NIU Today

Proton Computed Tomography. STEM education. Aerospace job creation. NIU’s significant accomplishments in advancing the creation and application of knowledge will move into the spotlight today in Washington, D.C., where federal lawmakers and their representatives will participate in the university’s first Research Roundtable. Led by President Doug Baker, Board of Trustees Chair John Butler and immediate...

What is green, sits on rusty metal nails, and has 120 volts of electricity shooting through its vinegary center? It’s the electrified pickle, and it’s going to get zapped again Thursday, June 6, when NIU STEM Outreach and DeKalb County libraries present the Bright Futures Electricity Fair. The Electricity Fair will be held at the...

More than 15 years ago, the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology partnered with Omron to provide internships to NIU students. In working with NIU students and faculty, Omron became fond of CEET’s curriculum, seeing that it had laid a great theoretical platform for students entering the workforce. Later, Omron donated safety and automation equipment...

Meredith Wood never thought about pursuing a science degree because she was not confident in her mathematics skills. After taking a meteorology class at the College of DuPage (COD) and going on a storm-chasing trip, however, she was hooked. “I was fortunate enough to see many supercell storms and tornadoes. It was absolutely unreal,” Wood...

The NIU Women’s Resource Center host a Hot Topic Tuesday in honor of this year’s theme for Women’s History Month: “Women Inspiring Innovation through Imagination: Celebrating Women in STEM: Science, Math, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.” Scheduled from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, in the Stevenson Multipurpose Room, the free event will focus on...

The popular Bright Futures series launches its spring 2013 season at local public libraries in February. Hands-on activities for children and their families will spark their understanding of energy, electricity and electrical engineering. Funded by the grant from the DeKalb County Community Foundation, Bright Futures is a partnership of NIU STEM Outreach with libraries in...

Responding to requests from suburban parents, STEM Outreach is offering the popular STEM Saturday classes at both NIU’s DeKalb and Naperville campuses. Parents have joined the STEM Outreach staff in looking for ways to get K-12 students excited about science, technology, engineering, and math. “Our DeKalb-based classes tend to sell out overnight, and we are...

As morning dawned Saturday, Oct. 20, on the NIU Convocation Center, thousands of spectators eagerly waited to see what the third annual STEMfest would have in store. Visitors from all over Illinois and Indiana traveled to DeKalb to witness a unique experience of science, technology, engineering and mathematics under one roof. STEMfest continues to grow...

Children young and old are invited to bring their imagination and sense of wonder to the NIU campus this October for a day of hands-on activities, demonstrations and exhibits focused on the marvels of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). For the third straight year, STEMfest will wow spectators at the NIU Convocation Center from...

When NIU alumna Peg Keiner was growing up, she took apart nearly anything she could get her hands on just to see what made it tick. Sometimes the most interesting challenge was learning if she could put it back together. Now, as an instructional technology coach in Oak Lawn, she remains just as enthusiastic as...

Most Ph.D. students in math never think about working for a major corporation or federal agency as part of their program. Doctoral students normally worry about qualifying exams, writing their dissertations and obtaining careers in academia. At NIU, however, students are involved in a unique plan of studies. The Applications Involvement Component (AIC) of the...

NIU’s Enhancing Engineering Pathways (NIU-EEP) aims to establish a sustainable pathway for girls into the field of engineering. To create and strengthen the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) pipeline, another year of NIU-EEP’s free summer camp will take place from June 11 through June 15. The application is available online. Launched in 2008, and...