears the brunt of negative commotions while the neighbors gets the fruits. In an attempt to know more about this home from the local eminent people of mid-west and participate in its growth for giving me so much, I attended a summit titled ‘Midwest Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit.’ which is the second annual edition. 

Before coming to every other aspect, I had one vision for this wonderful land which had great states in its mix. After the wonderful work in the recent past, I had this shared vision that the mid-west should become the next silicon valley for US. In the first wave at the turn of the century, this opportunity was claimed by west coast and this region can reverse the trend or create the next silicon valley in the heart of Mid-west. The work shouldn’t go wasted without affecting something towards that end. The Midwest has never lacked talent. Universities such as University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Michigan, Purdue University, and Carnegie Mellon University consistently produce world-class engineers and computer scientists. The challenge has been retention. 

A powerful example is the Mosaic web browser, created at the University of Illinois. Its co-creator later moved to California and co-founded Netscape, helping ignite the Silicon Valley startup boom. The breakthrough began in the Midwest, but the company, capital, and long-term wealth scaled on the West Coast. 

Similarly, thousands of graduates from Purdue and Michigan have relocated to Silicon Valley for venture-backed startups and stock-option upside. Carnegie Mellon, a global leader in robotics and AI, has seen many of its top graduates join firms in San Francisco and Seattle, where tech ecosystems are denser. The Midwest didn’t lose its ability to educate innovators. It lost the surrounding ecosystem—venture capital, startup density, and risk culture—that turns graduates into local founders. Talent was trained at home, but opportunity pulled it elsewhere. If the recent gravity pull does any good, Mid-west region with the center as Illinois should emerge stronger in years to come, to create and provide for US and the world. 

I was pleasantly surprised to know about the dense quantum technology research and its associated network clusters in Illinois. I came to know about this quantum tech through its development in the home state of Andhra Pradesh recently. Two home states leading the rest in developing this technology augur well for them. There can be an onsite-offshore model as well between these two US and Indian states to herald a great future in this area in leading their respective nations. One of the keynotes in the summit provided a great detail in the potential of this technology in next few decades. If the Midwest’s early talent loss taught us one thing, it is that where innovation happens matters. Today, that lesson is being rewritten by a field that rewards deep research, infrastructure, and long‑term collaboration — quantum computing. Within a few hundred miles sit the University of Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and powerhouse national laboratories such as Argonne National Laboratory and Fermilab. This concentration of theoretical physics, applied engineering, federal infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing capacity exists within a single regional corridor. When IBM expanded its quantum footprint in Illinois, it was acknowledging this density of collaboration. 

The quantum computing market, currently measured in the low billions, is forecast to grow exponentially. Globally, revenue from quantum technologies could contribute up to $1 trillion in economic value by 2035, with vendor revenue alone projected at around $50 billion by then. Other analysts project the U.S. quantum market expanding from roughly $0.7 billion in 2024 to over $8.5 billion by 2034, at a near‑30% annual growth rate.  

In this rapidly growing future economy, the Illinois‑Wisconsin‑Indiana quantum corridor stands out. A Boston Consulting Group analysis for the Chicago Quantum Exchange estimates that by 2035 the region’s quantum technology ecosystem could deliver up to $80 billion in economic impact, perhaps capturing as much as 30% of the global market share. That’s not startup hype — that’s projection based on existing infrastructure, university research strengths, and strategic federal funding. 

The Midwest’s advantage is not only research capacity, but networked depth. Here, world‑class universities and national labs — supported by collaborative consortia — feed directly into commercialization. Quantum companies and federal projects are anchoring facilities right here in Chicago and beyond. For example, PsiQuantum broke ground on a billion‑dollar Chicago facility to develop large‑scale quantum systems, signaling confidence in the region’s physical and intellectual infrastructure.  

Relative to other tech hubs, this is not a diffuse academic cluster — it is a concentrated innovation corridor. Coastal startups may launch software overnight, but quantum computing requires industrial‑scale facilities, fabrication labs, and joint public‑private commitment — exactly the ecosystem the Midwest has quietly built. 

In other regions of the world, quantum research is spread across capitals or national initiatives. In the Midwest, it exists as a continuous, interconnected hub of talent, capital, research, and future economic output — a quantum engine with no parallel anywhere else, where global potential is being stitched together from a local foundation. While this is exciting to know about the new technology being developed in my two home states – the future projections gives hope to one thing for a person like me – livability. Hopefully, we all can live far into future to see the future potential rise of these places.  

As a side information, this is brewing in Amaravati, the capital of Andhra Pradesh - The Andhra Pradesh government has launched the Amaravati Quantum Valley (AQV) — an ambitious initiative to make Amaravati a global hub for quantum computing, sensing, communications, and hardware innovation. The plan aims to attract at least USD 500 million in investments by 2027 and USD 1 billion by 2029 focused on quantum technologies and related deep‑tech sectors. Additional facilities such as a Quantum Reference Facility and cryogenic component manufacturing units are also being established, laying groundwork for future indigenous quantum hardware production. 

