News Bureau

Fall semester fair helps students find local employers.

UI students have access to some of the best professors in the country using the most current data and teaching techniques – but funding challenges have made campus classroom space the final educational frontier.

Chalk one up for the pedestrians after Illinois lawmakers last year changed the state’s crosswalk law, forcing motorists to stop – not just yield – if a walker has already entered a crosswalk.

Interactive art studio at University of Illinois teaches students coding, building circuits

Chinese culture and language camp promotes international outlook

University of Illinois students designed a seating area inspired by zen gardens for a major art and design show in Chicago last fall.

Illinois student Dexter Smith knew he wanted to study at the U. of I. since the eighth grade. But he needed financial help to stay at Illinois, and found it through some fellow classmates.

Attend a charity fundraiser on the University of Illinois campus, and you might hear one of the many student a cappella groups singing a classic song such as “Blue Skies.” Or you might hear a group at a student event performing a recent Rihanna hit, or singing a blend of Indian and American pop music at the chancellor’s pre-game party on a football Saturday.

Madeline Kull didn’t know much about sustainability initiatives before starting an internship at the Illinois Sustainability Technology Center, but found that the field fit her like a recycled glove.

Gardeners, cross-country runners (and skiers), stressed-out students, soccer players, bug enthusiasts, Japanese tea aficionados, bird watchers, architects and scientists of nearly every stripe find something of value at the UI Arboretum, a vibrant, 57-acre swath of green near the south end of the Urbana-Champaign campus.

Sport-focused RSO is a Slam Dunk

Murphy Lab Participant/Observer Program creates interdisciplinary learning environment

Teaching was part of the environment Mark Micale grew up in. His father taught high school history and economics. “There was a lot of talk in the household about schools and classes and students,” Micale said – though it didn’t prompt him, as he started college, to pursue a career in education. Two great college teachers did that.

The student who chooses English as a major should be prepared. Prepared for the questions, concerns and even mocking about the value of their degree.

Although the inscription on the base of the Alma Mater statue hasn’t changed, the statue’s location did Aug. 7 as workers lifted the 5-ton sculpture onto a truck and took it to Chicago for extensive conservation work.

Exercises set for May 14

The next industrial revolution has arrived at the Universityof Illinois, but it’s not happening on the side of Green Street that anyone familiar with the Urbana campus would expect. Located on the third floor of the Business Instructional Facility, the Illinois MakerLab is touted as the world’s first 3-D printing lab in a business school.

It was 6 a.m. and the campers were quietly preparing for the day. Suddenly, a voice called out from the camp manager’s tent.

“Girls? We’re going to have to wait. I can see a lion from my window.”

U. of I. students Alex Tran and Angela Annarino prefer to work in the dark. While their peers are studying, sleeping or unwinding at the end of a long day of class, Tran, from Chicago, Illinois, and Annarino, from Lamont, strap on their work vests and radios. It’s during the night when they are needed the most.

Have you ever been on the field at Memorial Stadium, standing next to the cheerleaders as they lead an “I-L-L” call-and-response during a football game? Or have you been onstage at Foellinger Great Hall at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts while world-class musicians play?

With the help of a new interdisciplinary project from students in advertising and computer science, those and a few other quintessential Illinois experiences are just a mouse click – and a pair of virtual reality goggles – away.

Milestones and relevant connections to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's 150th anniversary. 

Nurturing student entrepreneurs' startup ambitions

They show up in rubber boots and load their backpacks with gear: GPS units, latex gloves and data collection notebooks. The other equipment–calipers, syringes, scales and folding tables–will be used later when the students bring turtles here to their temporary laboratory alongside a park road.

When Pierce Hadley came to the University of Illinois, he wanted access to professors, a chance to do research in a lab, and a perspective on how his classes and research in bioengineering could relate to medicine. He found all of that when he became one of 12 students who are the first cohortof the Illinois Cancer Scholars Program, a new undergraduate training program launched in fall 2014 in the department of bioengineering.

Student groups offer camaraderie, opportunities to lead

Don’t be fooled by the name, the wildlife and chronic wasting disease research group has a broader mission than you might think. Yes, the research focuses on white-tailed deer, primarily, and on CWD, a baffliing affliction of deer and elk. But for the dozens of undergraduate students who have joined this collaborative effort over the years, the group also is a portal, of sorts, to wide-ranging adventures in research.

CubeSat students prepare for launch

Escape the room if you can, but the physics is inescapable.

Students, alumni share what shaped them most 

This summer, 10 undergraduate students performed research using advanced imaging and microscopy technologies through the Discoveries in Bioimaging Research Experience for Undergraduates.

Journeys that foster self-discovery are not always easy or pleasant – but can be empowering and liberating, says Elka Kazmierczak, a slender woman with short gray hair and sparkling brown eyes. She seems to vibrate with energy and purpose. At the first meeting of the semester for the Illini Art Therapy Association, Kazmierczak invites participants to take such a journey with her.

“Fabricating flexible electronics is my thing. I love it!” said Seung Yun “Simone” Heo, her enthusiasm evident even while speaking about the technical processes of metal vapor deposition and electron beam lithography. “We’re making everything from scratch. I can do it myself from step one. It’s not that hard to do, it’s more about time and effort.”

Last spring, a Cinderella team from the U. of I. clinched a berth in the Final Four of a major college tournament. But this unheralded group of undergraduates used pawns, bishops and queens – not basketballs – to work their tournament magic.

Amelia Lee wasn’t sure she wanted to attend the University of Illinois. As a serious oboist, her idea of college was an arts institution such as Oberlin Conservatory or the Manhattan School of Music. Her mother, however, wanted Lee to get a more well-rounded education, and with a top-10 ranked music school, the U. of I. suited them both.

If you visit a women’s volleyball practice you might be surprised to see one or two men on the court. There they are, playing against the women, spiking the ball over the net or jumping high to block a shot. These men are practice players, helping the women hone their skills. The men serve as hitters, blockers, motivators or whatever else the team needs.

Celebrating five generations of Illinois students

Screenwriter and Illinois alumnus David Magee wrote the script for "Mary Poppins Returns."