In nearby Savoy, at the Illinois Technology Center, another ECE start-up company is preparing for its product launch. Although starting a business is not for everyone, those who choose this route can benefit from locating close to the university. The ECE companies at the TCL and Illinois Tech Center represent just some of the department-affiliated startups in town. In the process, players learn 30 basic chemistry concepts. Then I got the idea to base the games on science fact, rather than fiction.
Ideas are a dime a dozen, though.
I had the passion to take the idea to the next step. At the time, Johnson and Laurell had been running their own web-design business. Often called the chief whoola by his 11 employees, Iyer is the founder and chief technology officer. In charge of game development, Laurell also serves as network administrator. Originally developed by Overbye as an instructional tool, the software made its official debut in the summer of 1994.