Welcome to the online home of the
Big Ten Network producers at Illinois

We hope you will find this a convenient way to watch and enjoy some of the archived programs produced at Illinois for the Big Ten Network. We also hope you will use it as portal for your feedback and ideas.

The Big Ten Network producers at Illinois are associated with both Public Affairs and the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. Our charge is to produce original, non-athletic programming that highlights the hard work, creativity, and life-changing collaborations that are the hallmarks of life at Illinois. We produce documentaries using the highest production standards. We believe that the work and people of Illinois, past and present, deserve to be recognized in a way that reflects their passion, creativity, and intelligence.

Upcoming premiere - July 28, 7 a.m. (CDT)

 

 

 

 

 

 

“A Brilliant Idea: Nick Holonyak and the LED”

Nick Holonyak Jr. is called the “Godfather” of the light emitting diode. His scientific career, spanning more than 50 years, has changed the world and is the subject of a program to premiere on BTN July 28 at 7 a.m. (CDT).

People interact with Holonyak’s inventions every day. The technology in visible LED’s, household dimmer switches, lasers that run CD and DVD players and fiber-optic communication networks can all be traced back to his laboratory at the University of Illinois.

Holonyak’s story is the American Dream. The son of an immigrant coal miner in southern Illinois, he was born in 1928. He left back breaking work on the Illinois Central Railroad to become the first in his family to seek higher education.

Holonyak, the John Bardeen Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics at Illinois, is still inventing and researching. His most recent invention, the “transistor laser” is the first device that simultaneously outputs electrical current and light.

Alison Davis Wood and Tim Hartin, producers of University of Illinois documentaries for BTN (formerly the Big Ten Network), tell Holonyak’s story, from the coal mines to international acclaim, through the eyes of the innovators to whom Holonyak has been a colleague and mentor.

“A Brilliant Idea: Nick Holonyak and the LED” will premiere on July 28 at 7 a.m. (CDT) and repeat Tuesday, August 2, at 4 p.m. (CDT)

For dates and times when Illinois campus programming is scheduled on the BTN, visit the Big Ten Network schedule page.