Contact Information: Bruce Flachsbart                                                                     Director of  the Engineering Student Projects Laboratory                                                  Phone: (217) 778-7799                                                                                          Email: mems@illinois.edu

For Students to gain I-card access to the ESPL they will need to:

• Complete the Division of Research Safety (DRS) on-line training programs: General Laboratory Safety Training (~30 min) and Electrical Safety for Labs (~10 min). These can be found at: http://www.drs.illinois.edu/training/.
• Email the certificates demonstrating completion of these courses (in PDF format) using your Illinois.edu email to ESPL.records@gmail.com (you must put your RSO team name as the email subject).
• Pass a written test on ESPL policies, rules, and safety with a score of better than 90%. This test is given approximately three times during the semester and is arranged through the RSO team leader.

To facilitate the work of multi-disciplinary RSO’s (Registered Student Organizations) belonging to the College of Engineering that have been granted space by the Engineering Design Council.

The ESPL is important is because experiential learning in Engineering is critical to becoming a better engineer; besides, it is a lot of fun to reinforce classroom material by building amazing things that push your engineering knowledge to the limit!

 Illini EcoConcept Homepage

 Design Build Fly Homepage

iRobotics Homepage

iRobotics is a competition-oriented, student-lead college robotics club that not only competes in a variety of collegiate robotics competitions, but is also interested in spreading the word of science and technology to the community. Student leadership, organization, and time management are demonstrated in this club as we divide work and create schedules to finish projects on time. Mechanical, Electrical, and Software sub-teams each area work on their own tasks as well as communicating with the rest of the team. In addition, all club members are expected to participate in community outreach events, including mentoring, volunteering, judging, and demonstrating. This organization aims to be a well-represented group of students who not only wish to hone their own engineering skills, but also reach out to the local community as they spread their excitement for science and technology to society. For more information about iRobotics, please visit their hompage in the link above.

Current Sponsors: Horizon Hobby, Dow Chemical Co., Textron, Ford, Microsoft, AndyMark Inc., Shell, Ingersoll Machine Tools, AT&T

 Illini SAE Baja Homepage

The Illini SAE Baja team designs and builds an off-road vehicle on an annual basis for competition in the SAE Baja Collegiate Design Series. As a team, they are committed to maintaining the high standard of engineering excellence for which the University of Illinois is known. From design to fabrication, they incorporate the skills they have learned in class and the workplace with the aim to build the best car possible. For more information about the team and their car, please visit their homepage in the link above.

Current Sponsors: Blaz-Man Gear Inc., Bosch, Briggs & Stratton, VR3 Engineering, Caterpillar, Chrysler, John Deere, Ford, Fox, HBM, Mercedes-Benz, Precision Castparts Corp., Polaris, SAE International, Schurr Power Inc., SKF Group, South Fork, Wagner Machine Co.

Illini Motorsports Homepage

         The collegiate chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) at the University of Illinois aims to provide its members with numerous educational, professional, and social opportunities related to vehicular design. As part of this initiative, UIUC fields the Formula SAE team. Each year, Formula SAE teams are challenged by a fictional manufacturing company to design and develop a small formula-style racing car targeted at the nonprofessional weekend autocross enthusiast. Based on a predetermined set of templates and rules, teams must design the fastest, most effective racing machine possible while minimizing costs, maximizing reliability, and utilizing the latest technologies in racing today. Competitions are held annually in various places all over the world (Michigan, Nebraska, Australia, Brazil, Italy, Germany, etc.) where these design teams bring their car and compete against some of the best engineering students worldwide. For more information about this team and their car, please visit their homepage in the link above.

Current Sponsors: Ingersoll Machine Tools, 3M, General Plastics, Toray Group, Vector

Illini Formula Electric Homepage

This team was originally founded in 2009 as Illini Hybrid Racing with the goal to participate in the Formula Hybrid Racing competition. In 2012, however, the team switched from Illini Hybrid Racing to Illini Formula Electric, with a new aim to build a fully electric vehicle for the 2013 Formula Electric competition. They believed that an electric vehicle would be faster, lighter, and more efficient than their hybrid car, and that their efforts would pose a unique and challenging engineering opportunity for their members. The Illini Formula Electric continues to work towards improving their car and participating in the Formula SAE Electric competition. For more information about the team and their car, please visit their homepage in the link above.

Current Sponsors: SolidWorks, Calspan, Caterpillar