Things have definitely changed in at least part of South Farms from my time at the University of Illinois as an undergrad student in Engineering. That special scent that could only be associated with the bovine Illini population is now conspicuously absent. In its place is an exciting development called the Research Park at the University of Illinois (RPUI), where technology rises out of the cornfields and world-class collaboration between industry and the University is thriving. And we here at Yahoo! are incredibly excited to be the newest resident of the RPUI. For me personally, it’s an awesome opportunity to bridge the worlds of two of my greatest passions — the U of I and my employer for the last 10 years, Yahoo!.

For the past year, we’ve been working to establish a year-round internship program at the U of I to enable Yahoo! to form relationships with and recruit the best technical talent from the region. While discussions were underway with the University, a fellow UIUC graduate at Yahoo! shared news that his Motorola engineering buddies in Champaign might be looking for new jobs. Talk about perfect timing. We pressed the fast forward button and initiated plans for a permanent and local technology facility in Champaign.

So, what’s next? We are continuing to interview and recruit full-time engineers with a wide array of computer science skills in the greater Champaign region and by September we hope to have an office filled with 100 plus employees to bring new brainpower and technical expertise to Yahoo!. So watch for upcoming recruiting events where we’ll be looking for the best and brightest who want to join us at Yahoo!.

And don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about the interns. After all, that’s what first attracted us to the U of I. We have an awesome Intern Coordinator in place and she’ll be solidifying our plans to kick off the internship program in earnest once the students are back from the summer. So get back to campus, unpack your stuff, get your class schedule figured out, and look us up.

Oskee-wow-wow Illinois!

Kevin Timmons
Vice President, Operations

Photo from broken thoughts.