NIU Today

University officials are working to organize a two-week “celebration of excellence” to highlight accomplishments of NIU students, faculty and staff during the academic year. “Each spring, we do a good job of honoring the accomplishments of the campus community, but those events are scattered across several weeks and each promoted individually,” said Julia Spears, director...

Northern Illinois University announced its fall 2012 new freshman enrollment is up 2.9 percent to 2,664 following the first 10 days of classes, according to NIU’s Office of Institutional Research. The strength of the university’s incoming freshman class is reflected not only in its numbers, but also grade point average and class rank. The percentage...

Two groups of NIU College of Engineering and Engineering Technology students partnered with Rich Harvest Farms as part of their senior design project. The task at hand: come up with a solution for the elite Sugar Grove golf course’s underground bunker rake system. Rich Harvest Farms is one of the few golf courses that utilize...

Friday marks the inaugural session of the PI Academy for Research and Engagement, a new program funded under the Great Journeys Strategic Plan. The PI Academy is a year-long program that provides a select number of junior faculty members with in-depth professional development opportunities in the areas of research – how one becomes a successful...

Executive Vice President and Provost Ray Alden has issued the 2012-2013 call for nominations for the Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees Professorships. The professorships were established in 2007 by President John G. Peters and the Board of Trustees to recognize those tenured professors who: have achieved a consistent record of excellence in teaching, scholarship...

Theodore Hogan, a professor of technology in the NIU College of Engineering & Engineering Technology, recently contributed a chapter to the sixth edition of a textbook titled “Fundamentals of Industrial Hygiene.” Hogan has taught many courses on industrial hygiene; the editor of this textbook, Barbara Plog, was one of his first students in 1980. He...

You might have heard that spider’s silk is one of the strongest materials in the natural world, but did you know that scientists are working to develop genetically-engineered goats that can produce a spider-like silk in their milk? That’s just one of the weird and fascinating things happening in the world of materials science, a...

Abul Azad, a professor in the NIU Department of Technology, recently published a book titled “Internet Accessible Remote Laboratories: Scalable E-Learning Tools for Engineering and Science Disciplines.” The book is the result of collaboration between three academics from NIU and MIT, as well as Carinthia University of Applied Sciences in Austria. The book has five...

On the topic of computers, artificial intelligence and robots, Northern Illinois University Professor David Gunkel says science fiction is fast becoming “science fact.” Fictional depictions of artificial intelligence have run the gamut from the loyal Robot in “Lost in Space” to the killer computer HAL in “2001: A Space Odyssey” and the endearing C-3PO and...

Are you looking for the major or minor that is right for you? Do you already have a major but want to find out about other academic opportunities available to you? Did you know that NIU has more than 50 majors and nearly 60 minors, as well as a myriad of other academic opportunities? Come...

Members of the so-called “thumb generation” are known for their skills with digital devices and surfing the Internet. But research shows college students struggle in the area of “information literacy,” or the ability to locate, understand, evaluate and use informational resources necessary for university-level coursework. The ease of Internet access to information such as advertisements,...

Northern Illinois University’s Society of Women Engineers (NIU-SWE) received two awards from the Chicago Regional Section of SWE. NIU-SWE won two awards in the Small Section category. The first award was an honorable mention for the best collegiate section. The second was an award for the best collegiate website. NIU-SWE received $300 in cash in...