At the beginning of May, the MSL program sponsored our first-ever MSL Symposium: “STEM, Law, Business, and the MSL.”  The goal of the symposium was to showcase the work of MSL students during their time in the program; some students presented their work in a walk-around poster session, and others presented in the more formal session held in the auditorium.  Attended by over 200 audience members, the MSL Symposium was a huge success – our MSL students put their best foot forward in explaining their ideas and their work at the intersection of law, business, and STEM.

The idea for the MSL Symposium came from one of our outstanding part-time students, Javier Jara.  Javier was a member of the MSL Student Governance Committee, a group of students that advises the MSL staff on issues of concern to MSL students.  Javier proposed that the MSL program sponsor an event that would help explain the MSL program to the community in a very hands-on way.  The idea was immediately met with enthusiasm, and the planning took off from there.

One of the fantastic things about the Symposium was the variety of topics tackled by our students, showing the great diversity of backgrounds, study programs, and interests of MSL students.  Here’s a list of topics that MSL students chose to present on:

Featured Speakers

• Artificial Intelligence in Law: Implications and Applications
• The International Team Project: Switzerland
• Health & Human Rights: Access to New TB Drugs and Diagnostics
• Filling the Legal Vacuum of Outer Space
• “Informed Consent” in Genomics Research
• Entrepreneurship Lab Project: Learning Analytics for Learning Disorders

Poster Presentations

• Mining Crime Data in Chicago
• Propel Program: Digital Platform for Millennial Women in STEM
• Entrepreneurship Team Project Trip: MSL Students in the Bay Area
• Analysis of Prior Art Archive as an Innovation in the Legal Industry
• Investigation of Upper Motor Neuron Degeneration and Inflammation in Models of Traumatic Brain Injury
• Starting a Private Medical Practice: California vs. Illinois
• From Bench to Market: Intellectual Property Strategy in a Biotechnology Startup
• Are Plant-Based Diets the Answer to Saving Our Planet?
• Health & Human Rights: Youth Mental Health in Nigeria
• Chemical Bonds ⇌ Bridging the Gaps Between Law, Business, and Technology
• Aviation Law: Pilot Licensing and Regulation
• Youth Immigrants: Navigating Emergencies and Understanding Rights
• Edith Technologies: Improving Women’s Health & Outcomes
• CurtoTech: Safer and More Efficient Endoscopic Procedures
• Zephyr Medical: Preventing Ventilator-Acquired Pneumonia
• Entrepreneurship Lab Class: From Idea to Market

Please enjoy this video of the MSL Symposium.  And if you are a current or prospective student, feel free to start thinking now about what you would like to present at the next MSL Symposium in May, 2020!