The Grainger Foundation Annual Impact Report
The Grainger College of Engineering 2023 academic year is best described in one word – advancement. Our year culminated in several record-breaking achievements – the largest number of faculty hired in one year, the largest first-year class in our history and moving up two spots to #5 as the best undergraduate engineering program in the country.
We also continued to strengthen our presence in Chicago. Grainger Engineering is the University of Illinois’ pipeline propelling the Windy City into the fastest growing tech hub in the U.S. and around the globe. With an expanding presence in the Chicago region, the college will incubate more tech companies; raise more venture capital; attract, teach and retain outstanding talent; and make world-changing discoveries.
As innovative leaders and problem solvers, Grainger Engineers are building tomorrow’s world today. With top-ranking programs and record new research centers, including the Amazon-Illinois Center on AI, Grainger Engineers are leading the AI revolution and advancing AI across the entire spectrum – from foundations to applications. Read more about AI and additional advancements, including the launch of the world’s first publicly available, permanent, and interactive quantum network in the fall 2023 edition of Limitless.
With the generous support of the Grainger Foundation, Grainger Engineering creates powerful opportunities, pursues endless possibilities and builds brighter futures for all. We are committed to solving the most significant challenges facing our planet, people and societies.
We strive for the greatest impact,
not for the glory, but for the good.
#5
Overall undergraduate program
#11
Overall graduate program
38
Top 10 programs and specialties
2,047
first-year students, largest class in history
+17K
Grainger Engineering students
Your Gifts in Action
Your support to The Grainger College of Engineering allows us to strategically invest in our ability to improve our college rankings, research enterprise and materials, and most importantly, our people. Your investment helps us plan for the future, continues our legacy of excellence in engineering education and allows us to remain competitive.
World-class facilities, innovative research and design
The Grainger Foundation support of the physical campus creates collaborative spaces for hands-on, courageous research, adaptive teaching and transformative discovery. Grainger Engineering’s state-of-the-art facilities inspire students to imagine infinite possibilities and compete on a global stage.
Feasibility study completed for Engineering Student Team Center
Grainger Engineering completed a feasibility study for an Engineering Student Team Center - a world-class facility where students from across the university can safely innovate, collaborate and prepare to compete on a national and international stage.
More than 1,500 students from across the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus participate in 20 engineering student design competition teams, including the award-winning Illini Solar Car and Eco Illini Supermileage teams and Illini Electric Motorsports, the top Formula Society of Automotive Engineers team in the country. The competitions offer an opportunity to showcase creativity, engineering ability and project management skills, plus an environment for building and maintaining strong corporate connections.
While Illini teams have been highly successful, creating a centralized facility where students learn and work will give teams access to high-quality, industry-standard tools, improve efficiency and safety, and ultimately, harness the full potential of the individuals and the teams.
Bricks and mortar, capital project updates
The recent three-story addition to Talbot Lab created new educational spaces and hands-on instructional labs to support both the Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering (NPRE) and the Department of Aerospace Engineering.
As part of the project, this year, NPRE renovated administrative and graduate student space. Currently in progress is a renovation of a lab on the second floor of the Everitt Bioengineering building training the next generation of healthcare innovators and leaders.
Learn more about the construction projects supporting Grainger Engineering’s fearless and rigorous approach to teaching and research.
Engineering Visionary Scholarships
Since their inception in 2012, Engineering Visionary Scholarships (EVS) have created powerful opportunities for almost 4,000 Grainger Engineers. The scholarship fund creates an environment where our high-achieving and determined learners, regardless of their socioeconomic background, have access to a learning environment where they can innovate, collaborate and change the world. As a champion of this initiative, The Grainger Foundation has made it possible to distribute more scholarships with enhanced regularity and flexibility.
438
total EVS scholarship recipients in AY23-24
underrepresented population
48%
female
28%
first generation
The Grainger Foundation’s support of EVS inspires alumni and friends to also contribute to scholarships that continue to transform students’ lives long into the future.
