Talbot Lab/Aerospace Engineering and Nuclear, Plasma, & Radiological Engineering (NPRE)

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Completed in 1930, Talbot Lab was named for Arthur Newell Talbot, an engineering professor who worked on reinforced concrete and trains. The building was expanded, a project completed in 2021, and is now home to Aerospace Engineering and the administrative offices of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering (NPRE). The redesign of the facility offers space for student projects and design teams preparing for future careers by gaining experience with cutting edge manufacturing.  

The Steve Nagel Missions Operation Center, named after an alumnus, former astronaut and pilot of the space shuttle, serves as a control room for satellite missions. There are design and lab areas to build small satellites and manufacture other design projects. 

 

Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering  

Visitors to NPRE are welcome in Talbot. The Nuclear Radiation Laboratory, located south of the Ceramics Building and north of the Sidney Lu Mechanical Engineering Building, is not open to the public. 

The Nuclear Radiation Laboratory is home to the Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications (HIDRA), used to study the way plasmas interact with the inside wall and materials of fusion devices.

NPRE is also in the process of leading a nationwide effort to build advanced research reactors on university campuses for educational and research purposes.

Historical Notes

• NPRE once housed a nuclear reactor named TRIGA, which was active on campus from 1960 to 1998.
• North and west of the Nuclear Radiation Laboratory is the now defunct Nuclear Engineering Lab. Built in 1931, the building was the original Geological Survey Lab.  

 

Aerospace Engineering Department Buildings

• Plasmatron X: Do you remember the Space Shuttle Columbia? It failed upon reentry in 2003 because of slight damage to the heat-shielding tiles. Aerospace engineers have a unique experimental facility to help ensure that never happens again. The Plasmatron X tests materials to assess how they respond to the extreme conditions of hypersonic flight. It is the largest inductively coupled plasma wind tunnel in the United States.

• Laboratory for Advanced Space Systems at Illinois: The Department of Aerospace Engineering has a laboratory devoted to space design and testing. For example, it has a clean room that provides a pristine environment to assemble and test spaceflight hardware. The lab juggles numerous projects simultaneously, such as the small satellite called CAPSat, which was deployed from the International Space Station.

  

  Photo Credit: Heather Coit

• Aerospace Flight/Drone Lab: A new flight lab is a mix of maker space and flight testing. It gives students a place to learn dynamics and controls and our faculty a place to advance their research in novel aircraft and autonomy.

• Aerodynamics Lab: The Aerodynamics Research Laboratory (ARL) houses subsonic wind tunnels utilized to conduct research in aerodynamics, propulsion, and fundamental studies in fluid mechanics. The facility includes advanced instrumentation and flow diagnostics to allow researchers unique insight into the experimental models and flow regimes that are investigated. In recent years, research activities have included studies in unsteady aerodynamics, airfoil icing effects, flow control, motorsports aerodynamics, wind turbine blades, distributed propulsion systems, plasma assisted combustion and turbojet bypass flows.

Photo Credit: Heather Coit

Email grainger-marcom@illinois.edu with questions or feedback.