The Grainger College of Engineering is the engineering college of the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

. It was established in 1868 and is considered as one of the original units of school.

Campus

The College of Engineering is located at the northern terminus of the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

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." UIUC 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 the University held architecture competition and is an example of the

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

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 costs nearly $30 million and has 135,000 square feet (13,000 m²) of floor space. It serves more than 1.5 million people annually. It offers services, including room reservations, computers, printing, scanning, copying, tutoring, and technology loans. On 15 April 2019, the College of Engineering was named Grainger College of Engineering after the Grainger Foundation. The Grainger Foundation donated $100 million and an overall donation of $300 million.

Departments

Aerospace Engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

Bioengineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number ...

* Civil and Environmental Engineering *

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

Electrical and Computer Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

* Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering *

Materials Science and Engineering Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials scien ...

* Mechanical Science and Engineering * Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering *

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

* Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Research

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 A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which science, scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratories are found in a variety of settings such as s ...

, and nine affiliate programs. In total, the College employs 408 research faculty members, 2,681 graduate researchers, and over 1,200 staff members. Engineering at Illinois is the most cited institution in engineering worldwide, with the highest total citations to research papers.

Honors

In addition to the program as a whole ranking in top five of engineering schools, many of the

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

within the College of Engineering are also highly ranked.

Undergraduate rankings

The

Undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

programs in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

, agricultural & biological engineering, and

materials engineering Materials science is an Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origi ...

are considered to be the top such programs in the nation.

Mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

computer engineering Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engi ...

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

engineering physics Engineering physics (EP), sometimes engineering science, is the field of study combining pure science disciplines (such as physics, mathematics, chemistry or biology) and engineering disciplines (computer, nuclear, electrical, aerospace, medic ...

, and

environmental engineering Environmental engineering is a professional engineering Academic discipline, discipline related to environmental science. It encompasses broad Science, scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiolo ...

consistently rank in the top five such programs in

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The aeronautical & astronautical engineering,

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

industrial engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

, and

nuclear engineering Nuclear engineering is the engineering discipline concerned with designing and applying systems that utilize the energy released by nuclear processes. The most prominent application of nuclear engineering is the generation of electricity. Worldwide ...

programs consistently rank within the top ten such programs in the nation.

Graduate rankings

The graduate programs in

, 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, graduate programs in mechanical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, and

consistently rank within the top five such programs in the nation. The graduate programs in aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, nuclear engineering, and

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

consistently rank within the top ten such programs in the nation.

Faculty honors

The faculty of the College of Engineering has earned many honors throughout the College's prestigious career. Currently, 82 of the faculty hold named chairs or professorships, 34 are members of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

, 15 are members of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, 15 are members of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, two are Nobel Laureates, one is a National Medal of Science recipient, and one is a National Medal of Technology recipient.

Notable alumni

* MiMi Aung, Project Manager for the Mars Ingenuity Helicopter, NASA JPL * William F. Baker, civil engineer * Richard Baraniuk, C. Sidney Burrus Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

and member of the

* Stephen A. Boppart, Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering and head of the Biophotonics Imaging Laboratory at the

Alan Bovik Alan Conrad Bovik (born June 25, 1958) is an American engineer, vision scientist, and educator. He is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin), where he holds the Cockrell Family Regents Endowed Chair in the Cockrell School o ...

, Cockrell Regents Family Professor Endowed Chair in Engineering at UT Austin and member of the

Fazlur Rahman Khan Fazlur Rahman Khan (, ''Fazlur Rôhman Khan''; 3 April 1929 – 27 March 1982) was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect, who initiated important structural systems for skyscrapers. Considered the "father of Tube (structure) ...

, engineered the

John Hancock Center 875 North Michigan Avenue (officially known until 2018 as the John Hancock Center and still commonly referred to under that name) is a 100- story, supertall skyscraper located in Chicago, Illinois. Located in the Magnificent Mile district, the ...

and

Sears Tower The Willis Tower, formerly and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, is a 110- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan ...

