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  1. ECE Net Zero Celebration

    Associated Project(s): 
    ECE Net-Zero Energy Building
    ECE LED Lighting
    ECE Rooftop Solar PVs
    Electrical and Computer Engineering Building: LEED Platinum

    https://ece.illinois.edu/about/calendar/eceb-anniversary 

    The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Building at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was certified as the university’s first zero-energy facility in January 2023. Join the ECE Department and The Grainger College of Engineering to celebrate this milestone on the path to building a more sustainable future. 


    When: Wednesday January 24, 2024 from 4 p.m.
    Where: Electrical & Computer Engineering Building Atrium, 306 N. Wright St, Urbana, IL 61801

     

  2. Weekly Update: Kid's Bike Giveaway, Busy in cold weather!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Happy New Year! Since my last email, we hosted our annual Kid’s Bike Giveaway. It was terrible weather with a steady cold rain, but we still gave away 70+ bikes in about 20 minutes. There was supposed news coverage with WCIA but I wasn’t able to track down the actual footage. Not an hour after we’d given away all the bikes, someone showed up with a couple kids bike donations. Already started on next year!

    The semester started last week, and we were surprisingly busy—even on Friday when it was a snowy mess out there, which meant it was a melting snowy mess in our workshop, too. A good problem to have.

    We’ll see how we fare this week with the freezing rain.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 21
    Sales: $283
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $170
    Memberships: 1 for $30
    Tube/tire: 1 for $4

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center

  4. Winners of the 2023 Reimagine our Future competition + Thank you!

    Associated Project(s): 
    ReImagine Our Future

    Below is an email sent by Leon Liebenberg thanking the participants of the 2023 ReImagine Our Future competition:

    Dear Participant, Specialist Advisor, Judge, and Organizing Team in the 2023 Reimagine our Future Competition,

     

    I would like to thank you for your participation in the 2023 Reimagine our Future Sustainability Competition for Undergraduates! Thank you for your participation in the 2023 Reimagine our Future Sustainability Competition for Undergraduates! You can read about this year’s winners here and view the winning fact sheets on the competition webpage.

     

    I appreciate the invaluable support of our volunteer advisors and judges! A special word of thanks to this year’s student assistants, Erin Kelley and Allie Garlin, who did a phenomenal job with countless administrative tasks. Allie Cruz, Shreyas Venkatarathinam, and Wondrous Jenkins provided additional support, with thanks.

    I am indebted to the competition co-founders, Professors Robert McKim and Warren Lavey, for providing superb direction and seemingly endless support. Our organizing committee was very fortunate to also benefit from the enthusiastic support of Codie Sterner, Coordinator of Student Sustainability and Advisor to the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC), and Claire Keating, the dynamic chairperson of the SSC. Professor Mike Yao (College of Media; Gies College of Business) agreed to mentor the top-three teams to help take their ideas further. The Office of the Associate Chancellor and Vice Provost for Global Affairs & Strategies (Prof. Reitu Mabokela), and the Center of Global Studies (Prof. Donna Tonini) again supported this year’s competition, as did the Siebel Center for Design (Rachel Switzky and Dr. Saad Shehab). Thank you to one and all!

     

    I look forward to your continued support in future competitions. In the meantime, I wish you and yours the very best over this festive period.

    Kind regards,
    Leon

  5. Weekly Update: Kids bike giveaway, Staff, Winter break

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, We’re down to a skeleton crew here as a lot of staff have departed for the semester. We’ll be fielding/repairing donations for the Kids Bike Giveaway this week, as a few last-minute folks have been reaching out thanks to mentions in E-week and the like. We’ll close after hours on Friday for the semester and reopen Tues, January 16th.

    Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all!

