Working At CERL
10 May 2026
The Lab
The Construction Enginering Research Laboratory (CERL) sits on the north side of beautiful, sunny, wonderfully flat, Champaign, IL, a few miles away from the U of I campus.
We have labs spread across a couple buildings, an earthquake simulator, a robotics tent.
History
CERL opened shop in 1969. It started with two labs in the middle of a cornfield.
It’s relationship with UIUC was instrumental in its success. The Army strategically placed CERL next to an elite engineering University so it could enjoy a strong partnership exchanging resources: the two institutions could access each others’ labs, the university could share its graduate students, and the university could employ researchers from the lab as professors.
SMS-TCX
I work within the Sustaiment Management System Technical Center of Expertise (SMS-TCX). We are the DoW’s gold standard for real property asset management within the Department of War. BUILDER is a web-based software application our team developed for civil engineers and managers to help them decide how to maintain infrastructure. Along with BUILDER, the TCX has produced other software applications including RAILER, ROOFER, and PAVER. As of 2026, these are all being rapidly integrated into the new, all-encompassing Enterprise Sustainment Management System (E-SMS) web application.