The College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbanaâ€"Champaign was first established in 1868, and is considered one of the original units of the school. The presence of a steam engine on the University's seal indicates as to the importance of the engineering program to the University. Engineering at Illinois consistently ranks amongst the top five such engineering colleges in the United States by the U.S. News & World Report and ranks amongst the top five in the world in the Academic Ranking of World Universities.
Campus
The College of Engineering is located at the northern terminus of the University of Illinois occupying the Bardeen Quadrangle, the Beckman Quadrangle and many nearby areas. Green Street almost perfectly divides the Engineering campus from the rest of the University, so engineers and the College of Engineering are often referred to as "North of Green."
Engineering Hall serves as the primary anchor point for the College of Engineering and houses administrative offices as well as academic facilities. Built in 1894, it is the oldest surviving building on the Engineering portion of campus. It was designed by George Bullard, a University alumnus as part of a University held architecture competition and is an example of the Renaissance Revival style of architecture.
The Bardeen Quad is home to the Grainger Engineering Library, the largest Engineering Library in the world with over 260,000 physical volumes and a substantial electronic repository. The building itself cost nearly $30 million and has 135,000 square feet (13,000 m²) of floor space. It serves in excess of 1.5 million people annually.
Departments
- Aerospace Engineering
- Agricultural and Biological Engineering
- Bioengineering
- Chemical Engineering and Biomolecular Engineering
- Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Computer Science
- Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Mechanical Science and Engineering
- Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering
- Physics
Research
The University as a whole is known as one of the nation's great research institutions and the College of Engineering is no exception. The College has the third highest per dollar research expenditure in the nation with over $202 million spent annually. The College is home to 26 research centers, 10 major laboratories, and nine affiliate programs. In total the College employs 408 research faculty members, 2,681 graduate researchers, and over 1,200 staff members.
Honors
In addition to the program as a whole ranking in top five of Engineering schools, many of the departments within the College of Engineering are also highly ranked.
Undergraduate rankings
The Undergraduate programs in Civil Engineering, Agricultural & Biological Engineering, and Materials Engineering are considered to be the top such programs in the nation. Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Physics, and Environmental Engineering consistently rank in the top five such programs in United States. The Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Nuclear Engineering programs consistently rank within the top ten such programs in the nation.
Graduate rankings
The Graduate programs in Civil Engineering, Agricultural & Biological Engineering, and Materials Science & Engineering offered by the college are considered to be one of the top two programs in their disciplines. Additionally the graduate programs in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Environmental Engineering consistently rank within the top five such programs in the nation. The graduate programs in Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, and Physics consistently rank within the top ten such programs in the nation.
Faculty honors
The faculty of the College of Engineering has earned many honors over the course of the College's prestigious career. Currently 82 of the faculty hold named chairs or professorships, 34 are members of the National Academy of Engineering, 15 are members of the National Academy of Sciences, 15 are members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, two are Nobel Laureates, one is a National Medal of Science recipient, and one is a National Medal of Technology recipient.
Notable alumni
- Fazlur Rahman Khan, engineered the John Hancock Center and Sears Tower; considered to be the Einstein of structural engineering and the Greatest Structural Engineer of the 20th Century
- Alumni have created companies such as Netscape Communications, AMD, PayPal, Oracle Corporation, Siebel Systems, Lotus Software, YouTube, and Tesla Motors
Engineering Open House
The College of Engineering opens its doors to the public annually during Engineering Open House (EOH), the largest student-run event on the University of Illinois campus. Engineering Open House typically features over 250 student project exhibits, four design contests (College, High School, Middle School, Grade School), appearances by local and national celebrities, entertainment, competitions for visitors, and prizes.
In 2002, Bill Nye was a featured guest at Engineering Open House.
EOH dates
- 94th Annual: March 14â€"15, 2014 - Theme: Transform Your World
- 93rd Annual: March 8â€"09, 2013 - Theme: Imagine the Impossible
- 92nd Annual: March 9â€"10, 2012 - Theme: Dream. Design. Discover.
- 91st Annual: March 11â€"12, 2011 - Theme: Defining the future
- 90th Annual: March 12â€"13, 2010 - Theme: Integrating knowledge, deriving genius
- 89th Annual: March 13â€"14, 2009 - Theme: Unlocking Potential; Featured speaker: Grant Imahara from The Mythbusters
- 88th Annual: March 7â€"8, 2008 - Theme: Sparking Curiosity
- 87th Annual: March 9â€"10, 2007 - Theme: Inspiring Innovation
- 86th Annual: March 10â€"11, 2006 - Theme: Beyond Imagination
- 85th Annual: March 11â€"12, 2005 - Theme: Reinventing Reality
- 82nd Annual: March 8â€"9, 2002 - Theme: Free Your Mind; Featured speaker: Bill Nye
- 81st Annual: March 2â€"3, 2001 - Unearthed time capsule from 1975.
- 80th Annual: March 3â€"4, 2000
See also
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
- Coordinated Science Laboratory
- National Center for Supercomputing Applications
References
External links
- College of Engineering
- Engineering Open House
- Engineering Council
- Engineering Initiatives