/chicago-engineering-and-tech-communities

A consolidated list of Chicago Engineering and Tech Communities and organizations

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Chicago Engineering and Tech Communities and Organizations

Inspired by This Dot's Tech Community Slacks but Chicago-focused! (However the Awesome Tech Communities fork is far more active and up to date than Dot's) A consolidated list of Chicago Engineering Communities and organizations. Please add any that you think are missing! Please note that any added should be engineering/tech-focused and in Chicago, or at least have a substantial Chicago subcommunity. For Meetups, they should have in-person Chicago events, rather than just being only online events with a "Chicago" chapter which exists to get in search listings. There is a great calendar of Chicago-based events one can find at Chicago Tech Community Events.

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Non-Tech Organizations/Groups/Communities

By "non-tech" what is meant are non-computer science/software/data-focused organizations.

Identity-Focused

Generally organizations focused on promoting diversity of identities in various fields of engineering and allowing for connections between those groups.

Online Chicago Communities

While the strong preference and focus of this page is to focus on in-person meetups, there is a place for slacks/discords/other of online groups focused in the Chicago region. To be in this section, there needs to be a specific focus on Chicago either on the entire commnunity, or at least a channel for Chicago. Many of these have requirements to join, e.g. you need to be invited, so you may need to attend an event in person first.

Personal Favorites of @driscoll42

These are the ones that I (@driscoll42) enjoy the most, from a combination of amount of activity on the channels/apps and lack of spam. Some are less active than others on the list, but much of that "activity" can be a bit spammy. I admit that some of the others I just know less as it's an area that's not my focus so I encourage checking out all that interest you and make your own call.

The rest are all worth checking out to stay in touch with the Chicago community at your work desk, or if you are exploring moving to the area!

Tech Organizations/Groups/Communities

Data/ML/DS-Focused

Crypto/Blockchain

Social

Startup

General/Others

Non-Profit/Volunteer

Organizations focused on providing opportunities for engineers to volunteer their skillsets to help others and/or helping in schools.

Incubators/Accelerators

Perhaps surprising to many, Chicago has a vibrant startup community with incubators and accelerators to assist those get off the ground.

Hackerspaces

Hackerspaces (also hacklabs, hackspaces) are community-operated physical places, where people share their interest in tinkering with technology, meet and work on their projects, and learn from each other.

Universities

Universities are the core of many engineering studies around the world that are central to any community. However, generally they are not directly open to the public at large to engage with.

Other

For other groups that are not directly engineering related, but I feel are worth bringing to the attention of engineers in Chicago.

  • Chicago Associate Boards - This is a great list of various associate boards in Chicago that young professionals can join to start getting board leadership experience, and volunteering in their community.
  • Awesome Discord Communities - Not specifically Chicago, but I feel that there is a great benefit to the numerous engineering and tech Discord communities out there for anyone to be part of to learn from others.
  • Awesome Tech Communities fork - A list of Slack communities around the world to join
  • Chicago Tech Community Events - A calendar of various Chicago tech events