Grainger College of Engineering


The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign 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 indicates as to the importance of the engineering program to the University.
Every engineering program in the college is ranked among the best in the US and in the world. Engineering at Illinois is the most cited institution in engineering worldwide, with the highest total citations to research papers. The department has historically spearheaded worldwide innovation in technology. Inventions such as the transistor, the integrated circuit and the LED, ubiquitous in virtually all modern electronic systems, stemmed from professors or alumni of the College of Engineering. Illinois engineers have largely contributed to the proliferation and usability of the Internet. Most notably, engineering alumni produced the internet broadband, the first web browsers and the "programming language of the web". The engineering school has produced founders of countless modern tech giants such as Oracle, Tesla, YouTube, Mozilla, AMD, PayPal, Yelp, Malwarebytes and Optimizely.

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. 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. It offers services including room reservations, computers, printing, scanning, copying, tutoring, and technology loans.
On April 15, 2019, the College of Engineering was named Grainger College of Engineering after the Grainger Foundation. The Grainger Foundation donated $100 million and an overall donation of $300 million.

Departments

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 total the College employs 408 research faculty members, 2,681 graduate researchers, and over 1,200 staff members.

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, agricultural & biological engineering, and materials engineering are considered to be the top such programs in the nation. Mechanical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, engineering physics, and environmental engineering consistently rank in the top five such programs in United States. The aeronautical & astronautical engineering, chemical engineering, industrial engineering, and nuclear engineering programs consistently rank within the top ten such programs in the nation.

Graduate rankings

The Graduate programs in civil engineering, agricultural & biological engineering, and materials science & engineering offered by the college are considered to be one of the top two programs in their disciplines. Additionally the graduate programs in mechanical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, and Environmental engineering consistently rank within the top five such programs in the nation. The graduate programs in aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, nuclear engineering, and physics consistently 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.

Notable alumni

Deans of the College of Engineering through the years include:
The College of Engineering opens its doors to the public annually during Engineering Open House, the largest student-run event on the University of Illinois campus. Engineering Open House typically features over 250 student project exhibits, four design contests, appearances by local and national celebrities, entertainment, competitions for visitors, and prizes.
In 2002, Bill Nye was a featured guest at Engineering Open House.
In 2020, Engineering Open House was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

EOH dates