Funding Priorities

Student support is one of the most powerful ways to strengthen ISE. Your generosity removes financial barriers, expands hands-on learning opportunities and empowers talented students to pursue their ambitions with confidence. Fellowships, scholarships and experiential programs open doors for future engineers who will shape advances in health care, transportation, energy, manufacturing, AI and more. Your support ensures that outstanding students can choose Illinois, thrive here and lead everywhere.

Opportunities:

• • Engineering Visionary Scholarship (EVS): The ISE Engineering Visionary Scholarship Fund makes an Illinois education accessible to exceptional undergraduate students from a wide range of backgrounds. These significant, renewable awards help reduce financial pressure and give talented students the runway they need to pursue bold ideas and realize their potential. EVS also brings together a generous community of alumni donors who support a cohort of outstanding ISE students, creating meaningful opportunities for connection throughout their time at Illinois and beyond.
  • Graduate Fellowships: Fellowships play a vital role in attracting the most exceptional graduate students to ISE. As we compete with other top institutions, these awards strengthen our ability to recruit emerging scholars who will become the next generation of faculty, researchers and industry leaders. Fellowships offer essential financial support as well as prestige and recognition that elevate a student’s academic trajectory.
  • Named Fellowships and Scholarships: Named fellowships and scholarships help ensure that cost is never a barrier to potential. These awards open doors for talented individuals who may not otherwise have access to an Illinois education. By supporting a named scholarship or fellowship, donors directly strengthen our ability to bring exceptional students into the ISE community and support their success.

To provide the best environment for learning and research, ISE is committed to enhancing its physical spaces and offering top-tier instructional and research facilities. Exceptional facilities support the recruitment of outstanding students and faculty, enable world-class discovery and elevate the educational experience. As we work to restore our landmark Transportation Building, expand our footprint across the Illinois campus, and create spaces for enhanced experiential learning, we are focused on strengthening ISE's infrastructure to meet the needs of today's students and researchers.

Opportunities: Laboratories, classrooms, lecture halls, reception areas and the department itself are all meaningful naming opportunities. These investments modernize the spaces where students learn, collaborate and innovate while providing lasting recognition for donors who shape ISE’s future.

• • Named Department: A named department endowment fund provides impact in multiple areas. The support will lead to building improvements, faculty enhancements, and student support.
  • Laboratories: Hands-on laboratories give ISE students the chance to apply engineering principles to real-world challenges. To prepare students for the complexity of modern industry, we aim to build labs that simulate real environments and encourage students to push the boundaries of what they can achieve.
  • Student Collaborative Spaces: Quiet, comfortable and well-equipped learning spaces enrich the educational experience for ISE students. Naming classrooms, lecture halls, studios, and shared spaces is a meaningful way to support the department while directly improving the places where students study, collaborate and grow.

World-class faculty are essential to the strength and future of ISE. To attract and retain top scholars, the department must remain competitive with peer institutions that offer not only strong salaries but also critical startup funding. ISE is a leader in engineering innovation and global impact and investing in faculty excellence is vital to our continued success.

Opportunities:

• • Faculty Chairs: A named chair provides distinguished faculty members with the resources to conduct pioneering research and bring new ideas into the classroom. These positions represent one of the highest honors for a professor and are a powerful tool for attracting and recognizing scholars of exceptional distinction.
  • Named Professorships: Endowed professorships allow ISE to recruit and retain leading academic talent. These prestigious positions support accomplished scholars as they advance knowledge and mentor the engineers of the future.
  • Faculty Scholars: Faculty Scholar awards support rising faculty early in their careers, giving them the flexibility to deepen their expertise in the classroom and pursue ambitious research directions.
  • Faculty Startups: Startup support gives new faculty the resources to begin their work immediately by engaging students, launching research groups and establishing a strong academic presence. Startup packages often fund lab equipment, computing resources, workspace and graduate assistants.

The ISE Unrestricted Fund directly enhances the student experience and allows the department to address the most immediate and critical needs. Annual support plays an essential role in sustaining daily operations and enabling faculty and students to continue their work.

These flexible resources support the everyday costs of educating students and strengthen the department’s ability to innovate and adapt. Your annual gift, at any level, has a meaningful impact on our rankings, our momentum and our capacity to meet emerging needs. 

Opportunities:

• • Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program
  • Infrastructure improvements and renovations
  • Student travel and conference participation
  • Student engagement and experiential learning
  • Department operations
  • Engineer in Residence Program