Part of Greg Milner's job description calls for him to crush and otherwise destroy objects.
So, who could blame him for looking forward to work each day?
"We get paid to break things and get away with it," he said. "That really is one of the cool parts of the job."
Milner is a research lab shop supervisor for the department of aerospace engineering and he's one of a handful of people in the country who has access to a rare universal testing machine - a giant press - that can exert 3 million pounds of force (either pushing or pulling).
The press, built in 1930 and standing more than four stories tall, is one of just three of its size and capacity operated in the United States. It is used to test an object's tension or compression.
"Somebody knew what they were doing when they built this thing," he said, noting the magnitude of the machine and its capabilities.
The press is used to test student-designed engineering structures and to calibrate all manner of weighing scales; it also is used, through contract, by companies seeking to meet National Institute of Standards and Technology certification (like testing the strength of a crane hook against national standards). Each year, Milner and his crew run a concrete-crushing exhibition for those attending the College of Engineering open house.
Shop personnel do much more than just break things, though; they also operate a fully equipped machine shop capable of manufacturing just about anything. The shop contains welding, milling and lathe equipment, as well as a wire electrical discharge machine.
The shop serves various campus departments as well as professors and graduate students working on research projects. For example, teams competing in an annual truss-building competition end up at the Talbot press to test failure loads and crown a winner; and campus researchers have used the press to compress miscanthus into fuel pellets.
"We support about anybody on campus who needs us," he said. "We can do anything and everything, though the majority of our customers are graduate students."
Milner said he enjoys working with students, who bring their designs to the shop to be created and tested.
"A lot of them are nervous when they first come in here," he said. "You learn how to deal with each student individually and just try to make everyone feel welcomed and relaxed. Sometimes the different names and languages can be a challenge, but the variety of students keeps it interesting."
Another thing Milner likes about working with students is that he and co-workers rarely make the same item twice. Milner calls it making things in "ones and twos."
"I like the ones and twos because I could be working on something one day and something entirely different the next," he said. "I think I'd be bored if I was making the same thing every day."
Milner has lived and worked trades jobs in the Danville area for most of his life. He was born in Bismark, Ill., and currently lives near Oakwood, Ill., with his wife, Stephanie. They have been married for 23 years and have two daughters, ages 17 and 23.
He came to the U. of I. in 2005 as a lab mechanic, was promoted in 2007 to senior lab mechanic and then advanced to an instrument maker position in 2009. He was promoted to shop supervisor overseeing two other employees in 2010.
Milner spent many of his formative years trying to decide what career he wanted to pursue. After high school, he enrolled in Danville Area Community College's industrial maintenance program, where he earned several welding and machine operation certificates as well as an industrial maintenance degree.
"I kind of fell into my career by accident, really," he said from his office inside Talbot Laboratory. "I had no clue what I wanted to do until I realized I had always liked working on cars and doing things with my hands."
The DACC classes - machining in particular - opened his eyes to the potential of what he could create with training, hard work and patience.
"It was a new experience and it made me realize how rewarding it is to create something useful from a chunk of steel," he said. "It really opened my eyes."
Off-work, Milner likes to fish and read - and, of course, make stuff.
"I still tinker around in the garage," he said. "I enjoy working and staying busy."