Raymundo Vargas

Degree: BS Computer Engineering 

Minor(s) or Certificates:  Innovation, Leadership, and Engineering Entrepreneurship (ILEE) Dual Degree 

Scholarships/Achievements:  
Chicago Engineers Foundation Incentive Award
President's Award Scholarship
Global Management Trainee Scholar (Anheuser-Busch)
Chicago Inno's 25 Under 25
Mens 114 Boxing National Champion
College New Venture Challenge 2nd Place 

Student organizations/extracurricular activities:  
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
Illini Boxing
Pizza FM
Startup City Scholars
Residential Advisor @ ISR, TVD, PAR

What's next for you after graduation?  Software Engineering Program at John Deere

Favorite memory from your time in ECE:  Competing in the College New Venture Challenge (CNVC).

Favorite ECE class: ECE 110 - Intro to Electronics

Future plans?  
5 - Be a full-time employee in Chicago
10 - Get married, have kids, own a home, run a successful startup
20 - Teach kids about the value of entrepreneurship and engineering

Special mention/thanks:
Special thanks to:
John Thode - my amazing mentor for the CNVC
Annabelle Sigmond - my girlfriend of 8 years who has put up with my craziness
Virginia Yanez and Raymundo Vargas - my parents for supporting me financially and emotionally throughout my time in college
Zach Kensik and Joshua Sanchez - for being my closest friends
Kelby Lanning - my internship boss from John Deere for pushing me in Deere 

Advice for future Illinois ECE students:  Don't get discouraged. The ones who graduate are not necessarily the smartest ones who come in but they are the ones that were able to persevere past the exams and hard work.