CEE Modernization for the 21st Century

Reimagining the home of civil and and environmental engineering

2035 and beyond

Over the last century, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has created a legacy of trail blazing innovation and preeminence through adversity. Nathan Newmark initiated an era of impact in the 1950s, building upon the department’s tradition of excellence, establishing a home for influential CEE giants like Ven Te Chow, Ralph Peck, and Fazlur Khan to thrive and inspire students who are now today’s pioneers and leaders across the globe.

In the last few decades, the department began its efforts to modernize the home of civil and environmental engineering, completing a historic campaign to bring the department facilities into the next century. In July 2011, the 20,500-square-foot M.T. Geoffrey Yeh Center opened its doors, adding state-of-the-art classrooms, meeting rooms and informal gathering space to the Civil Engineering Laboratory building. The project was funded entirely through private gifts.

In 2014, department launched a $12 million project to expand and modernize the Hydrosystems Laboratory. Construction began in 2019 and was completed in 2021 with the opening of the newly renovated Civil and Environmental Engineering Building, featuring more than 51,000 square feet of classroom, laboratory and collaboration space as well as the Kavita and Lalit Bahl Smart Bridge, connecting the building with the Yeh Center and Civil Engineering Laboratory building.

As we celebrate our department’s past and current success, it is imperative to look ahead to continue the tradition of pioneering innovation, and begin to write the next chapter of the department's legendary history to meet the demands of a changing world. It is our goal to usher in the next century of greatness, creating a new age of impact for CEE at Illinois; rethinking our facilities to meet the needs of the 21st century, reimagining the Civil Engineering Laboratory into an environment that fully integrates modern research and cutting-edge classroom capabilities with vibrant student spaces, creating a home for the next generation of CEE leaders to innovate, collaborate, and design solutions to address evolving global challenges.

Ways to Contribute

As solidified plans for renovation begin to take shape, there there will be many ways for alumni and friends of the department to make a contribution:

• naming opportunities for building, classrooms, labs, student spaces and meeting rooms 
• in-kind donations of equipment, materials or other assets 
• CEE priority fund contributions
• company gift-matching 
• ideas and input for the future vision of CEE

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