; considered to be the

Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

structural engineering Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and joints' that create the form and shape of human-made Structure#Load-bearing, structures. Structural engineers also ...

and the Greatest Structural Engineer of the 20th Century *

Arvind Krishna Arvind Krishna (born November 23, 1962) is an American business executive, and the chairman and CEO of IBM. He has been CEO of IBM since April 2020 and chairman since January 2021. Arvind began his career at IBM in 1990, at its Thomas J. Watso ...

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

Mark Hersam Mark Christopher Hersam (born January 31, 1975) is a professor of Chemistry and Materials Science Engineering at Northwestern University (2000–present) who, according to the National Science Foundation, has made "major breakthrough in the fie ...

, 2014

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and 30 individuals workin ...

and Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Sergio Verdú Sergio Verdú (born Barcelona, Spain, August 15, 1958) is a former professor of electrical engineering and specialist in information theory. Until September 22, 2018, he was the Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton Univer ...

, information theorist,

Shannon Award The Claude E. Shannon Award of the IEEE Information Theory Society was created to honor consistent and profound contributions to the field of information theory. Each Shannon Award winner is expected to present a Shannon Lecture at the following ...

Laureate (2007), and member of the

and

*Alumni have created companies such as

Netscape Communications Netscape Communications Corporation (originally Mosaic Communications Corporation) was an American independent computer services company with headquarters in Mountain View, California, and then Dulles, Virginia. Its Netscape (web browser), Nets ...

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California and maintains significant operations in Austin, Texas. AMD is a hardware and fabless company that de ...

PayPal PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support E-commerce payment system, online money transfers; it serves as an electronic alter ...

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, California, by Larry Ellison, who remains executive chairman, Oracle was ...

Siebel Systems Siebel Systems, Inc. () was an American software company principally engaged in the design, development, marketing, and support of customer relationship management (CRM) applications—notably Siebel CRM. The company was founded by Thomas Sieb ...

Lotus Software Lotus Software (called Lotus Development Corporation before its acquisition by IBM) was an American software company based in Massachusetts; it was sold to India's HCL Technologies in 2018. Lotus is most commonly known for the Lotus 1-2-3 sprea ...

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, and

Tesla, Inc. Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it designs, manufactures and sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs), stationary battery energy storage devices from h ...

Leadership

Deans of the College of Engineering through the years include: * William Schowalter, 1989–2001 *

David E. Daniel David Edwin Daniel (born December 20, 1949, in Newport News, Virginia, U.S.) is a former deputy chancellor of the University of Texas System. Previously, he was the fourth president of the University of Texas at Dallas, where he served from 2005 ...

, 2001–2005 * Ilesanmi Adesida, 2006–2012 * Andreas C Cangellaris, 2013–2018 *

Rashid Bashir Rashid Bashir is Dean of The Grainger College of Engineering, Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering and Professor of Bioengineering, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He was the Executive Associate Dean and Chief Diversity Of ...

, 2018–Present

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. In 2020 and 2021, Engineering Open House was canceled due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic.

EOH dates

* 103rd Annual: April 5–6, 2025 - Theme: The Age of Innovation * 102nd Annual: April 5–6, 2024 – Theme: Aspire to Inspire * 101st Annual: March 31 - April 1, 2023 – Theme: The Future, Today * 100th Annual: April 8–9, 2022 – Theme: The Power of Us * 99th Annual: March 8–9, 2019 – Theme: Dare to Defy * 98th Annual: March 9–10, 2018 – Theme: Drafting the Future * 97th Annual: March 10–11, 2017 – Theme: Illuminate New Horizons * 96th Annual: March 11–12, 2016 – Theme: The STEM of Innovation * 95th Annual: March 13–14, 2015 – Theme: Electrifying Engineering * 94th Annual: March 14–15, 2014 – Theme: Transform Your World * 93rd Annual: March 8–9, 2013 – Theme: Imagine the Impossible * 92nd Annual: March 9–10, 2012 – Theme: Dream. Design. Discover. * 91st Annual: March 11–12, 2011 – Theme: Defining the future * 90th Annual: March 12–13, 2010 – Theme: Integrating knowledge, deriving genius * 89th Annual: March 13–14, 2009 – Theme: Unlocking Potential; Featured speaker:

