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When Olivia (Villamagna) Staib (LAW 3rd Year) talks about the Chicago intellectual property community, she doesn’t start with patents or trademarks. She starts with the people.

“Everyone is so warm and welcoming,” she says of Chicago Women in Intellectual Property (ChiWIP), which recently awarded her one of its annual scholarships. “There are a bunch  of hardworking, intelligent women in the Chicago IP space, so it feels like such an honor to be recognized.”

ChiWIP selected Olivia as the recipient of the organization’s . The $2,500 scholarship supports a woman+ who is currently enrolled in law school or graduate school studies in law, science, technology, engineering, or math and/or is a recent graduate who is seeking professional testing/certification for the first time.

ChiWIP awarded Olivia because it was “especially impressed by her vision to combine her advanced STEM background with her legal education to advocate for a more humane, innovative, and just society,” according to the organization.

For Olivia, the scholarship is more than recognition of her academic success. It’s a reflection of a professional community that has helped shape her journey from engineer to future intellectual property attorney.

A former human factors and systems engineer, Olivia spent six years at Collins Aerospace before making the leap to law school, where she hopes to broaden her knowledge base. 

“I felt a strong pull toward social justice,” she says. “Intellectual property is a natural fit for my engineering background, and I’m proud of that work. Animal law is where my passion for the law started and I think of my career as something that can hold both—room to engage with animal law through pro bono work, volunteering, and staying engaged with the space while honing my practice in IP law.”

Olivia has taken advantage of Chicago-Kent College of Law’s extensive alumni and employer network to gain practical experience in intellectual property law.

She spent her 1L summer at Banner Witcoff after connecting with attorneys at a Chicago-Kent networking event. This summer, she’s working at McDermott Will & Schulte before returning to Banner Witcoff later in the season.