Huskie Trek Talks to Honor Bold Ideas for a Third Year
By Lia Kizilbash Gillet
Associate Professor Mahdi Vaezi, Ph.D., presents his research during the 2025 Huskie Trek Talks (Photo: NIU)At NIU, ideas don’t sit idle. They spark bold conversations, partnerships, programs and tools that change lives. On April 18, 2026, ideas will take center stage at the Third Annual Huskie Trek Talks: Ideas in Motion, spotlighting the newest voices in campus innovation while directly fueling the next wave of research and impact through philanthropic investment.
Unlike traditional lecture-style events, Trek Talks is a mission-driven showcase designed to connect ideas with the funding and community support needed to bring them to life. Live and virtual audiences are invited to engage with research, artistry and outreach happening across NIU’s campus — and play an active role in advancing that work.
Presentations include advances in quantum computing, brain health, a robotic guide dog, a smart stethoscope, and research in bioplastics, AI and student philanthropy. Projects will compete for $80,000 in grants to kick-start ideas, boost research or strengthen prototypes already underway.
Audience engagement is central to Huskie Trek Talks. Thanks to the generous support of Molex, LLC, and their commitment to the transformative power of connection, one bold idea will earn $10,000 — chosen entirely by in-person and online attendees.
Last year, the NIU Foundation Board of Directors and its grants committee, along with the two university Divisions of Research Innovation Partnerships and Outreach, Engagement, and Regional Development, awarded grants totaling $65,000, sparking quick progress across teams.
After receiving last year's single-largest grant for his team’s app that analyzes a child’s gait to predict the child’s likelihood of autism, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Associate Professor Ziteng Wang, Ph.D., said the research funded by the Huskie Trek Talks grant attracted additional external funding of $100,000 from NIH's AIM-AHEAD program. Since March 2025, Wang and his team published a journal paper, had eight conference posters and presentations accepted, and established a research lab as a platform that provided students with hands-on learning and research experiences.
Public Health Professor M. Courtney Hughes, Ph.D., and Doctor of Physical Therapy Assistant Professor Christy Muasher-Kerwin, Ph.D., PT, DPT, also received grant funding to explore how AI can close the caregiving communication gap by supporting family caregivers in real time — especially during moments of uncertainty.
“Huskie Trek Talks offered a venue to communicate the promise and direction of this work to a broader audience,” Hughes said. “We were able to begin piloting immediately, and the early kick-start was crucial for building momentum, testing the technology upfront, and identifying what was feasible before pursuing larger-scale funding.”
Hughes and Mausher-Kerwin, along with their team, have since published four peer-reviewed articles and presented their findings at an Illinois Public Health Association Public Health Education Talk.
(Photo: Melissa Lenczewski)
Student participants take the stage at Ideapalooza, hosted by the De La Vega Innovation Lab. (Photo: NIU MarComm)The Midwest Laboratory for Microplastics Research also published its first peer-reviewed article following its presentation at Huskie Trek Talks. It has since advanced its analytical techniques, expanded the lab’s capacity, added clients, and strengthened partnerships across academia, government and industry.
Students, too, experienced the ripple effects of last year’s support.
In July 2025, students involved in microplastics research joined undergraduates from around the country to participate in the NIU Research Experience for Undergraduates program on water quality in the Yucatan Peninsula by collecting samples at one of the monitored cenotes, also known as sinkholes.
“By combining advanced analytical tools with research-driven approaches, we are turning invisible microplastic pollution into visible data that can inform science, policy, and environmental protection,” said Department of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment Professor Melissa Lenczewski, Ph.D., who is actively involved with the Midwest Laboratory for Microplastics Research.
Interdisciplinary collaboration also flourished with support from Trek Talks.
Last year, the Ideapalooza program took the stage at Trek Talks. Bringing together technical and business students through an interdisciplinary instructional sequence, Ideapalooza's goal is to accelerate the path from problem identification to solution deployment. A grant from Trek Talks allowed the program to expand its scope and outreach to more students across disciplines.
One anonymous engineering student and Ideapalooza participant shared that the experience helped them learn to effectively communicate technical ideas to nontechnical audiences and win their support.
Other grant recipients used the Trek Talks funding to strengthen their research capacity and infrastructure.
Support from Huskie Trek Talks allowed the NIU Bioplastics Lab to purchase critical equipment that would otherwise have been out of reach, significantly expanding the lab’s capacity for materials development, prototyping and testing. That early investment helped accelerate the lab’s work and positioned it for new external funding and industry partnerships. Since receiving the award, the lab has secured $92,000 from the Illinois Soybean Association to develop biodegradable soy protein isolate-based utensils and recently signed a contract with Dog & Whistle to develop biodegradable, chewable dog bones.
The lab is advancing high-performance biodegradable materials designed to replace petroleum-based plastics in sectors such as food packaging, printed circuit boards, and construction, helping reduce the long-term environmental burden of persistent plastic waste.
“Biodegradability alone is not enough; the material must perform, and we engineer it accordingly,” said Department of Engineering Technology Associate Professor Mahdi Vaezi, Ph.D., who presented at Huskie Trek Talks. “The future is biodegradable, and we are building it at the NIU Bioplastics Lab.”
Collectively, these advancements reflect the growing impact of projects funded through Huskie Trek Talks — proving that innovation doesn’t slow when the spotlight fades; it grows stronger through strategic investment and community support.
Don't miss your chance to be part of NIU's next generation of innovation.
Join NIU leadership, alumni, donors, and community members in person or via live stream on April 18, 2026. You will play an active role by casting your vote for the $10,000 audience-choice award, supported by Molex, LLC.
Registration is now open, but space is limited. Be there when bold ideas take the stage and move forward.