The UIUC Talkshow

Join Aaryaman and Juan David on a journey to Carbondale, Illinois, where they step inside Buckminster Fuller's iconic geodesic dome. In this special episode of The UIUC Talkshow, we have a conversation with Cornelius Crane, former president of RBF Dome, and the late Jon Davey, within the Fuller Dome itself. Buckminster Fuller was far more than just an architect and inventor - he was a boundles...

In this special episode of The UIUC Talkshow, Aaryaman gets a chance to sit down and have a conversation with a prominent businessman, philanthropist, and environmentalist, Mr. Firdos Cambatta, from India. From leading a pioneering role in the textile industry for the last five decades, Mr. Cambatta's journey is one of profound impact. Since retiring from his company, he has redirected his eff...

Robert J. Jones is the Chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 0:58 - What Drives Chancellor Jones? 2:28 - Becoming The Chancellor 5:04 - Mentors 8:30 - Student Hardships 13:11 - How UIUC Raised $2.7 Billion 19:29 - Is College Worth it? 26:45 - Should Colleges be Accountable for Student Debt? 29:10 - Is College about Getting a Job? 35:13 - Interdisci...

Karrie Karahalios is a Computer Science Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she conducts research on the impact of computer science on society, including areas like algorithmic auditing, community-centered computing, social media, and human-computer interaction. In a world often driven by haste and the urge to build for the sake of building, Dr. Karahalios stands out...

Timothy L. Killeen is the 20th president of the University of Illinois System, which includes universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield. EPISODE LINKS: https://ece.illinois.edu/about/directory/faculty/tkilleen OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 0:34 - Daily Schedule 2:28 - Physics 4:43 - From Soccer Player to President 6:37 - Surprises 10:50 - Affordability & College Debt 21:21 - Sa...

Mark Wolters is a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the creator of Wolters World, a popular travel YouTube channel with almost one million subscribers. EPISODE LINKS: Wolters World: ⁠ @woltersworld ⁠ Wolters World's Website: https://woltersworld.com/ Mark Wolters' Education YouTube: ⁠ @ProfessorWolters ⁠ Mark Wolters' UIUC Website: https://giesbusiness.ill...

Jenny Johnson is a Map Librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The story of this episode begins with Juan David stumbling upon the hidden treasure of the Main Library 4th Floor: The Map Library. From the moment our cohost met Jenny, he knew he had found someone truly remarkable. Jenny's love for maps transcends mere occupation; she is a maestro of storytelling, wielding ma...

Axel Hoffmann is a Professor of Material Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In this conversation, Dr. Hoffmann shares his upbringing in South Germany and his fascination with flying, providing a glimpse into his formative years. He reflects on his undergraduate life and his journey to the United States, emphasizing the role of luck in shaping his academic pa...

Tony Leggett is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. EPISODE LINKS: Tony Leggett's UIUC Website: https://physics.illinois.edu/people/directory/profile/aleggett OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 0:44 - The Daily Life of a Nobel Laureate 3:58 - What Would Tony Leggett Study in College Today? 7:18 - Consciousness 8:45 - Value People 10:50 - Superfluidity 1...

Martin Gruebele is a professor of Chemistry, Physics, and Computational Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Outside of academia, he is known as the "Honey Badger," a force to be reckoned with in the world of endurance sports, having completed and often won Iron Mans, Ultratriathlon World Championships, the World’s Toughest Bicycle Race, and the World’s Toughest Foo...

Gene Robinson is the Director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and Entomology professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research uses bees to understand the mechanisms governing social behavior.   In this episode, we dive into the exciting world of genomics and discuss the Earth BioGenome Project, which aims to sequence and catalog every genome on the...

Indranil Gupta is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he focuses on distributed systems. In this episode of the UIUC Talkshow, Dr. Gupta shares his experience as the host of the Immigrant Computer Scientists podcast, an exploration of the personal stories of distinguished Computer Scientists from academia and industry, who immigrated from their h...

