NIU Today

Inventors and innovators of tomorrow will be flocking to NIU’s DeKalb and Naperville campuses this fall for an exciting new season of STEM Saturdays, classes that give students hands-on experiences with science, technology, engineering and math. The classes, which cover everything from robotics to virtual reality, are designed for students from age 7 to adults....

NIU alum Sam Watt will be in China using innovative, NIU-developed techniques to teach STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – to sixth- and seventh-graders in Beijing this school year. Watt’s classes will be based around lab activities specially developed by STEM Outreach, part of NIU’s P-20 Center in the Division of Outreach, Engagement,...

Most of the Midwestern tall grass prairie vanished in the 19th century with the rise of the steel plow, but researchers say that prairie restoration is essential for maintaining native plant and animal habitats, improving water and soil quality and reducing erosion. Here in Illinois, NIU professors are fighting to save the prairie ecosystem at...

Teams of educators from across Illinois generated their own steam Aug. 3 at Northern Illinois University, doing something most of them probably hadn’t done for decades: racing against time to build model bridges out of pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks and other classroom supplies. As the timer ticked down, cries of “more glue!” and “that won’t...

Here come the meteors! Once a year, our planet crosses the path of the Swift-Tuttle Comet. Debris from the comet’s tail slams into the Earth’s upper atmosphere, creating the dazzling Perseid meteor shower. This year, watch the meteors streak across the sky with NIU STEM Outreach at “Star Gazing,” a STEM Café event at Bliss...

NIU made a big impact on participants and attendees during Wednesday’s Google Geek Street Fair in Chicago. The event – the first of its kind in Chicago – is part of Google’s effort to spur young people to ente the science and technology fields, or, as DNAinfo’s David Matthews wrote, “to stir scientific curiosity in...

Young girls in florescent pink T-shirts and matching hard hats explored careers in engineering July 21 during NIU’s one-day STEM Divas camp. Led by mechanical engineer Pettee Guerrero, the brilliant budding scientists enjoyed a tour of the Engineering Building and tried their hands at soldering and LEGO woodworking projects that required numerous tools. STEM Divas...

Robots in the classroom. Science-infused artwork. Digital storytelling. Teachers will learn how to make their classrooms more exciting by adding the arts to STEM to produce STEAM (science, technology, arts, engineering and math) during “STEAMing It Up,” a one-day conference at NIU’s Gabel Hall from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Aug. 3. Bringing STEAM...

Snare drums snap, bells ting-a-ling and flutes whistle like birds. But why does one instrument sound any different than another? And how do objects produce sound in the first place? NIU alum Andrew Morrison has spent his career using physics to study these questions. At the next STEM Café, he will present “Good Vibrations: The...

Why have we not cured the diseases we call cancer after decades of intensive research? How much progress have we made? What is “precision” or “personalized” medicine, and how does it apply to the underpinnings of cancer biology? These are some of the important questions that will be addressed by Barrie Bode at the next...

Take a closer look, and America’s favorite summer sport becomes a field of intriguing physics questions. Can a rising fastball really rise? How much do curveballs actually curve? And do knuckleballs really flutter as they make their way toward the batter’s box? Particle physicist, baseball fan and knuckleball enthusiast Jahred Adelman will explore these questions...

Diseases that were once nearly eradicated in the Western world are again threatening both young children and adults. Although numerous studies have proven the safety of vaccinations, low vaccination rates in some communities are causing outbreaks of whooping cough, measles and other serious but preventable diseases. At the next STEM Café, DeKalb County Public Health...