NIU Today

NIU graduate student Kevin Matesi will be honored in New York this month as the winner of the 2014 IBM Master the Mainframe contest. Matesi, of Wauconda, edged out nearly 4,900 competitors in the annual contest that challenges students to demonstrate their mainframe computer programming abilities. “I couldn’t believe it at first,” said Matesi, who...

Admit it: You’ve always wanted to be in a parade. You’ve wanted to be silly, dress up and decorate your dog. Or your bike. Or your best friend. Or yourself. Those opportunities, complete with the chance to show off your creative alter ego, will come Saturday, May 2, at the first Artigras celebration. Sponsored by...

Northern Illinois University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, together with the Department of Communication and NIU Forensics, is hosting students from 20 schools for the annual Illinois Intercollegiate Forensics Association State Tournament. Preliminary rounds start today, and the competition will continue through Saturday at locations in the Holmes Student Center and DuSable Hall. Awards...

At NIU, innovation is new knowledge put to new use. NIU’s Division of Research & Innovation Partnerships requests nominations to recognize NIU faculty, staff and students who have gone above and beyond in the area of innovation. This is the second year for the Innovation Certificate of Recognition Program, which acknowledges the contributions of individuals...

The NIU Department of Mathematical Sciences will host a regional mathematics competition from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at DuSable Hall. More than 450 students from 17 high schools will participate in the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics (ICTM) Regional High School Mathematics Contest. Individual and team competitions will be held in...

You know that crabby co-worker who gets bent out of shape over the slightest things? Could be that he or she just isn’t getting enough sleep. So say NIU psychology professor Larissa Barber and graduate student Christopher Budnick. They say results of a new study demonstrate that sleepiness causes workers to become more likely to...

Some big cities, particularly those located in hot and humid environments, actually birth more thunderstorms than surrounding rural areas, according to a new study led by Alex Haberlie, an NIU Ph.D. student in geogaphy. The conclusion is one of several fascinating findings from the first long-term, systematic assessment of the influence of urban land use...

Having just returned from a highly successful research expedition in Antarctica, NIU geologists Ross Powell and Reed Scherer appeared as guests during Tuesday evening’s broadcast of Chicago Tonight on WTTW11. The interview and a Q&A with the researchers is available online. Powell led a National Science Foundation-funded science team that became the first ever to...

Having just returned from a highly successful research expedition in Antarctica, NIU geologists Ross Powell and Reed Scherer will appear as guests during Tuesday’s 7 p.m. broadcast of Chicago Tonight on WTTW11. The scientists will be interviewed by popular host Phil Ponce. Powell led a National Science Foundation-funded science team that became the first ever...

Recent Pew Research Center surveys show stark differences between scientists and the general public on a range of science, engineering and technology issues, including global warming and evolution. NIU’s Daniel Gebo, a preeminent scientist and the “Illinois Professor of the Year,” weighs in on why those differences exist. See his view in the NIU Newsroom.

A new book by a Northern Illinois University professor sheds light on X-rays. Michel van Veenendaal, distinguished research professor in the NIU Department of Physics and physicist at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, is the author of the book titled, “Theory of Inelastic Scattering and Absorption of X-rays” (Cambridge University Press). “The book...

Using a specially designed hot-water drill to cleanly bore through a half mile of ice, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded team of researchers, led by NIU’s Ross Powell and including other faculty and students, has become the first ever to reach and investigate the “grounding zone” along the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, where ice, land...