Ian Thomsen - News @ Northeastern

From the NHL to the local rink, he’s helping ice hockey players stay sharp

People would roll their eyes whenever Northeastern graduate Russell Layton described his invention: a machine that enables hockey players to sharpen their skates at home. His fast-growing company, Sparx, has silenced the doubters.

by Ian Thomsen August 23, 2019

Northeastern launches campus in Vancouver, British Columbia

Northeastern is adding a campus in Vancouver to the university’s global network that will fill a demand for computer scientists on Canada’s west coast in its burgeoning high-tech industry. The Vancouver campus will offer degree programs to prepare students for careers in the age of artificial intelligence, including pathways that enable those with no high-tech background to pursue computing careers.

by Ian Thomsen August 21, 2019

Technology can’t replace the human touch in healthcare

"We need to understand better—with our trainees, with our students, and in workforce opportunities—how we use technology in a way that enhances care and does not substitute for the human provider," says Carmen Sceppa, the newly appointed dean of Northeastern’s Bouvé College of Health Science.

by Ian Thomsen August 20, 2019

Special Police, Army, and other units move toward the scene in Paris suburb Saint-Denis on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Heavily armed police surrounded a suburban Paris apartment in a raid targeting the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks. Credit: KAMIL ZIHNIOGLOU/Sipa via AP Images

When corporations respond to terror attacks with acts of kindness—and when they don’t

When governments or communities are targeted by terrorism, businesses tend to respond with charitable support. But the story changes when companies themselves are at risk, Northeastern researchers have found.

by Ian Thomsen August 19, 2019

A family interest in blood donation led her to the world of medical devices

Before she came to Northeastern, mechanical engineering student Arunika Makam, was able to develop a non-profit service that enabled people in India to donate blood while preserving their privacy. She just finished a co-op in Germany focused on implants that hold fractured bones together while they are healing.

by Ian Thomsen July 31, 2019

People walk past the Capital One Café on Boylston Street. Capital One suffered one of the largest banking data breaches, federal prosecutors revealed this week. Photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University

Your Capital One account was hacked. There was nothing you could have done about it.

The personal information of more than 100 million banking customers was stolen by a software engineer in Seattle. Capital One has fixed this problem, but a solution to the epidemic of online breaches remains out of reach, says William Robertson, an associate professor in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences.

by Ian Thomsen July 30, 2019

‘Broscience,’ dehydration, and costly wardrobes: a student bodybuilder’s odyssey

Northeastern senior Julianne Mayville lifts weights six times a week, drinks two gallons of water daily, and weighs her food on a scale. There turned out to be more to competitive bodybuilding than she ever imagined.

by Ian Thomsen July 29, 2019

Here’s why Brexit just became more complicated

The stunning rise of Boris Johnson to prime minister has polarized people on both sides of Britain’s divorce from the European Union, says Anthony Grayling, founder and master of NCH at Northeastern in London. “The country is divided so deeply as a result of this, that it seems terribly difficult to find its way back.”

by Ian Thomsen July 26, 2019

Robert Mueller was a reluctant witness. It really showed in his testimony to Congress.

For more than two years, voters and political leaders alike had been waiting to hear Robert Mueller speak. Throughout his congressional testimony on Wednesday, however, the special counsel appeared as though he wanted no part of the political spectacle.

by Ian Thomsen July 24, 2019

Amazon is retraining 100,000 employees. What about the rest of the US workforce?

Amazon’s investment in maintaining a competitive workforce comes as a Northeastern-Gallup poll exposes a troubling paradox among American employees: They know artificial intelligence will revolutionize the global economy, but they aren’t quite ready to adapt.

by Ian Thomsen July 11, 2019

Posts by Ian Thomsen