NIU Today

Students fortunate enough to be in one of NIU’s mechanical engineering classes with Federico Sciammarella can look forward to being on the cutting edge of 3D printing and manufacturing. Sciammarella uses his personal experiences with 3D printing to enrich the classes he teaches. That has helped him earn the NIU College of Engineering and Engineering...

Still looking for that perfect gift for a child you know? Something exciting, hands-on, and educational for a budding inventor? Something they will remember for years to come? Northern Illinois University’s STEM Outreach has gift options ready for you – a diverse new schedule of STEM Saturday classes designed to get young people fired up...

The technology in your home office probably allows users to print letters and photos, but what if you wanted to print 3D toys, bracelets or even dinner for your family? Advances in 3D printing are actually allowing researchers and average folks to print everything from car parts to body parts. At the next STEM Café,...

A podcast of the Science Coalition’s “Science 2034 Live,” which featured NIU mechanical engineering professor Federico Sciammarella on its panel of six visionary scientists, is now available. Gathered June 24 in Washington, D.C., the federally funded researchers shared their prognostications of what science will make possible in the next 20 years as they discussed their...

Maybe you’ve seen one at your child’s school, in a downtown museum or even at the local big box home store. 3-D printers are popping up everywhere, getting cheaper, and are easier to use than ever before. Advances in 3D printing are actually allowing researchers and average folks to print everything from car parts to...

The technology in your home office probably allows users to print letters and photos, but what if you wanted to print 3D toys, bracelets or even dinner for your family? Advances in 3D printing are actually allowing researchers and average folks to print everything from car parts to body parts. At the next STEM Café,...

NIU’s second annual Venture Grant competition will provide four faculty members with the opportunity to vie for $20,000 in cash to help move their ideas from concept to finished product. NIU students, faculty, staff and friends of the university can get involved by lending their talents to help develop and market the competing projects. The...

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced that NIU will receive $2.4 million to develop tools for process control and qualifying parts made with layer-by-layer additive-manufacturing processes. Benefits of additive manufacturing include producing goods quickly and on-demand, with greater customization and complexity and less material waste. “It is...

The NIU Foundation Venture Grants Committee has announced Lichuan Liu and Federico Sciammarella as recipients of the 2013 Venture Grants. In partnership with NIU’s Technology Transfer Office and the Northern Illinois Research Foundation, the NIU Foundation Grants Committee has chosen the proposals that most closely exemplify the entrepreneurial spirit, vision and potential for marketability reflected...

Mechanical Engineering undergraduate Justin Whiting received the ASM Chicago Regional Chapter Award, given to only one student a year. Facing competition from students representing other engineering schools in the Chicago area, it is a great honor for Whiting. According to the American Society of Metals, “the Chicago Regional Chapter Award recognizes and encourages students to...

Members of NIU’s engineering faculty are always looking for ways to increase their influence on the industry. By participating in research, working on projects and presenting those ideas in various places, these professors stay at the cutting edge of their respective fields. Federico Sciammarella, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, will give presentation on additive manufacturing...

NIU mechanical engineering professor Federico Sciammarella was chosen as technical chair for the upcoming 2012 Rapid Product Development Association of South Africa (RAPDASA) international conference. The conference takes place Wednesday, Oct. 31, through Friday, Nov. 2, According to its website, “RAPDASA embraces the complete product development value chain … RAPDASA aims to become a government-recognized...