Visitor Guide

Visitor’s Information

In Case of an Emergency

All minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian!

Event Map

Buildings on the EOH map. See them on the campus map.

• 1. Beckman Institute
• 2. Coordinated Science Laboratory (CSL) Studio
• 3. Electrical and Computer Engineering Building (ECEB)
• 4. Coordinated Science Laboratory (CSL)
• 5. Hydrosystems Laboratory
• 6. National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)
• 7. Nick Holonyak Jr. Micro & Nanotechnology Laboratory
• 8. Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory
• 9. Siebel Center for Computer Science
• 10. Kenney Gym Annex
• 11. Digital Computer Laboratory (DCL)
• 12. Grainger Engineering Library
• 13. Grainger Loading Dock
• 14. Talbot Laboratory
• 15. Mechanical Engineering Laboratory (MEL)
• 16. Campus Instructional Facility (CIF)
• 17. Materials Science and Engineering Building (MSEB)
• 18. Transportation Building
• 19. Everitt Laboratory
• 20. Sidney Lu Mechanical Engineering Building (LuMEB)
• 21. Loomis Laboratory
• 22. Materials Research Laboratory (MRL)
• 23. Illini Union
• 24. Natural History Building
• 25. Engineering Hall
• 26. Graziano Plaza
• 27. Observatory

Parking and Shuttle Information

Special Events

• Keynote Speaker

  CIF Monumental Steps Friday 2:30 - 3:30 pm (Christina Ernst), Saturday 3-4 pm (Aadeel Akhtar), Saturday 5-5:30 pm (Joint) The two accomplished alumni of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Christina Ernst and Dr Aadeel Akhtar are one of the leading examples of how innovation in engineering can transform lives and expand creative boundaries. Christina Ernst is a senior software engineer at Google and the fashioneering content creator behind She Builds Robots (@shebuildsrobots). Her tech-fashion crossover work has been featured in CNN Style, Make: Magazine, Forbes, Entertainment Weekly, CBC, and Popular Science. Dr. Aadeel Akhtar, the founder and CEO of PSYONIC is on the forefront of redefining prosthetic technology. His innovations, such as the Ability Hand, combines neuroscience, robotics, and human-centered design to improve quality of life worldwide.

• Tesla Coil Concert

  Bardeen Quad Friday 8:30-9:30 pm Just as dark falls, visit the Bardeen Quad to see an electrifying display of light and sound.

• Build-a-Blinkie

  CIF 0035 Friday and Saturday 9 am-4 pm Build-a-Blinkie is an organization dedicated to the teaching of STEM. We are teaching people to solder one blinkie at a time. Come check out this interactive activity and take home your own soldered blinkie!

• ESTAR Tour

  ESTAR Booth outside CIF Friday and Saturday 10:30 am, 12 pm, and 1 pm Come learn more about the Grainger College of Engineering with a tour from an engineering student admissions representative (ESTAR)! One-hour tours depart from the Bardeen Quad at 10:30am, 12:00pm and 1:00pm. No registration necessary!

• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

  Newmark Civil Engineering Lab Friday and Saturday 9 am-4 pm ASCE will have a spin-the-wheel game with civil engineering trivia for visitors of all ages. Prizes will be available for winners. There will also be a concrete cornhole game.

• Build Your Own Terrarium / Make Your Own Soda Tab Buddy

  National History Building 2078 Friday 11 am - 1:30 pm Join us for two separate hands-on sustainability workshops: create a mini terrarium ecosystem in a jar to learn about natural cycles, or upcycle recycled soda can tabs into fun “tab buddies” to turn everyday waste into something reusable.

• Computer Science Games and Activities

  Thomas M. Siebel Center for Computer Science Friday and Saturday 9 am-4 pm Come explore all you can do with Computer Science and AI! Organized by Siebel School of Computing and Data Science, these two rooms will feature many interactive activities for all ages.

