Our Projects

This project team is focused on encouraging student participation in secondhand shopping across campus, including furniture, clothing, and appliances. By bridging the gap between students and local community partners, the team aims to make sustainable purchasing more accessible, visible, and engaging. If you’re interested in promoting circular consumption and strengthening campus–community connections, this team offers a hands-on opportunity to drive meaningful environmental impact.

This new project team focuses on encouraging UIUC students to engage with more meaningful content that supports an enriching and productive student experience. By exploring how students discover, interact with, and consume mental health–related content, the team aims to promote well-being in ways that feel accessible and empowering. This is a great space for you if you’re passionate about fostering healthier digital habits and supporting student wellness through thoughtful design.

This new project team focuses on helping current and incoming UIUC students better understand their on- and off-campus housing options. The team aims to create clear, accessible resources that educate students on navigating housing decisions, from comparing options to understanding what to expect before signing a lease. If you’re interested in improving transparency and empowering students to make informed housing choices, this is a meaningful space to get involved.

This project team focuses on informing international students about the benefits of community service and creating pathways for them to get involved locally. By addressing barriers to awareness and participation, the team aims to make service opportunities more accessible, welcoming, and rewarding. Ultimately, our community service team aims to increase cross-cultural connection and strengthen ties between students and the surrounding community.

This project space focuses on improving the student transit experience in the Champaign-Urbana area by increasing rider satisfaction and understanding of local transportation systems. The team explores how education, communication, and system clarity can improve both user experience and overall efficiency. By addressing gaps in knowledge around transit use, this space aims to make transportation more accessible, intuitive, and equitable for the campus community.

This project team focuses on cultivating a culture of exploration and growth for Champaign-area high school students. The team aims to create resources and experiences that help students dream, explore, and discover career paths aligned with their values and interests. By strengthening connections between the university and local schools, this space empowers students to feel informed, inspired, and confident as they consider their futures.

This project team is developing IlliniSwap, a platform that enables UIUC students to buy, sell, and reuse everyday items such as clothing and school supplies. Grounded in research showing that students are interested in sustainability but often lack clear incentives or guidance, the team focuses on creating meaningful, long-term behavioral change. By helping students save money while educating them on their environmental impact, this project aims to make sustainable choices more accessible and actionable on campus.

CU started by exploring various challenges faced by the community around the campus. Now, the team is focusing on enhancing the university's outreach to local high schools.

ES engaged in research about current university and student sustainability habits and found that students have little incentive to be environmentally sustainable

In light of the upcoming election, this is a new project space for the Fall 2024 semester! There are many directions that project teams can explore, such as helping students become more politically aware or engaging with civic education initiatives. 

This project space is centered around transportation, such as the MTD bus system! Teams can explore various initiatives, such as making the bus system more efficient, improving accessibility, or developing innovative solutions for sustainable commuting.

In light of the upcoming election, this is a new project space for the Fall 2024 semester! There are many directions that project teams can explore, such as helping students become more politically aware or engaging with civic education initiatives. 

Student resources partnered with university housing to explore student employment. During this time they researched why students are drawn away from dining hall employment and what could be improved.

How might we target the lack of knowledge around opportunities for college students transitioning into adulthood so they can become as well experienced and informed of individuals as possible?

Transportation looked into current bus tracking services and designed a high fidelity prototype of a new bus tracking app

DFA National partnered with Discover Financial Services to investigate young adults’ perceptions, discourses, and knowledge regarding personal finance. The team developed a low-fidelity framework of an app to engage young adults in financial literacy using gamification. Topics of interest were determined based on the conducted interviews with students at UIUC.

The teams objective was to encourage exploration, fostering increased engagement between students and various locations/businesses. To address this challenge, the team devised a location-based scavenger hunt, guiding participants from one spot to the next with hints at each discovery.

DFA partnered with the Greater Champaign County AMBUCS Chapter. The AMBUCS team worked to solve organizational challenges to better empower the organization at succeeding in their mission of inspiring mobility.

DFA partnered with the Champaign County Forest Preserve District (CCFPD) to design an interactive online tool to make accessibility information for trails and parks more readily available for visitors with disabilities.