U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)

A unique partnership exists between the University of Illinois and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in the form of the Technical Assistance Center (TAC). In the mid-1960s, the USACE determined that to successfully meet the challenge of its huge and increasingly complex construction program, a new research laboratory was required. The National Academy of Sciences recommended in 1968 that the Corps establish a lab dedicated to this mission and further advised co-locating this facility with a major academic institution having a strong engineering college. After judging proposals from 20 major universities, the Army chose the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as the location for the new Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL). The lab was dedicated July 25, 1969.

In 1986, the Federal Technology Transfer Act was passed. Among other things, this law created a charter for the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC). The Consortium is responsible for a variety of activities, including training courses, providing advice and assistance for technology transfer programs, and functions as a clearinghouse for technical assistance.

As a member institution of this Consortium, part of CERL’s mission is to facilitate the movement of federal lab research results and technologies into the national economy.

CERL