Lab Expansion Offers Skill-Building Space
An extension of Illinois Tech’s Smart Tech Lab will serve students by providing workshops, lab space, and a headquarters for student organizations.
The new Lighting, Automation, and Cybersecurity Lab expands the capabilities of the Smart Tech Lab, allowing more students to hone their skills inside and outside of the classroom. The space is fully wired for remote and streaming capabilities to bring the lab to students, as well as a home for Illinois Tech’s CyberHawks cybersecurity competition team and Illinois Tech’s National Electrical Contractors’ Association student chapter.
During an introduction event on August 6, 2026, Haley Brittman (CIS 4th Year) and Jalan Tong (ITM 4th Year) were busy at work troubleshooting and networking servers in one of lab’s new workshops. The servers will host virtual machines where students can conduct research and hone their skills. Brittman was using her own method of pulling elements out of the servers and changing variables in hardware to get them running.
“I think that I have learned more by doing this than any class that I’ve taken,” Brittman says. “I don’t remember doing anything quite like this in my classes. I’m taking IT and making it come alive.”
Adds Tong, “You’re seeing what you’ve been working on with this job over the last three months, and what it’s going to become. It’s going to be a home to where students can connect to their virtual machines from anywhere.”
Between 500 and 600 students use the capabilities of the Smart Tech Lab each year. The expansion will allow access to more students as well as add capabilities for meeting and workshop space.
Dan Tomal, adjunct professor of industrial technology and management at Illinois Tech, says the space was in disarray before it was transformed into a working lab space. The ceiling was falling, and it showed signs of water damage.
It was cleaned up by students and faculty working together, as well as a donation from Frank Gurtz, president of Gurtz Electric Co.
Gurtz helped fund the original Smart Tech Lab, and he says when Tomal told him about expanding it, he was ready to help.
“Dan is a great asset for the school, and he does a great job of getting students prepared to work in the industry,” Gurtz says. “I was happy to help, and I thank Dan for allowing us to be a part of this.”
Photo: Dan Tomal, adjunct professor of industrial technology and management, tells the story of Illinois Tech’s new Lighting, Automation, and Cybersecurity Lab, which expands the capabilities of the Smart Tech Lab.
