Refrigeration mechanics had to call an audible. With the clock ticking down before Illini football recruiting visits, someone had to “figure it out” at the Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Center. The need was a real puzzler: how do you build and install two 8-foot-tall cryo freeze chambers, outfitted with neon striping glowing lights and able to hit -110 F in wind chill thanks … Continue reading Ice Cold Players
Another way F&S is enmeshed into the university, like stars in the sky: history. F&S is home to the university’s historic preservation officer, Dennis Craig. He’s a walking, talking history book when it comes to what has happened on campus since it was called Illinois Industrial University, dating to the late 1800s and can bring some context to almost any site, building, location, or notable … Continue reading Touring and Histories with Dennis Craig
The Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory (IBRL) is getting a lot of attention lately. If you’ve seen Illini athletics on television, you may have seen this: At IBRL, basically, companies and researchers use the facility to ferment things under different conditions to find new products that can be made of local crops like corn and soybeans. Basically, the building has giant metal containers, each with an … Continue reading IBReaL: BJ Glasa at Work
Hot or cold: pipefitters and refrigeration mechanics find solutions. And shifting from hot to cold was exactly the strategy, too, in a project at CERL, the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory. This collection of facilities is where the US Army Corps of Engineers conduct operations for the Department of Defense (DoD). CERL is described as the “premier center for developing technologies that provide high-quality facilities and … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Pipefitters and Refrigeration Mechanics
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
