Prof. Larry A. Fahnestock, NSEL Director
2129B Newmark Building | fhnstck@illinois.edu | (217) 265-0211
Professor Fahnestock is the Director of the Newmark Structural Engineering Laboratory (NSEL). Professor Fahnestock has been on the faculty of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois since 2006. From 1998 to 2000, he worked as a structural engineer for the architectural and engineering firm KlingStubbins, and he is a licensed professional engineer in California and Illinois. Fahnestock teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in behavior and design of steel structures and building systems. He has research interests in earthquake engineering, steel structures, seismic building design, connection behavior, bridge performance under service and extreme loading, progressive collapse mitigation and large-scale testing.
Dr. Jordan Ouellet, NSEL Principal Research Engineer
1141 Newmark Building | ouellet@illinois.edu | (217) 300-1860
Doctor Ouellet is a senior research engineer specializing in the testing of structures and construction materials. Dr. Ouellet developed testing experience in the industry performing quality control on construction sites, developing advanced materials for contractors, and inspecting concrete structures. He configures and operates servo-hydraulic load frames and full-scale systems up to 1 million pounds and has experience with the calibration and installation of various measuring instruments both in the field and in the laboratory. Dr. Ouellet takes an interest in teaching material science and testing through hands-on demonstrations, student competitions, and safe experimentation.
Prof. James W. Phillips, NSEL Metrologist
3051 Sidney Lu Building | jwp@illinois.edu | (217) 333-4388
Professor Phillips has conducted research in the area of biomechanics, publishing one of the first studies on the aging effect in silicone-gel breast implants. He developed a simple but effective load cell for measuring the axial force and twisting moment in wire ropes, such as those used in deep-shaft mines. He also used the then newly developed pulsed-ruby laser in a photoelastic analysis of mechanical pulse propagation in curved beams. Professor Phillips oversees testing on the 3-million-pound testing machine in Talbot Laboratory, as well as the machine’s calibration to standards set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Marc A. Killion, NSEL Machine Shop Supervisor
1137 Newmark Building | mkillion@illinois.edu | (217) 300-1719
Marc Killion has extensive experience in the design and planning of large-scale structural and material testing experiments. He oversees the maintenance of the facility, mechanical equipment, and servo-hydraulic systems.
Andy D. Weger, NSEL Research Technician
1137 Newmark Building | aweger@illinois.edu | (217) 300-1719
Andy D. Weger has extensive experience with the operation and maintenance of servo-hydraulic systems. He participates actively in the design of structural and material testing systems, as well as with the fabrication of custom testing fixtures for research. Mr. Weger received formal training in the configuration and tuning of MTS loading systems, for monotonic and dynamic testing on a wide range of materials.
Daniel Valentine, NSEL Instrument Maker
1137 Newmark Building | danielv@illinois.edu | (217) 300-1719
Daniel Valentine has over 30 years of experience in the machining and fabrication of precision and complex elements.
NSEL Outreach Specialist
3129 Newmark Building | marissam@illinois.edu | (217) 300-7594
Marissa Miller is the Office Manager for the Structures group in Civil and Environmental Engineering. She has been with the Structures group since joining the university in February 2018. As the lead administrator of the NSEL webpage, please do not hesitate to reach out to Marissa with any questions/comments.