For this episode, Black Belt Analytics, The Gateway is happy to welcome Will Johnson, a Specialist Director in Microsoft's Cloud Analytics Global Black Belt team. Will helps Microsoft Azure customers build Big Data processing, machine learning, and MLOPs solutions. In addition, he focuses on providing industry thought leadership for Retail CPG customers having worked with some of the largest retailers in the USA. He has a master’s degree in Predictive Analytics from DePaul University, an undergraduate degree in Marketing from Northern Illinois University, and taught Marketing Analytics at NIU. Prior to working at Microsoft, Will was an Analytics Manager leading a team of analysts and data scientists in customer analytics.

For this episode, technology and storytelling, The Gateway is excited to be talking to James Moore, a brilliant individual with decades of technical and analytic experience. With a degree in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University, he built a long-standing career as an industrial engineer and a commissioned US Airforce Officer. While Moore became an expert, he was also able to broaden his horizon and pursue storytelling in 2014. Since then Moore wrote two novellas, two feature-length screenplays, and dozens of short film scripts and short stories. Moore is a perfect mixture of the creative and technological pursuits. Please check out Moore's work here: https://linktr.ee/storyteller6465

For this episode, A Greener Afterlife, The Gateway is excited to be talking with Return Home a green funeral home offering a sustainable and ethical alternative to burial and cremation. Return Home specializes in Terramation (Human Composting) and they currently operate the largest and most transparent facility in the world. They began with the desire to offer a more earth-friendly alternative to traditional death care, and to empower families to make death care decisions that make our world a better place. On their journey so far, they have realized that people resonate with our mission because many of us feel an innate desire to return to the earth when we die.

For more information check their website out: https://returnhome.com

For this episode, The Philosophy of Physics, The Gateway is excited to speak with Matthew Davies, a PhD student in Cosmology at Queen Mary University of London. While his work focuses on inflationary physics, he has parallel interests in philosophy of physics and religion. Matt can be found on all social media platforms discussing interesting ideas in science philosophy and religion.

Please check out his Tik Tok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@physicallydebunked?isfromwebapp=1&sender_device=pc

For this episode, Being a Musician Today, The Gateway is excited to speak with Sam Varga an electric and kinetic musician. Bring years in performing and song writing in Nashville, Sam has already established himself as an incredible writer and dynamic performer. Bringing a unique mix of punk, blues, emo and country Sam’s sounds in wholly unique. With multiple singles, a debut EP, and a brand-new release called Sugarcoated, Sam is on his way to selling out arena around the globe!

Check Sam's Music here:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/61isyxdjkwhjEJnr13ERtL?si=fu6umDotSiGHr4tCC5h7Ng

For this episode, ESports, the next generation of gaming, The Gateway is happy to have Alexander Kramer, the Marketing and Events Coordinator for Northern Illinois University’s collegiate ESports team. Alex will be able to provide insight on one of the fastest growing cultures in the world—competitive gaming. We will explore what it is like to be on a competitive team, how you get to be on a team, and any misconceptions about competitive gaming!

For more information check out the NIU ESports website:

https://www.niu.edu/esports/index.shtml

For this episode, Technology and who is really hiring us, The Gateway is happy to have Dr. Elizabeth Wilkins. Dr. Wilkins is the Coordinator of Graduate Career and Professional Development for Northern Illinois University. Dr. Wilkins holds a Ph. D. in curriculum and instructions from Southern Illinois University. Dr. Wilkins oversees the professional development curriculum for the entire graduate school population utilizing real time labor market data. Dr. Wilkins has designed, coordinated, and taught classes, workshops, and webinars focusing on career readiness reaching nearly 10,000 participants. In January of 2021, Dr. Wilkins created and began to host the Be Career Ready podcast, an innovative and helpful resource for all listeners!

For this episode, Turmoil in Business, The Gateway is happy to have Christian Borkey, host of her first ever podcast, the Busted Business Bureau, which began in January 2022. Thanks to Christian’s in-depth investigation and enthralling reporting, we have been able to learn about some of the most interesting companies! During it’s meteoric rise in popularity, the Busted Business Bureau has examined a wide span of organizations including eBay, the Salvation Army, Chicago’s own now defunct Improv Olympic, and the organization that has contributed, in my opinion, one of the most spine-wrenching commercial tunes in advertising history, Cars4Kids. Christian is an Ohio transplant in Chicago. She currently is a bartender and trivia host, but has worked as an axe throwing teacher, children’s theater music director, and tour guide of Chicago’s Chinatown. Christian speaks Chinese, is on a doubles tennis league, and has an upcoming dueling pianos comedy show at the Lincoln Lodge Theater with another fella named Christian on June 25th. She has owned a pair of fur-lined green crocs for 6 years. Please check out Christian's podcast, The Busted Business Bureau on all platforms or by visiting https://www.bustedbizbureau.com/

For this episode, A Plethora of Pain, we will explore one of the most important pieces of technology, the human body! As our society is shifting towards more stagnation due to an amassing amount of screen time, we have drifted away from some of the most essential elements of care for our bodies. Sadly, most of us live life in fluctuating levels of pain—we have resigned to this, but is there a better way? How can we adapt to a technologically forward lifestyle while still allowing our body to flourish? Can we prevent pain?

To help examine the pursuit of lessening pain and living an active and flexible life, , the Gateway is proud to welcome Vinny, founder of Pain Academy, an online education platform that helps people live a pain-free lifestyle. A former Division 1 All-American Athlete, Vinny broke his back in his early 20’s and after years of learning how to rehab a life-changing injury, he became a Corrective Exercise Specialist and entrepreneur to help people move and feel better.

To learn more about how Vinny can help you, go to http://PainAcademy.net and get started with the Pain Assessment Toolkit.

For this episode, Looking into Learning, we will explore how technology is impacting one of the most important elements of society, education. Around the world incredible amounts of resources are spent to improve the education of all people. During the past few years, education has bent and flexed to continue the growth and enlightenment of learners, while navigating a global pandemic. Technology has been at the forefront of these essential shifts.

To help examine the new approaches technology has created for education, the Gateway is proud to welcome Dr. Marlo Barnett! Dr. Barnett is the first Black woman to graduate with a PhD from NIU’s Instructional Technology program. Dr. Barnett has an impeccable background in education, which encompasses over 20 years of experience spanning higher ed and K through 12 education. Dr. Barnett has earned an impressive 5 degrees from both traditional and online settings. Dr. Barnett currently serves as the vice president for Computer Science for Illinois and is NIU’s Board of Director Chair of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Task force. Dr. Barnett has also been the president and vice president for the Computer Science Teachers Association.

Dr. Barnett has assisted with writing the nationwide framework for artificial intelligence k-12. Generally, Dr. Barnett’s work focuses on overcoming systemic barriers with an essential focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Dr. Barnett’s work strives to address policy issues and trends that impact effectiveness. We are excited to have Dr. Barnett!