110
EVS endowed funds
$75M
total market value
$2.8M
total endowment income
Engineering Visionary Scholars
Yazmin Martinez
“Because of this scholarship, I have been able to give back to my community as a mentor to the incoming class of freshmen who are pursuing engineering. Mentoring has been an invaluable experience as I have learned how to encourage and push students to keep following a path in engineering.”
Alexander Xie
“This scholarship not only eases my financial responsibilities but also motivates me academically. It opens doors for me to explore enriching opportunities, such as student organizations, participating in community enrichment programs such as the Engineering Career Services, and actively volunteering in the community.”
Kayleigh Excell
“With this scholarship, I'm able to focus on my studies and research. I've been conducting research through the generosity of donors since freshman year. Over the summer, I conducted full-time research in astrophysics. My research was in near-Earth supernovae, and I look forward to the fact that soon it will be submitted to an academic journal.”
Grainger Chairs and Founder Professors from 2022-2023
The following 11 outstanding Grainger Engineering faculty members were invested in academic years 2022 and 2023.
Grainger Engineering Highlights
Day of Gratitude
Grainger Engineering celebrated its fourth Day of Gratitude on Thursday, September 21, 2023. The Day of Gratitude celebrates the naming of the college, the legacy of The Grainger Foundation, and how philanthropy shapes Grainger Engineering's innovation and excellence.
On campus, students participated in two activities to learn more about philanthropy at Grainger Engineering. One activity involved answering questions about The Grainger Foundation’s support and the impact of philanthropy on the student experience. Students learned the importance of alumni and donor support and the history behind the naming of The Grainger College of Engineering.
The second activity was a photo booth and opportunity for students to connect their favorite things about being Grainger Engineers with philanthropy and support from The Grainger Foundation.
More than 120 students representing each academic department and class year participated in this year’s celebration.
Alumni were encouraged to participate virtually in the Day of Gratitude in the following ways:
- Building better futures by contributions to the Grainger Engineering Priority Fund
- Changing the world by volunteering time and talents
- Connecting digitally by engaging on social media and subscribing to the alumni e-newletter
TECH GIANTS TALK
THE TRANSISTOR TURNS 75
Nobel prize winner and former professor of physics and electrical engineering at Illinois, John Bardeen, developed the transistor 75 years ago. Grainger Engineers have since remained at the forefront of technical advances in microelectronics ever since.
In March, a distinguished panel of industry leaders from IBM, Intel and NVIDIA commemorated the world-changing impact of the transistor, Grainger Engineering’s legacy in microelectronics and semiconductors, and the industry's future, including the production of intelligence and development of the future workforce.
Supporting transportation infrastructure research
United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin showed their support for advancing transportation infrastructure through research and education. The July campus visit centered around the Transportation Infrastructure Precast Innovation Center (TRANS-IPIC).
Supported by a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the multi-institutional collaborative initiative seeks to improve the durability and extend the life of transportation infrastructure by advancing the technologies.
Blurring boundaries to shape the future
During a September campus visit, United States Senator Tammy Duckworth encouraged students to “blur their boundaries” to shape innovation. Duckworth’s comments came during a panel discussion about Illinois as a leader in emerging technologies and the concept of technological advancement called “Beyond Silicon.”
"Don't think of a specific area as 'my area,' Duckworth told students. "I believe that if you allow yourself the opportunity to follow your own interest wherever it leads you, that space is where you will be the most productive."
NSF Funds IDEA Institute, promotes systemic change
An NSF grant is funding the creation of a center designed to foster equitable and inclusive teaching and learning environments for engineering students. The UIUC Institute for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA), in collaboration with Morgan State University (MSU), a historically Black college/university (HBCU) in Baltimore, will create the Developing Equity-Minded Engineering Practitioners (DEEP) center.
The DEEP center will serve as a hub for developing faculty advocates. The strategic emphasis will be on fixing the system rather than the student. In addition, the collaboration between UIUC and MSU will serve as a new model for educational collaborations, especially between predominantly white institutions, HBCUs and minority-serving institutions.