• Department of Climate, Meteorology, and Atmospheric Sciences

  Bardeen Quad Friday and Saturday 9 am-4 pm Have you ever wondered about tornadoes or how rainbows get their color? Are you looking for a college program to study weather or climate? Look no further than the Department of Climate, Meteorology, and Atmospheric Sciences! We will have interactive demos of weather phenomena, instruments that we use to study the weather, and weather balloon launches each day of EOH!

• GlideControl

  Digital Computer Laboratory Basement Friday and Saturday 10 am-4 pm See the amazing physics behind modern parachute control systems in GlideControl, and learn about the ways that they can be used like air sea rescue and air drop systems.

• Reimagining Cultivation & Agricultural Production Systems by Crop Sciences @ Illinois

  National Center for Supercomputing Applications Friday and Saturday 9 am-4 pm This exhibit explores how Crop Sciences is reimagining agricultural production systems by integrating plant biology, engineering, ecological design and the state-of-the-art computational and analytical technologies. Visitors will discover the remarkable natural diversity of crops such as soybean and maize through herbarium displays and visual demonstrations of plant architecture, seed traits, and growth habits. These biological differences shape how crops perform in different environments and production systems.

• Physics Van

  Loomis Laboratory 141 Friday and Saturday, Shows at 10:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 2:00 pm By performing and explaining exciting physics demonstrations, we show our audiences that science is fun and worthwhile for people who wonder about why the world acts the way it does. We challenge kids’ mental picture of what kind of people scientists are. We show them that as long as you want to learn and have fun, there’s a world of physics waiting to be discovered! The Physics Van travels to elementary schools in Champaign-Urbana, IL and towns in the surrounding area.

• Professor Panel

  CIF 2018 Friday 10 am-11 am The professor panel is an opportunity for current and prospective students to ask professors about their fields, how to get involved with research, and pursuing academia/graduate school.

• Workshops in Python, CAD, and Web Design

  TBD CAD: Engineering Hall 406B1 & 110A Friday 11 am-12 pm Python: Engineering Hall 406B1 & 110A Friday 12-1 pm Web Design: Engineering Hall 406B1 & 110A Friday 1-2 pm Join us for a workshops in Python, CAD, and Web Design at the Engineering Hall cj Watch two rockets race between the bridges every hour! We designed and built 2 model rockets, and will race them between the bridges while teaching about the processes used to build rockets and the motors that power them.

• Interactive Lego Design

  CIF 2039 Friday and Saturday 9:30 am-4 pm The Lego Design Lab is a place designed for students of all ages to engage in interactive lego building and coding. There will be 3 stations: Robot Maze, Machine Building, and Spider Obstacles.

• I’m Admitted!

  Welcome to Grainger College of Engineering: Congratulations to our admitted first-year and transfer engineering students! Start your Engineering Open House visit at the Campus Instructional Facility (CIF) to receive a limited-edition gift while supplies last. Join us for a Student Panel from 10 am-11 am in CIF Room 4025 to meet a Dean and connect with current students. On Friday, April 10, we will also have a College Resource Fair from 11 am-12 pm at the monumental steps on the 1st floor.

• Illini Pullers

  North Quad Friday and Saturday 9 am-4 pm The Illini Pullers are an engineering design RSO that builds quarter-scale pulling tractors.

• Keeping Our Rivers Green

  Boneyard Creek, Bardeen Quad Friday and Saturday: Every half hour starting 9:05 am from 9 am - 12 pm and 1 pm - 4 pm To keep our rivers green, we will be dyeing them green! We will inject a small amount of dye in our Boneyard Creek to learn how pollutants travel in rivers. With this knowledge we can avoid the risks that pollution brings to our rivers.

