The Grainger College of Engineering
Civil & Environmental Engineering

Evolving AI+CEE

AI + CEE WORKSHOP

 Building trust in AI:

Leveraging LLMs to streamline contract documentation and elevate CEE practice

 

May 14, 2026
Discovery Partners Institute | Chicago, IL

 

Registration

This hands-on workshop is designed to bring CEE professionals from basic AI usage to high-fidelity workflows. Using a "Break-to-Learn" model, participants will learn by doing, building complex assistants and intentionally breaking them to understand the boundaries of LLM and how to develop reliable AI outputs that can be trusted in high-consequence CEE projects.

Participants receive 6 PDHs and a certificate of completion.

REGISTRATION FEE: $1290

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: May 4, 2026

Early-bird discount available until April 1, 2026.

 

The Pilot’s Briefing

Technical Intro: Prompt Engineering for CEE Professionals

"Build Break Learn" Labs

Hands-on lab sessions apply "Build-Break-Learn" model, using rigged datasets designed to trigger specific AI failure modes. 

  • LAB 1: THE COMPLIANCE AUDITOR
    Building Compliance Matrices from Specs vs. Bids
    The Build: Ingest a technical spec and a bid spreadsheet to extract "Needle-in-a-Haystack" constraints.
  • LAB 2: THE EXPERT STRATEGIST
    RFP Synthesis & Persona-Based Reasoning
    The Build: Transform a raw RFQ into a technical proposal by "orchestrating" AI personas (e.g., Structural PE, Safety Officer, and Project Manager).

The Agentic Frontier

Lecture: Automating Workflows with AI Agents

HOW TO REGISTER:

Participants can register for the workshop online by May 4, 2026.

CONTINUING EDUCATION:

Participants receive up to 6 PDHs for attending the one-day short-course.

COST:

$1290 per person. Early Bird discount available until April 1, 2026. Group discount available for registrations of 4 or more.

Questions? Contact us

For questions about AI + CEE workshop registration or any of our AI graduate programs contact:

Meg C. Griffin, PE
Assistant Director for Graduate Programs
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
mgriffn@illinois.edu

Hadi Meidani

For questions about the AI + CEE courses and workshops, including more technical information on speakers and sessions, please contact:

Hadi Meidani
Associate Professor
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
meidani@illinois.edu

AI +
CEE 

AI evolving at Illinois

CEE at Illinois is continuing to design new, innovative programs that support the integration of AI into CEE practice, addressing AI’s rapid evolution and increasing impact across civil and environmental engineering. 

Graduate Programs

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Illinois currently offers coursework that provides graduate-level expertise in both AI and a technical domain in CEE. Students can choose to complete these courses as part of their MS track or as a Certificate.

Professional Development

In addition to our graduate coursework in both AI and a technical domain in CEE, the department is also excited to expanding is educational offerings through its new AI+CEE Short Course program. The ongoing program has included a one-day course exploring strategic AI implementation at all levels of practice, as well as a one-day technical workshop to for CEE professionals to streamline their workflows.

We need your feedback!

Please take this short survey so we can hear from you on how we can continue to evolve our programs to meet industry needs.

AI+CEE Survey