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NIU to host Destination ImagiNation April 13

April 10, 2013

DI_Logo_Full_Color_CMYK[1]For the second straight year, Northern Illinois University will host approximately 110 student teams from Illinois for the Illinois Destination ImagiNation Affiliate Tournament Finals on Saturday, April 13.

The top two teams in each age division of each challenge will qualify for the Global Finals Tournament, scheduled from Wednesday, May 22, to Saturday, May 25, 25 at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Registration begins at approximately 7:30 a.m. at LaTourette Hall, and will last until noon.  The competition’s events and activities scheduled include the following:

  1. Instant Challenge (Psychology-Computer Science Building)
  2. Challenge A: In the Zone (Gym B, Anderson Hall)
  3. Challenge B: Wind Visible (DuSable Hall Room 204)
  4. Challenge C: In Disguise (Studio A and B, Anderson Hall)
  5. Challenge D:  Change in Realitee (Cavan Auditorium, Gabel Hall Room 126)
  6. Challenge E: Twist-A-Rama (Check in Room 176 and performance in Room 140, DuSable Hall)
  7. Project Outreach:  Real to Reel (Wirtz Hall Room 101)

Recreational activities and NIU summer camp information will be available in Anderson Hall, Gym A, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Promod Vohra

Promod Vohra

Students from NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology will also offer short tours of engineering labs. Tours of the Engineering Building will run from noon to 3 p.m.  Students and families should enter through the west door, facing Garden Road.

“Opening our doors to the students and families who visit us on Saturday is incredibly important to us and to our role in the region,” says Promod Vohra, dean of the NIU College of Engineering and Engineering Technology. “It allows our visitors up close access to our state of the art facilities, where our students and faculty invent new solutions to everyday problems and conduct important research that changes lives. And most importantly, students can see STEM concepts come to life inside our walls.”

NIU STEM Outreach is scheduled to present a scaled-up version of one of its popular demonstration programs, It’s Not Magic, It’s Science: The Bigger Show, during the pre-awards show at 5 p.m. in the Convocation Center. Participants are invited to experience the awesome science behind some “magical” experiences.  For more information about NIU STEM Outreach, visit www.niu.edu/stem.

NIU STEM Outreach logo“We do lots of presentations, but this is the largest audience we’ve presented for,” says Pati Sievert, director of STEM Outreach. “We’ve also recruited 100 student volunteers that are going to help with this event, which is no small task.”

Destination ImagiNation merchandise will be available in the lobby of LaTourette Hall during registration from 7:30 a.m.- noon and beginning approximately at 4 p.m. at the Convocation Center, prior to the awards show.   The event concludes with the Illinois Affiliate Finals Award Ceremony, scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

Destination ImagiNation has been a participant in STEMFest since its inception, according to Sievert.  “We are grateful to partner with them on this important initiative. It’s a cool way to get kids involved in STEM, because it has such creative programs.”