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 23

    Sales: $264
    Memberships: 4 for $120
    Tires/tubes: 7 for $40

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center

  7. Land & Water iCAP Team December 2023 Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Meadow at Orchard Downs
    Land and Water iCAP Team
    Crop Protection and Pest Management (CPPM)

    The Land & Water iCAP team met on Teams from 1-2 PM on Friday, December 1st. The team discussed the meadow at Orchard Downs, revising the iCAP Land & Water objectives, and the development of an IPM plan for non-F&S areas. Meeting minutes are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  8. Weekly Update: Thanksgiving break, Kids bike donation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Hope everyone had a good holiday break! Mine extended into Monday, so this is a day late.

    We got a few more kids bike donations come in the Friday before we closed for the break, so we are full steam ahead in soliciting donations and fixing them up. With the nippy weather we should have plenty of time to work on the donations we have so far and tackle some cleaning/organizing that always gets pushed to the slower and colder months. We’ll also continue to make progress on the barn bikes.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 24

    Sales: $476.50
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $180
    Memberships: 4 for $120
    Tires/tubes: 6 for $61

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center

  9. Invitation to Award Ceremony 2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    ReImagine Our Future

    Dear Friend of the Reimagine our Future sustainability competition,

     

    Thank you for your fantastic support for the 2023 Reimagine our Future competition as a participant, specialist advisor, judge, sponsor, media representative, or interested person. This year we had a record number of 243 participants and 44 submissions from 10 higher education institutions.

    The roughly 100 initial judges have reviewed the submissions, provided comments which will be sent to the teams, and selected 12 finalists. (The list of finalists is available below this message.) These teams or individuals will briefly present their projects during an award ceremony on Saturday Dec. 2, 2023, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (US Central Time). The winners of nine awards totaling US$7,000 will be announced after the presentations.  

    Professor Kelvin Droegemeier will be the guest speaker at this event. UIUC’s Student Sustainability Committee will conduct the ceremonies.

    You are cordially invited to join us in-person if you are in the vicinity of the UIUC. The ceremony will take place in Room 4031 of UIUC’s Campus Instructional Facility. We will serve refreshments from 10:45 a.m. and a light lunch after the ceremony.

    If you cannot join us in-person, you are invited to join the award ceremony via Zoom:

    Please be so kind to respond to this invitation by completing the following poll before Thursday Nov. 30 at 10 a.m. (US Central Time).

    Thank you again for your support. We look forward to thanking you on Dec. 2 and are confident that you will be impressed by the students’ outstanding projects.

     

    Yours sincerely,

    Leon Liebenberg (Teaching Professor, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, UIUC) 

    Warren Lavey (Adjunct Professor, College of Law, School of Earth, Society & Environment, and College of Medicine, UIUC) 

    Robert McKim (Emeritus Professor, Department of Religion, UIUC) 
    Codie Sterner (Coordinator, Student Sustainability Committee, UIUC) 

     

    (Reimagine Our Future co-founders and coordinating committee)

     

    FINALISTS IN THE 2023 REIMAGINE OUR FUTURE COMPETITION

    (In alphabetical order of the team leaders’ last names)

    Arshia Ajmera, Keerthana Nallamotu (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – Accessible screening for preeclampsia

    Muskaan Alimchandani (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – Vrddhi Sthan – A brighter future for Dharavi

    Brandon Baron, Whitney Fowler, Shito Ito, Ada Moy, Gwynne McGrady (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – Parking lot permaculture

    Karmyn Flesch, Nadia Wilson, Emily Rhodes, Gabriella Sanchez (University of Illinois, Springfield) – Zero food waste

    Amy Jurkowski, Matthew Nowlan, Liesl Schrag, Aiden Sup (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – Renewable energy-supported housing and opportunities for immigrants

    Iryna Maistrenko (International Humanitarian University, Ukraine) – Organization of organic farming during the war in Ukraine

    Margot O'Malley, Tom George, Jasper Nord (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – Grounds for nutrition

    Manan Sanghavi (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – Optimizing resource efficiency by digitizing receipt processes

    Jamie Scimeca, Xiang Fei Heah (University of Birmingham) – Light-water small modular reactor