Stephen Wolfram is sane in a way most people are crazy. In this episode of the UIUC Talkshow, we delve into the mind of one of the most brilliant and accomplished thinkers of our time, Stephen Wolfram. At the age of 15, he published his first scientific paper and received his Ph. D. in theoretical physics from Caltech by age 20. Wolfram is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, the company behin...

Adrienne Antonson is a Neuroscience and Animal Sciences professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she uses translational animal models to study the connections between inflammation, neurodevelopment, behavioral abnormalities, and mental health disorders. In this episode of the UIUC Talkshow, Dr. Antonson shares her experience of balancing her passions for art and science a...

Stephen Boppart is a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Boppart is an engineer, medical doctor, researcher, and entrepreneur.  In this episode of The UIUC Talkshow, Dr. Stephen Boppart discusses his work in photonics and biophotonics, and the potential for quantum mechanics to play a role in biology.  Dr. Boppart also talks about his experience surviving can...

Botond Bognar is a professor of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he has been teaching graduate design, lecture, and seminar courses for over 40 years. Born and educated in Budapest, Hungary, Dr. Bognar is an internationally renowned scholar of the history and theories of Japanese architecture. He is the author of over 20 books and monographs on the subject and...

Arend van der Zande is a Mechanical Engineering professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he focuses on nanomaterials research.  Dr. van der Zande is known for his work on nanomaterials research, and in this conversation, he will share his insights on the field and his unique approach to research. As a professor and human being, Arend is driven by curiosity and a desir...

Bruce Berndt is a Mathematics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who spent more than 40 years finding the proofs of Ramanujan's Notebooks. According to Academic Influence, Dr. Bernt is the 5th most influential mathematician. In this conversation, we talk to Dr. Berndt to find out how Ramanujan found him and how Dr. Berndt found Ramanujan. Srinivasa Ramanujan (aka The Man W...

Gary Swenson is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Over his career, Gary Swenson has followed a philosophy of working on problems others aren't working on, where he's applied a systems engineering approach to solving remote sensing problems.  In a series of fortunate events, Dr. Swenson ended up working at NASA, where he experienced the institution's...

Yash Rathod is a Computer Science student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The purpose of the UIUC Talkshow has been to meet interesting people, and we would not have met Yash if we hadn't started this project. We accomplish our mission every time we meet people like Yash and on every episode we have. Yash is a striking individual who radiates a sense of soothing ambition. He sha...

Neal Davis is a Computer Science Professor at UIUC and Urbit's director of developer experience. Since we started the UIUC Talkshow, we've said the show is about people who are sane in a way most people are crazy. Neal Davis is exactly one of them. It’s not surprise he believes we need to be weirder.   He started as a nuclear engineer but throughout his life, he's reflected on the definition...

Paul Kwiat is a Quantum Physics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he focuses on quantum information. We all know there are people who are passionate about what they do but Dr. Kwiat is a "Summer Sunday Late-Night" level of passionate. We met Dr. Kwiat during LabEscape, the science-based escape room he created. During the summer, we were walking by the Physics Buildi...

Samuel Steiner is a Venezuelan civil engineering student from Maracaibo, Venezuela. We emphasize where Samuel is from twice because of his true unconditional and unmatched love for his country.  This sentiment isn't just shallow nationalism. Rather it is a conviction that drives Samuel to a great length to become a civil engineer to rebuild Venezuela's broken infrastructure and become a stude...

Savannah Pagan considers herself a multipotentialist who brings together the art of engineering and the simplicity of design. As a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she has experienced the pressures of the college system from the tyranny of majors to the facade of learning.   We explore the question: "Are Multipotentialists Allowed at all?" A question that led us to e...

Jesse Ekanya is a civil engineering student who was born in the United States but moved to Uganda at an early age. He lived there until 2020 when he moved to States to study civil engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Jesse is an interesting character who blends intelligence, popular culture, wit, and a love for building things. He wants to become a civil engineer wo...