The Research Park at the University of Illinois provides an environment where technology-based businesses can work with faculty and students to take advantage of opportunities for collaborative research and easy access to University labs, equipment and services. Located on campus, the Research Park is now home to more than 120 companies and growing, employing more than 1,700 people in high-technology careers.
At any given time more than 600 student interns are working in these companies gaining valuable work experience while making real contributions to internal corporate R&D and product development programs. Multinational and/or publicly traded corporations in the Research Park include: Abbott Laboratories, ADM Science and Technology Center, John Deere Technology Innovation Center, NVIDIA, State Farm Research and Development Center, and Synchrony Emerging Technology Center. See Tenant Directory for full list of Research Park companies. The Research Park is also home to over 70 startup companies that are commercializing technology. EnterpriseWorks, the Research Park’s 43,000-square-foot business incubator for early-stage tech firms, is operated by the University of Illinois to help launch successful startup companies.
State Farm Research Center's Modeling and Analytics Graduate Network (MAGNet)
Admitted MS students in our program who are interested in careers in the financial and insurance industries will be given the opportunity to apply and compete for the State Farm Research Center's Modeling and Analytics Graduate Network (MAGNet) program. Successful applicants will be able to start their professional careers with tuition support for the MS degree and concurrent employment at the State Farm Research and Development Center, which is located in the University of Illinois Research Park.
Alexander “Sasha” Matveev named Research Park’s Most Outstanding Graduate Intern
“MAGNet is an incredible opportunity to not only apply the knowledge and skills gained in class, but also a fantastic learning experience that goes beyond lecture materials.” - Matveev
Meet some alumni and former MAGNet interns
Ashley Arroyo (BS '20, MS '22)
UIUC and my professors played a significant role in shaping my career. Professor Christopher Kinson encouraged me to pursue graduate school, and the MAGNet program at State Farm helped make that opportunity possible. My internship was a major part of that journey, and I learned a lot from that experience.
Mehron Beheshti (BS '12, MS '14)
In MAGNet, I obtained real-world job experience, developed my technical and professional skills, and learned a tremendous amount from the community of mentors and fellow interns in the program. Not only did I work with the other interns in my cohort, but we often took the same courses, giving us opportunities to study together and learn from each other in the classroom as well.
Karle Flanagan (BS '12, MS '13)
After graduating in 2012, I joined the Statistics Department as a Master’s Student. During this time, I worked at State Farm as a MAGNet intern. This was the best experience of my graduate school career. The MAGNet experience allowed me to apply everything I was learning in my courses to a real-life job in at a company.
Emma Grimes (BS '13, MS '15)
After [...] attending SAS day to listen to State Farm’s talk, I landed an internship with them at their office in Research Park. The internship experience was unmatched. I enjoyed working there and applying the skills I learned from my courses to real world applications.Being a part of the MAGNet program allowed me to get more relevant work experience while pursuing a higher degree paid for by State Farm. It made me excited about the career opportunities an MS in Statistics would offer.
Rachel Koloms (BS '11, MS '12)
This internship allowed me to gain real business and statistical modeling exposure while obtaining my degree. Following the completion of my graduate degree, I accepted a full-time position at the State Farm corporate offices in Bloomington, IL, constructing statistical models in the efforts of detecting fraudulent insurance claims that may otherwise be paid out by the claimant's insurance policy.
Chris Lalla (BS '11, MS '12)
Following [an] internship, he returned to the University of Illinois to finish his degrees and started work part-time at State Farm Research Development Center in the Strategic Resources unit. This was a unit that specialized in delivering project based work to various business units within State Farm.
Kelsey Osterloo (BS '13, MS '14)
I started at State Farm as an intern my junior year at the University of Illinois and have been with them ever since. Working for them has allowed me to expand on the statistical principles taught in school while also further developing my critical thinking and communication skills.
Betsy Podkowa (MS '17)
The MAGNet program provided me with exposure to various departments at State Farm as well as the different types of projects and opportunities within the realm of Statistics and the overall professional climate of the company from an employee standpoint. Furthermore, it allowed me to develop my soft skills such as collaborating with technical and non-technical business partners in both formal and informal settings.
Kailun Zheng (MS '18)
The summer before graduate school started, I joined the MAGNet program. While challenging, being a MAGNet intern offered me the satisfaction of learning new things each day and actually applying what I learned in class to real business problems. The MS and MAGNet programs allowed me to explore and create a career path for myself by bridging my background in marketing and management to a technical skill set with a specialty in statistical modeling and machine learning.