A small row of four trees outside the west-facing entrance of Siebel Center for Design (SCD) tell a little-known story from long ago. Now, visitors to SCD will have a new way to recognize the history and purpose of the trees, planted there by the third President of the University of Illinois, Thomas Jonathan Burrill. Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Milling A Mighty Pine Podium
Steam distribution operators maintain the utility connections that connect the university district on centralized systems. For an example of that, you may think of Abbott Power Plant, the campus cogeneration facility that makes both steam and electricity with massive boilers that power gigantic turbines – see for yourself! From Abbott, steam and electricity go through miles of underground pipes all over campus, keeping buildings comfortable … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Steam and Gas
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
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
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
When you’re an elevator mechanic, you’re always testing. That’s what these F&S experts do yearly at every one of the 360 cars, dumbwaiters, and chairlifts on campus. When testing, elevator mechanics basically want to make sure that governors, locks, brakes, and doors all operate as they should – the car shouldn’t go too high or too low, should stop at the right place when called, … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Elevator Mechanics Talk Testing
The previous color combination of interior painting at the International Studies Building (ISB) atrium, entryway, and main stairwell is either pink or mauve – a color combination popular in 1990, when ground was first broken there. But now, after the F&S painters finished up, the space is a little more welcoming to Illinois specifically, with new orange and blue tactfully chosen to accent the space, … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Painters ‘Mauve’ It at ISB
The F&S Card Access team keeps campus safe, by changing lock and unlock permissions of individuals on campus. For example, when a new person is hired, they can get in the parts of a building they need to; just as importantly, names and identities can be removed from entrance and exit permissions lists. The i-card holds all the value, as it is the ‘key’ to … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Card Access Opens Doors