• LabEscape

  Digital Computing Lab 1262 Scan the QR code on the right to view times and sign up! A terrible tragedy threatens the entire world - quantum tech is our only hope. Are YOU up to the challenge of the world’s only science-based escape room??? The very latest chapter in the Prof. S. saga is Dark Matter Disaster. The year is 2058. Jupiter seemed like such a good idea at the time, until an unlikely accident sends it careening towards earth. Reservations required: https://labescape.org/eoh2026/

• Mom’s Weekend Design Competition

  Loomis 136 Saturday 11 am-2 pm Stop by with your mom or friends and compete in our design competition! Spend as long as you would like and show off your engineering intuition. You may bump into Christina Ernst (shebuildsrobots) here!

• Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications (HIDRA)

  Nuclear Radiation Laboratory Friday and Saturday, shows at 10-10:45 am, 11-11:45 am, 12-12:45 pm, 1-1:45 pm A one-of-a-kind research fusion reactor! The University’s own hybrid tokamak/stellarator fusion device! Sign up for a tour here: https://tinyurl.com/eohhidratour

• Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream

  Loomis Laboratory The Physics Van will be hosting live demos for Engineering Open House audience at Loomis Laboratory. After each show, members of the Physics Van will serve liquid nitrogen ice cream to guest while supplies last.

• NovoPrint 3D-Printing Robot Arm

  Sidney Lu Floor 1 Friday and Saturday, 9 am - 4 pm A 3D printed, 3D printing robotic arm

• Pacbot Competition

  Nick Holonyak Micro & Nanotechnology Laboratory Friday and Saturday 9 am-4 pm Pacman Robot Competition

• Robobrawl

  Design, Print, Destroy! (D.P.D.) Holonyak Micro & Nanotechnology Laboratory Friday and Saturday, 9 am - 4 pm; finals at 3:30-4 pm Battlebots but small! Come by and see some awesome matches as competitors fight their combat robots to win the gold!

• Rocket Races

  Bardeen Quad Friday and Saturday 9 am-4 pm every hour on the hour Watch two rockets race between the bridges every hour! We designed and built 2 model rockets, and will race them between the bridges while teaching about the processes used to build rockets and the motors that power them iSENS Lab, Siebel School of

• Satellite Sightseeing

  Bardeen Quad Friday and Saturday 9 am-4 pm Take an “Earth-selfie” from a weather satellite in space! ISSRC’s Satellite Sightseeing Exhibit interactively explores the concept of amateur satellite communication, and explores how even college students can receive and decode weather satellite imagery. Combining this with an interactive mobile antenna mount, we can sightsee the earth from many different angles!

• Shark Tank

  Transportation Building Friday and Saturday 9 am-4 pm every hour on the hour Dive into a fast-paced challenge where teams brainstorm pitch their innovative solutions to an engineering problem.

• Superhero Hospital

  Everitt Laboratory 1302 Friday and Saturday, 10-12 pm and 1-3 pm Visit the Superhero Hospital to learn how bioengineering can help heal our superheroes after they save the day! Check out all 5 of our activities and receive a special item at the end.

• The Icing on the Machine: A Rube Goldberg Story

  Sidney Lu Floor 1 Friday and Saturday 9 am-4 pm every 30 minutes Watch a bakery-themed chain reaction end with a delicious reveal! Step into a world of engineering confections! Our bakery-themed Rube Goldberg machine transforms pastries and coffee beans into a wonderfully clumsy chain reaction, all to accomplish one simple, sweet task: opening a box.

• Alumni Coffee Chats

  CIF 2018 Friday 2 pm - 4 pm Students can get to know alumni in a more personal setting! This is a great opportunity to ask alums about their time at the U of I, the industries they work in, and how students can plan their lives after college.

• Alumni Panel

  CIF 2018 Friday 11 am - 12 pm Come learn about different careers and projects from UIUC alumni!

• Chai Town

  Graziano Plaza Friday 11-11:45 am Come listen to UIUC’s famous South Asian acapella group!

• Face Painting

  Graziano Plaza Friday 10:30 am-3 pm, Saturday 10 am-12:30 pm Make your imagination reality just like our exhibitors by visiting our face painting booth!