    Advay Sudarshan, Patrick Harsono, Jesse Wei, Hugo Ji (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – Polyester upcycling and fiber composite furniture

    Hlib Vakumenko (Vienna University of Economics and Business) – Transform food waste into improved dietary nutrition

    Charles Wheeler, Lucas Baronello, Saharra Murphy, Caila Riggs, Michelle Check (University of Illinois, Springfield) – Farm to School: a shared investment for a healthier future

  10. Weekly Update: Kids bike giveaway, Cranksgiving

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Busy week on the sales floor as the weather warmed up and we sold a few bikes. Also, got a half dozen or so kids bikes repaired for the KBG event in December.

    Over the weekend the Bike Project held their Cranksgiving bike food drive. Riders were able to collect ~400 lbs of donations to Faith UMC Food Pantry!

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 43
    Sales: $1,173.75
    Bikes (refurb): 3 for $530
    Memberships: 7 for $210
    Tires/tubes: 26 for $229

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center

  11. iCAP Resilience Team Meeting 11-10-23

    Associated Project(s): 
    Resilience iCAP Team

    The iCAP Resilience Team Meeting met on November 10th, 2023 to discuss current project statuses, review the 2016 resilience commitment, and further discuss the mission and goals of the team.

    Meeting minutes, a supplemental slideshow, and recording is attached.

    Meeting recording: https://uofi.box.com/s/7xow5bqoe8zz0xk3qxyctdxi1duvg0mf

    Powerpoint: https://uofi.box.com/s/7ysynolap0ykpcaoxboxojaieispjn8a

    Attached Files: 

  15. Weekly Update: Cranksgiving, Halloween last week

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Halloween was last week, and we are still awash in candy and Halloween-themed cellophane.

    Weather bumped back up, too, and we had a wait for stands on Friday. As the mercury goes, so do we. Accordingly, Monday and Wednesday project to be busy. 

    Getting some bikes on the sales floor and tackling some organizational projects; will continue to do so this week. Will also tackle some more kids bikes as we ramp up production for that.

    This coming Saturday (11/11) the Bike Project is hosting Cranksgiving, a bicycle ride/food drive to collect donations for a local food pantry. I’ll mention it to my staff and patrons this week.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 43
    Sales: $484
    Memberships: 9 for $270
    Tires/tubes: 8 for $59

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center

  17. Land & Water iCAP Team November 2023 Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Meadow at Orchard Downs
    Cover Crops on South Farms
    Land and Water iCAP Team

    The Land & Water iCAP team met on Teams from 1-2 PM on Friday, November 3rd. The team discussed permeable pavers at State Farm Center, the meadow at Orchard Downs, cover crops on the South Farm, and the iCAP 2025 rewrite of the Land & Water chapter. Meeting minutes are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  18. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Made some headway on the abandoned bikes and already have six on the sales floor. We tabled at the Green Quad Day last week as well. This week I’ll work on tallying inventory--and the marketing/publicity—for the Kids Bike Giveaway as well as getting regular bikes up for sale.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 47
    Sales: $862
    Build-a-Bike: 1 for $40

    Memberships: 14 for $420

    Tire/tubes: 17 for $131

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center

  19. 70/80 building dashboards complete!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Dashboard Project

    Currently, 70 of the first 80 building dashboards are complete, which represents 92% of the University's energy consumption. Many of the dashboards are visible on building video displays for all building occupants to view. They continue to vet the data streams and will add more dashboards as they continue our efforts in the future. We contract Hawkeye Energy Solutions to develop and maintain the dashboards.

  20. Project Update - Meadow at Orchard Downs

    Associated Project(s): 
    Meadow at Orchard Downs

     

    This project is in progress, with the primary challenge being the insufficient number of participants to maintain the meadow. One proposed solution under consideration is to engage students through fieldwork.

    There is a prospect for collaboration between the iCAP Education and iCAP Land and Water teams to develop a course that would involve students in the maintenance of the meadow.

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