Mind-U

How do self-driving cars drive and park without hitting anything? The answer is augmented optics: tools and imaging systems that can provide extremely precise measurements for use in a host of hot applications. On this edition of Mind-U, we'll hear a Northern Illinois University STEM Café talk. Dr. Federico Sciammarella , from NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology , will present “Augmented Optics: Micro-Measuring to Make Awesome Technologies Possible.”

Every time we use the internet, we leave a trail of information behind. On this edition of Mind-U, we'll hear a Northern Illinois University STEM Café talk, members of the NIU Marketing Department will discuss where we’re leaving our digital footprints, who’s using our personal data and what they’re doing with it.

Want to be healthier, contribute to lower pollution and stimulate the local economy? Eating locally grown food can help you do all three! On this edition of Mind-U we'll hear a Northern Illinois University Stem Cafe talk, “Our Daily Spread: Local Farms, Community Gardens and Access to Healthy Food,” Melissa Burlingame, co-manager of NIU’s Communiversity Gardens program, will explore the flaws that make our current food delivery and transportation systems so wasteful. She will examine the political reasons why people in the US are able to get enough calories to become obese but can have difficulty getting enough nutrition to be healthy.

Why do our conversations about climate change get so heated? And why do they often feel so unproductive? On this edition of Mind-U, we'll hear a Northern Illinois University STEM Café talk, “The Rhetoric of Climate Change.” NIU Professor Emeritus of English Philip Eubanks will explore why people disagree so strongly about climate change and what can be done to make the conversation more useful for everyone.