Sorry for the delay in posts, many of the Alumni Association employees were at a conference so it's been a bit crazy here.
Despite some bad weather last week our Annual Holiday Reception turned out very well. The location, the University Club of Chicago, was amazing. There were more than a few comments that it looked like something out of Harry Potter. The food was amazing and everyone had a great time just chatting and mingling with their fellow alumni.
If you've never attended plan on making it next year!
It's old news for any alumni still in the Chicago area or Midwest, but campus received a thick blanket of snow last night. The National Weather Service said we received just over 4 inches of snow during a 24 hour period.
The one plus to all that snow is that campus now looks like the proverbial winter wonderland. It's no fun to walk in (especially if you're headed to a final like most of the students) but it does look nice. And best of all it gives us a chance to post some great winter photos of campus.
The photos came from Media Services. You can view the entire photo gallery of winter shots and more here. They have all sorts of great photos of campus and you can even order prints.
We're really happy to debut a new feature today. You'll now be able to read the latest edition of Northern Now Magazine online through our page-turning application.
You can see the new technology in action by clicking here.
Essentially we've taken images of each page and created a flippable, zoomable and easily readable electronic edition of the magazine. It has the same look as the print edition but the real benefits are from the flexibility the internet provides. For instance, if you see an article that interests you on the table of contents you can just click that title and you'll automatically jump to that page. Or, if you're looking at a Huskie sports schedule and want to buy tickets, a link will be right there to take you to athletics' web site. And best of all, we can now add video and multimedia to our coverage of everything Northern Illinois University. This month we're featuring two videos of students whose scholarships have allowed them to continue their education and achieve their dreams. You can see one of the videos on this page.
The new electronic edition is just another way for us to share news with our NIU family. Don't worry though, if you're an alum you'll still receive two issues per year and our dues-paying members will get all four issues each year.
We hope you enjoy the new format, and let us know what you think about it by sending use an email to alums@niu.edu.
Another story about the impressive research some current Huskies are doing. This time, they're looking at the very foundations of our universe.
Rob Calkins and Chad Suhr, Ph.D. students in NIU's physics department, are currently stationed in Switzerland as they work with 2,000 other scientists on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC is the world's largest particle accelerator and physicists hope it will allow them to answer fundamental questions about space, time and matter. The LHC is essentially a bigger version of Fermilab.
“It’s interesting to do something no one has done before,” Calkins says. “The job is a constant challenge. There is always a new problem to solve.”
Like other scientists involved in the project, Calkins and Suhr spend most of their time making sure equipment is calibrated and returning accurate data. By completing that "service task," they're given the opportunity to analyze the data collected during experiments.
Besides the scientific and career-defining opportunities, both said they enjoy the international and intellectual atmosphere.
“I like the international scene at CERN,” Calkins says. “I work with people from all over the world and get to learn about their cultures and politics. I’ve also gotten to teach a few people the basic rules of baseball.”
Calkins and Suhr are part of a seven-person team from NIU that's working on the project. The team is expecting to grow to 10 in the next two years.
The entire NIU press release is available here