Grant Imahara Grant Masaru Imahara (October 23, 1970 – July 13, 2020) was an American electrical engineer, roboticist, and television host. He was best known for his work on the television series ''MythBusters'', on which he designed, built, and opera ...

from The Mythbusters * 88th Annual: March 7–8, 2008 – Theme: Sparking Curiosity * 87th Annual: March 9–10, 2007 – Theme: Inspiring Innovation * 86th Annual: March 10–11, 2006 – Theme: Beyond Imagination * 85th Annual: March 11–12, 2005 – Theme: Reinventing Reality * 84th Annual: 2004 Theme: Engineering Ingenuity * 83rd Annual: 2003 – Theme: Create, Innovate, Fascinate * 82nd Annual: March 8–9, 2002 – Theme: Free Your Mind; Featured speaker:

Bill Nye William Sanford Nye (; born November 27, 1955) is an American science communicator, television presenter, and former mechanical engineer. He is best known as the host of the science education television show '' Bill Nye the Science Guy'' (1 ...

* 81st Annual: March 2–3, 2001 – Theme: An unearthed time capsule from 1975. * 80th Annual: March 3–4, 2000 – Theme: Dawn of a New Age * 79th Annual: 1999 – Theme: Millennium of Innovation * 78th Annual: 1998 – Theme: Carnival of the Mind * 77th Annual: 1997 – Theme: Imagine That * 76th Annual: 1996 – Theme: Re-Engineering The World * 75th Annual: 1995 – Theme: 75 Years of Innovation * 74th Annual: 1994 – Theme: Above and Beyond * 73rd Annual: 1993 – Theme: Forging New Frontiers * 72nd Annual: 1992 – Theme: Unleashing Tomorrow's Potential * 71st Annual: 1991 – Theme: Looking Beyond the Horizonhttps://archives.library.illinois.edu/erec/.../4167184/.../History%20of%20EOH.pptx * 70th Annual: 1990 – Theme: Dare to Discover * 69th Annual: 1989 – Theme: Reviving the Dream * 68th Annual: 1988 – Theme: Accept the Challenge * 67th Annual: 1987 – Theme: Shaping Our World * 66th Annual: 1986 – Theme: In Search of Solutions * 65th Annual: 1985 – Theme: Method to the Madness * 64th Annual: 1984 – Theme: Developing Tomorrow – Today * 63rd Annual: 1983 – Theme: Responding to Reality * 62nd Annual: 1982 – Theme: Magic of Technology * 61st Annual: 1981 – Theme: Building on Dreams * 60th Annual: March 7–8, 1980 – Theme: Answers for the '80s * 59th Annual: 1979 – Theme: Target Tomorrow * 58th Annual: 1978 – Theme: Spearhead of Progress * 57th Annual: 1977 – Theme: Engineering: Integrating the Sciences * 56th Annual: 1976 – Theme: Revolutions in Engineering * 55th Annual: 1975 – Theme: 2001: An Engineering Odyssey * 54th Annual: 1974 – Theme: It's a Man-Made World * 53rd Annual: 1973 – Theme: Engineering Makes a World of Difference (Motorola shows first cellphone) * 52nd Annual: March 10–11, 1972 – Theme: Engineering – Key to Survival * 51st Annual: 1971 – Theme: The Engineer and Our Environment

References

External links

* {{Authority control

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

Universities and colleges established in 1868 Engineering schools and colleges in the United States Engineering universities and colleges in Illinois

1868 establishments in Illinois W. W. Grainger

Campus

Departments

Research

Honors

Undergraduate rankings

Graduate rankings

Faculty honors

Notable alumni

Leadership

Engineering Open House

EOH dates

See also

References

External links