By Danny Hughes ‘23

A short two-hour drive to Champaign, Illinois led me to a school with a top engineering program in the country. On the agenda was a 45-minute informational presentation and a 90-minute walking tour around the campus.

Every building on the tour was unique, especially the Talbot Lab, which contained The Southwark-Emery Universal Testing Machine, which is a two-story crushing machine that uses up to three million pounds of tension or compression power on any material tested.

Another fantastic building was the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building. The building contained a nanofabrication lab, an extremely clean lab where students research semiconductors and do lab work based on their major.

My group’s tour guide knew everything we asked her, and she was very helpful, especially when asking major specific questions. She also understood so much about internship opportunities since she has interned at three companies.

So much spirit was present in downtown Urbana. Every student was kind and welcoming. Students gave recommendations on places to eat or walk around.

All around, my UIUC visit was spectacular and is at the top of my list for colleges I want to attend.