UIUC College of Engineering

The College of Engineering at the University of Illinois 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 is a good clue as to the importance of the program to the University. The College of Engineering consistently ranks amongst the top five such programs in the nation, and is considered one of the most selective and elite engineering schools in the world.

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. Many students of the College of Engineering jokingly refer to the Main Quadrangle as the "South Quad" much to the consternation of Liberal Arts and Sciences students. 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 of floor space. It serves in excess of 1.5 million people annually.

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 addition, the college serves as the home for the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, and the United States Department of Energy's Center for Simulation of Advanced Rockets . In total the College employs 408 research faculty members, 2,681 graduate researchers, and over 1,200 staff members.

The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology

History

The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology was concieved in 1983 as part of a plan to develop multidisciplinary research between Engineering and the Life Sciences. The primary facility for the Beckman Institute was constructed in 1984 by grace of a gift of $40 million from Dr. Arnold O. Beckman, and completed in 1989. Today the Beckman Institute is made up of 600 researchers from 30 University departments and is home to over 15 research groups.

Research

The Beckman Institute focuses on research in three main areas, Biological Intelligence, Human-Computer Intelligent Interaction, and Molecular & Electronic Nanostructures. The Biological Intelligence Center, known as BioIntel, primarily works in the fields of Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Cognative Science . Combining researches from the Life Sciences, Engineering (especially Signal Processing ), and other related field the BioIntel group focuses on research which leads to a better understanding of brain functions, speech recognition, vision, and other sensory information. Work from this the BioIntel center has lead to numerous advances not only in the understanding of brain, but also in the development of algorithms for processing computer vision and other sensor information, along with the development of many sensory devices used in modern robotics.

The center for Human-Computer Intelligent Interaction, or HCII includes researchers from the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Human Computer Interaction , and Psychology. Primary work done by the center includes research in cognative abilities of humans, and the construction of hardware and software to suit human use.

The center for Molecular & Electronic Nanostructures research, or M&ENS researches technology based on and used in the steady of molecular and electronic nanostructures. The M&ENS groups have pioneered research in tunneling electron microscopy, force microscopy and near-field scanning optical microscopy. Research is also currently on-going in the fields of self assembly and nanostructures with computational applications.

National Center for Supercomputing Applications

The Beckman Institute currently serves as the headquarters for the National Center for Supercomputing Applications which occupies the fifth floor of the building, as well as numerous other buildings on the UIUC campus. Although the headquarters for the NCSA are scheduled to move to a new building built exclusively for the NCSA in 2005-2006, they will likely maintain a presence at the Beckman Institute.

The Coordinated Science Laboratory

History

Established in 1951, the Coordinated Science Laboratory (or CSL) was original a joint effort between the University and NASA. Originally designed to be a center for research in Control Systems , CSL has evolved to cover a much broader base of research goals. During the 70's and 80's additional support for the laboratory was provided by the Military who sought to establish an electronics facility at CSL to aid with the Cold War. Later as private sources of funding as well as state appropriated funding replaced much of the military funding the center came to focus on Information Technology and Telecommunications research, though it still maintains its roots.

Faculty and Funding

Research at CSL is conducted by over 80 faculty members spanning 11 departments in the University. The center also employs over 350 graduate researchers and a small group of around 50 undergraduate students.

CSL currently is funded by many Federal, State, and Private programs. It recieves the majority of its operating and research budget from DARPA, the NSF, NASA, and private corporations including AT&T, Cisco, Hwelett-Packard , Intel, Lucent, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, and Sun.

Major Centers Contained within CSL

• The Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology [1]
• The Center for Reliable and High Performance Computing [2]
• The Center for Supercomputing Research and Development [3]
• The Illinois Center for Cryptography and Information Protection [4]
• The Information Trust Institute [5]

Notable Research Contributions

• Electric Vaccum Gyroscope (The central component of inertial navigation systems, primarily used by submarines)
• Portable Radar Systems
• PLATO (The first computer assisted instructional program)
• Flat Panel Plasma Displays
• Deuterium Method for Processing Microchips (extends the life of microchips by 10 to 50 times normal length)
• Quantum Wire Lasers
• Quantum Dots

Computer Science

Siebel Center for Computer Science

Offically opened on April 29, 2004, the Siebel Center for Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign began with the initial contibution of $32 million to the University by U of I alumnus and successful technology entrepreneur Thomas Siebel in 1999. The project's final cost came to roughly 80 million dollars, with more than half (48 million) having been paid for by the state of Illinois.

The Siebel Center houses the Department of Computer Science, which currently shares the distinction of being one of the top five Computer Science departments in the world with Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The center has over 225,000 square feet (21,000 m²) of research, office, and laboratory space, an undergraduate population of 1,100, over 450 graduate students, and 100 faculty and research members. The Siebel Center claims to be the first "Computing Habitat", featuring a fully interactive environment and intelligent building system. The facility is equipped with computer controlled locks, proximity and location sensors, cameras to track room activity, and other sensory and control features.

Digital Computer Laboratory

The Digital Computer Laboratory (DCL) was the original home of the UIUC Computer Science department. The two-story building was constructed in 1958 and was expanded in 1967. In 1989, another addition added a third floor and enclosed the old building on three sides. The Computer Science department offices moved to the Siebel Center upon its completion in 2004. Much of the now vacant office space in DCL will be used by Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services (CITES).

UIUC Computer Science Department

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 and Materials Engineering are considered to be the top such programs in the nation. Additionally the Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Environmental Engineering consistantly rank in the top five such programs in the nation. The Mechanical Engineering and Nuclear Engineering programs consistantly rank within the top ten such programs in the nation.

Graduate Rankings

The Graduate program in Civil Engineering offered by the college is considered to be the top program in discipline. Additionally the graduate programs in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Environmental Engineering consistantly rank within the top five such programs in the nation. The graduate programs in Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, and Physics consistantly 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.