ILLumINatI April Edition

THE ILLumINatI

FOUNDERSDAYCELEBRATION

SWAMPWATERSCHEDULE2023

Friday, April 28

-Alumni invited to arrive

Snacks will be provided

Time: 3:00 - 7:00 pm, CT

Location: Chapter House, 112 E

Daniel Street, Champaign, IL

61820

-Brotherhood Game Night

Time: 8:00 pm, CT Location: Chapter House

Saturday, April 29 -Chapter Congress

Time: 10:00 am, CT Location: Zoom, register to receive link

-BBQ/ Cookout

Time: 1:00 pm, CT Location: Chapter House

-Live Music Begins

Time: 7:00 pm, CT

Enjoy 3 bands, a house band and a DJ with brothers to end the weekend.

Location: Chapter House

-DJ's to End the Night

Time: 11:00 pm - 2:00 am

Location: Chapter House

CHAPTERCONGRESS

Register for Chapter Congress to receive the zoom link using the QR code below or at https://qrco.de/bdni8H

PARKINGLOTRENOVATIONAND BASKETBALLCOURT

One of the last significant pieces of the overall house renovation, repaving the parking lot, will be completed this summer.

The paving had to be postponed last year, while we resolved a property rights issue with the City of Champaign An eight foot wide strip of the southern portion of the lot is legally a city alley, which we had used for 60 years without formal permission. For the city to approve site improvements, however, that needed to be resolved. Due to the presence of electric and sewer utilities in the strip, it needs to stay city property, but we completed legal licensing

After resolving the property issue, an engineering firm prepared construction drawings, which were then submitted to the city for review and approval. A number of aspects of our usage of the lot do not comply with current city ordinances, but the city worked with us and will continue to allow most of the non-compliance. The major exception is the sidewalk, which must be completely replaced to meet the minimum width required in the university zoning district. The parking area has been enlarged, by removing an old concrete foundation, tree, and grass area at the west end of the property. The design includes 27 parking spaces, a mandatory backing area, and space for dumpsters.

While the lot was being designed, the chapter asked if a basketball goal could be added Due to overhead electrical wires at the west end of the property, and the alley right-of-way and utilities along the south side, the goal will be on the north side of the lot and cars will be shuffled to use it The design includes most of an NCAA regulation half-court, including the lane and 3-point line The parking lot contractor will install a concrete foundation for the goal, as well as paint the pavement markings for the court. Brothers will assemble the goal after the parking lot construction is completed.

Construction bidding is in progress. Construction will start after the end of Spring semester, and be completed as quickly as possible

ASSURINGOURSECONDCENTURYILLINOISHOUSECAMPAIGNDONORS

$500,000+

Mark Tolliver ill70 Landuyt Family Fund

$100,000-$249,999

James Ashbrook ill63

Paula & William “Camel” Engelbrecht ill77

Christopher Rorvick ill96

$50,000 - $99,999

Ronald Swofford ill51

$25,000-$49,999

Pam & Keith Lewitzke ill76

Mark Pavlat ill79

Fred Chin ill73

Donald Harris ill78

Stephanie & Michael Chu ill86

$10,000-$24,999

Alison & Ward Hand ill92

Emily & Matt Groch ill94

Eric Han ill96

Andrew Lee ill12

$5,000-$9,999

Al Pope ill67

Edward Crylen ill70

James Connolly ill70

Paul Dees ill78

Jeffrey Rohrer ill80

Carl Johnson ill96

Kent Sims ill77

Robert Benziger ill61

$2,500-$4,999

Robert Hoffman ill68

Gary Thoman ill69

Craig Stiegemeier ill77

David Zielke ill71

Michael Justice ill76

Daniel Burg ill81

Matthew Frank ill11

Patrick Burke ill16

John Carron ill78

Tom Dalicandro ill92

$1,000-$2,499

Donald Benson ill59

Morris Westerhold ill65

Ed Cox ill66

John McHarry ill66

James Velander ill69

Mike Hoffman ill71

Kent Sims ill77

Thomas Taylor ill77

Bradley Hunt ill81

Patrick McGovern ill81

Stuart Kienlen ill95

Timothy Stabrawa ill99

Christopher Horvath ill08

Dylan Ladd ill12

Williams Laitar ill18

Alex Perez ill19

Aaron Girson

Kevin Moloney ill94

Richard Campbell ill61

$50-$999

C Philip Ross ill63

Theodore Takasaki ill77

Douglas Miles ill85

Richard Davey ill93

John Dubkiewicz ill78

Duglas Miles ill85

Richard Davey ill93

Don Garvey ill76

ne of the most significant projects I started this semester was an AI training and certification course here at the house While working on a personal project, I stumbled upon NVIDIA’s Deep Learn Institute (DLI), which offers free AI courses and certifications that can be put on resumes

I knew immediately that the brothers, especially those who are computer engineering or computer science majors, would appreciate such a course that offers instant gratification.

