Tag: featured

Tool room
Insider

Shop Spotlight: Tool Room

How does the F&S Tool Room operate? Andy Harpst, Tool Room supervisor: In the Tool Room, I recommend, determine, and procure tools, technical equipment and safety/personal protective equipment needed to satisfy the job requirements of journeymen in all crafts and trades within F&S. I also recommend modifications to equipment and tools.  These decisions on tools and equipment are procurement-based on intensive research and knowledge involving the … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Tool Room

Travis Tate
Garage hydraulic oil filter crusher
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Crushing It

Used automobile oil filters have no chance now. The F&S Garage, services all F&S Car Pool vehicles, as well as F&S shop trucks, electric cars, garbage trucks, Zamboni machines, and almost anything else with an engine. Inherent to servicing is the oil filter, an item that is regularly replaced. Once a filter has fulfilled its life cycle, these metal cylinders, sometimes about 12 inches long, … Continue reading Crushing It

Travis Tate
Insider

Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference: ‘Above the Line Behaviors’

Russ Reynolds sees the value of the individual as part of a team and recognizes how each person, and the choices they make, turn personal culture into organizational effectiveness. To Reynolds, chief engineer at Abbott Power Plant, each moment while on the job is another opportunity to be ‘above the line.’ These positive and proactive work and interpersonal behaviors are generally those that include owning … Continue reading Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference: ‘Above the Line Behaviors’

Travis Tate
Insider

Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference: All-Gender Restrooms and Illinois Code

Katie Sperl, associate director of campus code compliance & fire safety, gave a talk to the Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference considering new codes for restrooms, and the future of more ‘all-gender’ restrooms. “At the University of Illinois, this is a very important topic for our students and something we’re looking at in all of our buildings,” Sperl said. All-gender restrooms, in a school … Continue reading Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference: All-Gender Restrooms and Illinois Code

Travis Tate
Insider

Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference: Retrocommissioning

Buildings need tune-ups, and F&S’ cross-disciplinary retrocommissioning (RCx) teams do important work to make sure utilities and systems are doing what they should and working correctly… including at the right times. RCx teams at F&S are made up of eight people: two electricians, two temperature control mechanics, two sheet metal workers, one engineer, and one programmer. Andy Robinson, energy services administration engineer, gave a talk … Continue reading Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference: Retrocommissioning

Travis Tate
Attendees of the Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference 2024.
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Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference: Overview

Of the crowd of 60 attendees at the Chief Engineers and Facility Managers Conference, most were from either the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign or another Illinois university or community college. And despite the size and location of the institution, all who came to Champaign for the conference were looking for advice and ready to share a success, particularly with the general concept: how do we … Continue reading Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference: Overview

Travis Tate
Insider

Shop Spotlight: Insulators

When it’s cold out, we all need a blanket to stay warm. Mechanical systems are just as receptive to that extra layer, and in fact, insulation accomplishes many things that make campus more sustainable. The F&S Building Heat & Frost Insulators, called shop 52 at F&S, provide insulation fabrication for systems in buildings all across campus – often in tight spaces, basements, and attics alike. … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Insulators

Travis Tate
F&S led a tour of PPSB for Parkland Highway Construction Careers Training Program.
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F&S Welcomes Parkland Students in Tour of Crafts & Trades

Students from the Parkland College Highway Construction Careers Training Program (HCCTP) toured the home of F&S crafts and trades, the Physical Plant Services Building (PPSB). There, they visited and interacted with forepersons and supervisors with many shops: laborers, pipe trades, sheet metal, carpenters, painters, ironworkers, elevator mechanics, electricians, and operator-engineers. Greg Moen, supervisor of building craftspersons, led the tour, offering key advice and words of … Continue reading F&S Welcomes Parkland Students in Tour of Crafts & Trades

Travis Tate
Challenge coin display at Chez Veterans Center made by F&S mill shop
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Chez coin display: “Breathtaking” work by mill

The Chez Veterans Center (CVC) is a special place for special people, home to student military veterans at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. There, Veterans can meet and visit with others, including those who live in the facility. The staff, and the facility itself, help make life easier, including for those with disabilities from their service. The F&S mill shop recently made something for CVC, … Continue reading Chez coin display: “Breathtaking” work by mill

Travis Tate
Morgan White Electrical and Computer Engineering Building ECE net zero energy
Academic Collaboration, Capital Programs, Insider, Sustainability, Utilities & Energy Services

“All in” on Zero Energy at ECE: Now 1 Year

A celebration for the 1-year anniversary of the Electrical & Computer Engineering Building’s (ECE) ‘net zero energy’ mark was held there in the atrium, a huge study and hang out location for students. It made sense, given recognition of the building’s ability to impact academic research. Basically, students can plug in at a computer and be able to study how energy is collected, stored, and … Continue reading “All in” on Zero Energy at ECE: Now 1 Year

Travis Tate