Fall open house leaves UIUC students feeling like family

Ah, fall semester. It brings back those gorgeous autumn leaves to the quad, the hum of campus and let’s not forget . . . the students!

What a better way to celebrate a brand new semester than with a barbecue?

Illinois Center for Transportation did just that earlier in September with grill master David Lippert, ICT’s senior sustainability implementation engineer, firing up some delicious goodies. Imad Al-Qadi, ICT’s director and Bliss Professor of Engineering, even provided a warm welcome for those University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering students.

For master’s student Aravind Ramakrishnan, the annual fall open house is always a fun way to rub elbows with his classmates.

“This was helpful for me to know about the lab and students when I was a newbie at UIUC,” he said. “This event encourages me to interact with seniors, and it is useful to get along with your colleagues.”

As for doctoral student Qingqing Cao, the best part of the annual welcome-back event is simply sharing it with others.

“I feel we are getting closer and closer, like a family,” she said.

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And just like that, the fall semester is up and running. We’re wishing all of our hardworking students the best of luck in finishing strong this fall semester!