After taking a poll to see how many brothers would be interested in the course, I purchased the necessary components for the course and created a schedule for people to complete the course. As of March 1, 2023, there are 18 brothers enrolled in the course. One setback we are experiencing is that we only have one kit; this means that only one person can complete the course at a time. Currently, the training for all 18 brothers will take roughly the entire semester However, I am optimistic that once this program gains momentum and recognition, we will be able to expand and offer more courses to brothers.

In the Fall 2023 semester, we are going to try and push for more professional events during recruitment since they tend to be overlooked during recruitment The goal, for example, is to have a senior brother and alumni speakers and resume review sessions to help show how Triangle will be able to assist with careers past University

PRESIDENT UPDATE-

s springtime is about to begin and we at the Illinois active chapter of triangle are excited and prepared to have productive rest of the semester. As our rush has come to a close we have a strong 10 person spring class that ur rush director Luke Bermudez was able to bring in thanks to his and the active chapter’s hard work With ese new pledges as well as the newly initiated stuntmen class numbering 15 in total we have gained a total of 5 new members reaching our goal for this academic year. Overall, we have gained a lot of energized new embers that I expect to really add to the house culture and its development as we continue to grow our otherhood

ience, having been in both the old house and the new house the renovation has been such a blessing for ents, collaborating on schoolwork, and general living As we are continuing to improve and develop our pace has been an incredible catalyst We have begun fully equipping the makerspace with a wide variety of equipment such as: a SawStop table saw, a jointer-planer, a laser cutter, hand-held and CNC routers, a digital drill press, 3D Printers, microcontrollers, and soldering equipment, with much more planned. All of these new tools have allowed us to push ourselves to improve professionally as well as complete our school work, and personal projects

This semester we are pursuing a couple paths to foster our professionalism although they are in their infancy. I have high hopes for these ideas' ability to grow in the future and provide our brothers with many opportunities. The first avenue we are going down is pushing what we call seated projects These projects are valuable additions to the house ranging from building a new DJ booth for parties to our chapters website. These projects provide our members with new skills as well as practice in skills such as woodworking, programming, as well as website design to name a few. Our next avenue is through something we call the innovation lab The goal of innovation projects is to gather ideas from both actives and alumni in order to create and work on new technology in a team of brothers Although the innovation lab is still in its infancy, we have begun our first project As of February 21st we started working on a machine learning project to detect the fronts and backs of cars. This project has been a great opportunity to teach brothers about machine learning and AI. Finally, our newest project is a mentorship program in which we connect more experienced alumni with current actives in order to foster their professional growth as well as provide them with the ability to learn from senior engineers. The goal of this program is to have the Brother frequently check in with their mentor in order to provide them with guidance in multiple fields including school, work, investing, and possible other interests. I hope to be able to expand this program as time goes to a point where even after graduation, brothers who weren’t in the house at the same time are able to help each other live a successful life

As a final note, Swampwater is April 29th and we’d love to see as many alumni as possible there. Have a great rest of the semester and thank you to all the alumni who have helped around the house either through donations or time We as an active chapter appreciate all of the help you have given us and hope you can come down and check out the house at some point

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ILLINOISMAKERSPACERAMPSUP

Our new makerspace continues to ramp up with additional equipment and the start of regular on-site hours with Lowell Miller, who has joined us as our consultant and mentor

The grand opening of our new makerspace took place at homecoming 2022 and as they say, “now the real work starts”. That means we’re learning more all the time about what types of equipment we should acquire next, establishing safety and use rules and launching training sessions In his university job Lowell runs the fabrication shop for the architecture department which is a facility for student projects. He’s also an avid home craftsman so he’s a terrific addition to our team as a mentor and resource. He is on-site Thursday from 5-7 and Sunday from 1-3 for tool training, project advice and general knowledge

Since the first of the year we’ve prioritized completing the equipment provisioning for the wood shop, and placed the orders. We’ve received several items including a digital drill press and as the rest of the equipment arrives, we will be essentially complete. We’re also planning out the dust extractor system. Next up are the electronics and metal shop

We’ve established a first project stipend program which will fund up to $50 of specialized materials for initial projects While the projects so far have been for various house and chapter items, our goal with the project stipend is to encourage side projects, skills development and idea incubation.

The chapter is also working with Lowell to incorporate the makerspace into the chapter plan for professional development. The makerspace is a new idea and we’ll be learning as we go for some time But we’re pleased with the progress so far, and also pleased with the feedback about the positive effect the makerspace is having on new member recruitment. It’s tangible evidence of our commitment to add value to membership in Triangle and to establish Triangle as an innovator and leader in STEM professional development.