The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a Living Learning Laboratory where comprehensive infrastructure and diverse ecosystems provide significant opportunities for advanced testing. There is an evolving synergy between real-world applications and research on campus to improve the physical environment and educational foundation.

This Living Learning Laboratory is its own city with a population of more than 42,600 students and 10,000 faculty and staff. The nearly three square miles of main campus contains 320 buildings, all featuring wireless access. This living lab hosts data centers and the Blue Waters supercomputer (http://www.ncsa.illinois.edu/BlueWaters/), which produces one quadrillion operations per second. This lab features a wholly-owned utility enterprise with Abbott Power Plant, the Campus Chilled Water System, and distribution systems. The infrastructure is counter-balanced by the laboratory’s agricultural foundation 2,500 acres of farmland stocked with sheep, swine, and beef and dairy cattle.

What is a Living Learning Laboratory?

A Living Learning Laboratory is a multi-disciplinary, educationally based community where the four pillars of teaching, research, outreach/ public engagement, and economic development are fully integrated into the physical environment.

The Four Pillars

                Teaching

                Research

                Outreach/ Public Engagement

                Economic Development