The Grainger College of Engineering
Electrical & Computer Engineering

Electronics Services Shop

Floor plan of ECEB First Floor highlighting location of Electronics Serviceis Shop in northwest cornerAbout the Shop

Location:
1041-1046 ECE Building
306 N. Wright St.
Urbana, IL 61801

Hours:
9:00 am to 4:30 pm M-F

Phone:
333-2173

Email:
ece-eshop@illinois.edu

Services:

  • Support of all the undergraduate teaching laboratories.
    • ECE 110
    • ECE 120
    • ECE 210
    • ECE 385
    • ECE 395
    • ECE 445
  • Maintenance and calibration of lab equipment.
  • Providing Electronic Components for ECE lab classes.
  • Surface-mount soldering assistance.
  • The staff is also available to answer electrical engineering questions.
  • Electronic repairs from other campus units, including custom cable fabrication and repairs, equipment repairs, PCB assembly, and prototype PCB milling.

In-House PCB Prototyping Guidelines:
Our in-house PCB milling service is ideal for simple prototype PCBs. It is not designed for complex circuits requiring high-density routing, fine-pitch components, or advanced manufacturing techniques.

If you would like us to mill a PCB for you, project files must be submitted in one of the following formats: KiCAD, EAGLE, CADSTAR, or EasyEDA.
Photo of the types of PCBs the shop is able to produce.
Types of PCBs the shop is able to produce.
Capabilities & Limitations:
  • Supports single-sided and two-sided PCBs only.
  • No solder-resist coating or silkscreening available.
  • No chemical through-hole plating is available.
  • Through-holes and vias can be reinforced using copper rivets (EasyContac system).
  • Four rivet sizes are available, with a maximum of 50 rivets per board.
  • Minimum trace width: 0.3mm (wider traces recommended for better reliability).
  • Minimum trace spacing: 0.3mm (larger spacing recommended where possible).
EasyContac Rivet-Style Through-Hole Plating System
When designing your PCB for use with the EasyContac system, please ensure that hole sizes and pad dimensions match the required specifications:

Rivet Size Internal Diameter External Diameter Required Hole Size Minimum Pad Size
0.6mm 0.6mm 0.8mm 0.9mm 1.4mm
0.8mm 0.8mm 1.0mm 1.1mm 1.7mm
1.0mm 1.0mm 1.4mm 1.5mm 2.5mm (Recommended for through-hole components)
1.2mm 1.2mm 1.6mm 1.7mm 2.7mm
Note: 1.0mm rivets are recommended for through-hole components to ensure secure connections and ease of assembly.
For any questions regarding PCB milling compatibility or file submission, please contact us before placing an order.


Manuals Library:
Find our manuals library in this Google sheet.

Staff

Margie Carter
she/her/hers
Laboratory Manager
Lilli Faye Green
she/her/hers
Electronics Technician II
Jordan Knight
he/him/his
Electronics Technician II
Jose Reyes
he/him/his
Electronics Technician
Casey J. Smith
Assistant Director Instructional Support

Parts for Projects

Image of the front of parts cases in the Electronics Services ShopThe ECE Electronics Services Shop provides electronic components for ECE laboratory student use.

Parts Request Procedure:

  1. Search our parts list for an approximation of our parts inventory.
  2. Come into the shop and let us know the part number and drawer.
  3. If we don't have what you need, try the ECE Supply Center.