Coming back to the summit, there are three keynotes delivered in the morning, noon and evening – all three of which are spectacular. The summit was held in the College of DuPage, the college where my spouse attended free English classes in 2023 for several months. The event is hosted jointly by College of DuPage (COD) and Innovation DuPage, and it has become a major annual forum for discussing AI, quantum technology, and the future of work. The summit focuses on the technologies and market forces that are redefining industries across the Midwest. It highlights how artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and data‑driven innovation are creating new opportunities for businesses and workers. Speakers from Intel, Lenovo, and regional innovation organizations share insights on where the tech landscape is heading. 

The Midwest Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit 2026 was held on February 26, 2026, at the Jack H. Turner Conference Center on the College of DuPage campus in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Co-hosted by Innovation DuPage and the college, this second annual summit brought together tens of entrepreneurs, industry leaders, educators, students, and innovators from across the region for a full day dedicated to artificial intelligence, quantum technology, and the future of work — framed as defining pillars for the Midwest’s economic and technological evolution.  

The event was structured as a series of panels, keynote talks, and moderated discussions, with Jon Hansen of WGN Radio serving as emcee and moderator throughout the day. Opening remarks emphasized the Midwest’s long heritage of ingenuity — from the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 to contemporary breakthroughs — and positioned the region as fertile ground for emerging technologies and entrepreneurial growth.  

Entrepreneurial topics filled the morning program. The morning keynote from the founder of GoBrewing was presented very well. It kept me asking for more drinks. Panels like “Building Your Dream Team” and “Fueling Growth: Three Pathways to Funding Your Startup” offered practical, actionable insights for founders at different stages — from identifying key partners, assembling teams, and navigating diverse funding sources to scaling ventures within and beyond the Midwest. Speakers included regional business leaders and founders from organizations such as Go Brewing, Medix, Brewpoint Coffee, and the Technology & Manufacturing Association, grounding strategy discussions in real-world experience. 

A central current at the summit was the recognition that AI and quantum technologies are shaping both business and workforce paradigms. Sessions such as “AI and the Future of Work” and the “Quantum Horizon” lunch keynote explored how these advanced fields are not abstract concepts but active drivers of change in enterprise and economic systems. The Quantum Horizon keynote, delivered by Emily Easton of the Chicago Quantum Exchange, focused on opportunities arising from the region’s strengths in quantum research, education, and industry collaboration — reflecting the Midwest’s growing footprint in a field often associated with coastal tech hubs.  

Sessions in the afternoon expanded the lens to emerging markets — including clean energy, fintech, advanced manufacturing, and other growth sectors where the Midwest has longstanding industrial and innovation assets. Thought leaders from institutions like The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and companies such as Bantix Technologies shared perspectives on how innovation can fuel economic diversification while boosting regional competitiveness.  

Voices from industry tech giants such as Intel and Lenovo also joined discussions tying advanced technology trends to workforce and business transformation, underscoring how large firms view AI and quantum capabilities as central to future competitiveness.  

A closing keynote on “The Midwest Advantage: Building the Future of the U.S. Economy” encapsulated the summit’s overarching message: the Midwest’s blend of infrastructure, talent, universities, and collaborative networks positions it not just to participate in future technology but to lead and shape it. 

Apart from quantum and AI, another interesting fact I learned is the focus on clean energy in the mid-west, compared to other regions. Midwest is a national leader in clean energy, especially wind power, and leads the country in percentage of total electricity generated from wind. States such as Iowa generate about 60% of their total electricity from wind, the highest share in the nation. South Dakota produces more than 50% from wind, while Kansas generates over 45%. These levels are far above the national average, where wind supplies roughly 10–11% of total U.S. electricity generation. 

Overall, renewable energy (including wind, solar, and hydro) accounts for about 22–24% of total U.S. electricity generation, but several Midwest states exceed that percentage from wind alone. This makes the region the clear national leader in renewable electricity as a share of in-state generation, even though states like Texas may lead in total megawatts produced. 

The Midwest’s strong, consistent wind resources and open land have enabled large-scale wind farm development at low cost. As coal plants retire across the region, wind and solar continue expanding, solidifying the Midwest’s position as the nation’s percentage leader in renewable power generation. No surprise, Chicago is called windy city and this clean energy from renewables needs to really replace traditional power generation 100%. Mid-west can lead the nation in this effort as well. Any science person knows the importance of this clean energy for a cleaner nation. I am particularly impressed by the track record of this region. 

The event put me uncomfortable and had me thinking all through the day, much to the added pain of my processing unit. If this churning turns into a greater vision for the region for all the years spent, there can be no better reward and a small pay-back from a small person like me towards the bigger story of the day. This can as well be my last post on the home away from home before I move on from here. Let us wish we are envisioning and defining the glorious tomorrow of the land from today, lived by many greats who have defined order around the world and pulled someone like me into this land.