The All-Employee Expo, held at State Farm Center, a popular on-campus event was in full force. Thousands walked the halls of SFC and were able to learn about colleges, units, and efforts of the university, as well as other local vendors. F&S was well-attended, hosting eight tables of teams and shops that had giveaways, tokens of appreciation, information, examples, and stories of success. Machinists & … Continue reading F&S At the Expo
Campus Instructional Facility (CIF) has quickly become an on-campus hub, drawing tens of thousands of students per week through its doors. A wide array of classes are there, and public space areas are often populated as study areas. The building went up in 2021 and in these years since, F&S Retrocommissioning (RCx) experts figured it likely they would work on the building, with its high … Continue reading CIF Benefits from RCx
Welcome to Campus F&S welcomes students, faculty, staff, and the larger community to campus. More students than ever—the current freshman class is the largest in U. of I. history—have more ways to recognize their time and place. One way to properly grow and foster common identity and communicate our values is rather simple: signage. In 2023, F&S led the process of completely re-doing all exterior … Continue reading INSIDER Magazine: New Hellos
You see it every time you walk at night: pathway, bike lane, and street lighting is a trusted, safe way to journey campus. Big evening events for new students hit each fall, leading into sporting events, music acts and every outdoor activity… but at night. And with lighting installed in recent years, including at Illini Grove, along Kirby west of Gies Memorial Stadium, and in … Continue reading The Lit Path and the Dark Sky
The Urbana campus is home to more than 18,000 trees. For years, F&S has helped maintain a publicly-available online database of all trees on campus through “TreeKeeper,” seen here: https://go.fs.illinois.edu/trees. Now, imagine all those leaves… An afternoon with a rake, a few bags, and a rewarding warm apple cider won’t be enough to clear all those leaves. No, F&S Grounds workers use different, stronger tactics. … Continue reading Can you be-LEAF it?
Woody Bagwell, F&S insulators foreperson, knows the importance of keeping it tight. His team can find themselves anywhere on campus, from the underground steam tunnels to up on top of a roof. Insulators go wherever the pipes are. And on the Urbana campus, chilled water and steam are the primary arteries by which buildings are heated and cooled. Insulators work makes those pipes keep their … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Insulators Cover It All
Turns out, turning right takes work. At least when you’re learning to drive a 15-seat ‘turtle-top’ bus. Thankfully, people like F&S’ Andy Ray are there to help drivers get accustomed to a big rig. F&S’ transportation division deals with cars, trucks, vans, and buses meant for U. of I. use. Some customers need to rent a car for a quick trip; others sign up for … Continue reading Learning to Drive Right
The F&S laborer-electricians shop has one primary job: keep the lights on. That’s everywhere on the Urbana campus – in classrooms, offices, laboratories, exterior lights, and even the Ice Arena. Bulbs of all sorts, shapes, and sizes can be found all over campus, and the laborer-electricians are quick to respond when a light goes out. Every year, laborer-electricians visit the Ice Arena and install new … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Laborer-Electricians Keep the Lights On
In order to do a new parking lot at F27, F&S laborers are amongst the first to go on-site. Their work includes the prep work between when old cement and asphalt and broken up and sent off, and the new layer is poured. Among other activities, laborers make sure to measure, shovel, drive implements, and generally, distribute the base layer of rock, which needs to … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Laborers Prep Work at VetMed
Ah, sports! There’s speed, strength, balance, timing and guts… but there’s also that fun scoreboard that may keep kids occupied or hype up the crazies. Without the F&S electricians shop, those giant, colorful, engaging scoreboards wouldn’t operate. Although installed by Daktronics, a leader in scoreboards and video and digital signage, you need a primary source of electricity to light up the score, show hype videos, … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Electricians Keep the Score
