Linggue Bu, a professor of mathematics education in the school of education poses for a portrait while using a tool to lift up a 3D printed model he designed Oct. 2, 2025 at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. Bu teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses. These courses help prepare future math teachers. He also teaches grad level courses in design, specifically instruction design. Bu uses 3D printers for most of the design courses, to help other teachers, and to work on projects in the Southern Illinois University STEM program.
Laird Avery, 65, leans down for a portrait while holding a paintbrush with red paint up to the camera lens, Nov. 14, 2025 in Carbondale, Illinois. Avery, a local artist originally from Creal Springs, Illinois. Avery attended through eighth grade before going to high school in Marion, Illinois. After he graduated, he married early and was primarily a fine artist with a safety net of graphic design. “I just fell in love with it, and to me, design is art and art is design,” Avery said. He went to school at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and was involved in the School of Technical Careers Information. He pursued a degree in graphic design, and after graduating from SIU, he moved to Houston, Texas.
Devon Ballinger, 23 peers through a bin full of dice Sept. 15, 2025 at Castle Perilous on the strip in Carbondale, Illinois. Ballinger has been working there for 5 years. "I hung around here long enough and they offered me a job." Ballinger said.
Paul Dunklin, a third year undergraduate majoring in music education poses for a portrait Oct. 13, 2025 at Shryock Auditorium in Carbondale, Illinois. Dunklin is a multi-instrumentalist who plays in multiple musical ensembles. For orchestra and jazz, he plays trombone, and for marching band, he plays trumpet. “In order for music to be so important and ingrained into younger students is because that they just have a sense of this like feeling…and they got to have something to just lift them up..sound wise and story wise…and just let them go through the spectrums of how they feel in life because you got to feel something. You can’t just feel nothing,” he said.
Savannah Ratliff, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering with a specialization in aerospace engineering and a minor in mathematics, is an essential part of the Saluki Formula team here at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. This team competes every year against other schools in a variety of competitions, testing the quality of the build of the car. Currently, she is the suspension lead designer for the Saluki Formula team on campus and is one of the only women on the team. She specifically designs and models the car suspension through different 3D modeling software and makes sure it's within the rules. "In Formula, I've always been seen as "one of them" since day one of freshman year; no one in that club looked at me differently because I'm a woman. It's always been 'you're here to learn? Awesome, let me teach you.' And I've always been treated the same as everyone else who has walked through the shop doors,” she said.