Oct. 9, 2024
Contact: Janese Heavin, heavinj@missouri.edu
Photos by Abbie Lankitus, Sam O’Keefe and CJ Harris
Technology empowers you to discover new possibilities. Change reality. Turn big, bold ideas into life-changing innovations.
The University of Missouri ensures students have access to the power of technology. From robots and drones to virtual reality and simulation labs, Mizzou is home to the latest gadgets, devices and systems that are transforming the world. This next-generation equipment lets students learn by doing — a process we call the Missouri Method.
Ready to geek out? Here are some of the techiest tools on campus.
Archaeometry Laboratory
The Archaeometry Lab at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) allows students to study ancient artifacts and materials, working alongside faculty members to advance archaeological research. Students assist with sample preparation, instrument operation, fieldwork and data analysis. Additionally, you can gain experience in geochemical techniques such as neutron activation analysis, X-ray fluorescence, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy
Location: MURR and Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center
Available to: Students taking the Fundamentals of Archaeology Lab and those working with researchers in anthropology, archeology, art history and geological sciences
Bastable Family Music Lab
Interested in music? Mizzou has you covered. In the Bastable Family Music Lab, you’ll find digital pianos, composer desks, loudspeakers and iMac workstations with music software, all of which allow you to create, practice and perform.
Location: The Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield Music Center
Available to: Students majoring and minoring in music
The CAVE
Step into another world. Literally. In the Computer Assisted Virtual Environment, or CAVE, students can peer inside unlimited virtual settings. This innovative facility includes adjustable walls, motion sensors and stereo sound to provide virtual 3D surroundings. Students and faculty have used the Mizzou CAVE to model urban cities, visualize how cyclones form and see the inner workings of tiny molecules.
Location: The Center for Cyber Education, Research and Infrastructure (Mizzou CERI), Lafferre Hall
Available to: Students working with engineering faculty or collaborators
Digital Agriculture Research and Extension Center (DAREC)
DAREC aims to promote emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to help farming become more efficient, profitable and climate smart. The center includes the MU Digital Farm, a field demonstration site that includes sensors, drones and a self-driving tractor, and a demonstration site for agrivoltaics — an emerging concept that allows farmers to produce both livestock and solar energy. The center helps train students to use next-generation tools to ensure the future of farming is smart, safe and sustainable.
Location: MU’s South Farm
Available to: Students working with agriculture, food and natural resources faculty and collaborators
Esports
At Mizzou, we know the value of gaming. In fact, we have a 5,000-square-foot Esports training facility on campus — one of the largest university gaming facilities in the country. Esports is a form of sports using video games with professional, collegiate and amateur teams competing across the globe. Just want to play for fun? The Mizzou Gaming Lounge offers you 19 gaming stations, spectator space, study spots and more.
Location: Center Hall
Available to: Esports student-athletes and any gamer on campus
Flight simulator
Thinking about becoming a pilot? Mizzou’s Air Force ROTC program recently debuted flight simulation training equipment. Cadets can get hands-on with ultra-realistic flight panels, controls and immersive VR goggles, letting you navigate fighter aircraft over realistic terrains across the globe. Practice flying an F-5, F-15 and F-16 plane or a “Huey” military helicopter.
Location: Crowder Hall
Available to: Air Force ROTC and Naval ROTC cadets
Kaldi’s Sim
Become the director of human resources for a virtual Kaldi’s Coffee shop and see if you can hire, train and manage employees. If you succeed, you will see high levels of employee engagement, resulting in increased sales, profits and customer satisfaction. If you fail, business results will decline, and you may have to fire some employees. It’s all part of the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business’s Kaldi’s Sim, a video game aimed to give students real-world experience through a virtual setting.
Location: Cornell Hall
Available to: Business students
Miller Family Simulation Center
Before they interact with actual patients, Mizzou nursing students work with real medical equipment in a controlled, simulated setting. In the Miller Family Simulation Center, students practice clinical nursing skills in a hospital-like setting, complete with 14 beds, training manikins that replicate human features, hospital equipment and more. A separate simulation space replicates an ICU as students work with high-fidelity simulation including a nurses’ station, crash carts, medication room and manikins that have electrocardiogram and defibrillator capabilities.
Location: The School of Nursing building
Available to: Nursing students
Mirrorless Cameras
In the Pulitzer-producing Missouri School of Journalism, students have access to professional-level equipment to hone their skills. That includes Canon, Nikon and Sony mirrorless cameras, which are becoming standard in the profession as they are quieter, smaller and can easily switch from still photography to video. Students use them in the photojournalism and documentary courses, as well as a class students take before they begin newsroom courses. That means you’ll be familiar with the gear when it’s time to put your talents to work.
Locations: Walter Williams Hall, Lee Hall, Columbia Missourian
Available to: Journalism students
Missouri School of Journalism drones
Prepare to take the Federal Aviation Administration’s Part 107 Certification Exam, become a co-pilot and compete for the prestigious title of Top Drone. The drone journalism course at the Missouri School of Journalism provides hands-on flight training as students learn to use drones to capture aerial photos and videos. While you can’t operate your personal drone on campus, there are plenty of opportunities to work with drone technology at Mizzou, including in the College of Engineering.
Location: Students in the class fly drones around Francis Quadrangle and other locations around Columbia
Available to: Students in the drone journalism course
Mizzou Motion Analysis Center
The Motion Analysis Center houses a motion capture system, force platforms, video reference cameras, sensors and more to measure and analyze human movement to assess impairment, frailty and fall risk. There are also electromyography (EMG) sensors that can measure when muscles are active during movement. The lab is used in several classes that allow students to collect and analyze movement data. Undergraduate students have also been involved in building the Mizzou – Point of Care Assessment System, or MPASS, which assesses movement in athletes, older adults and other populations.
Location: Clark Hall
Available to: Students working with College of Health Sciences faculty and research collaborators.
Spot
Mizzou is home to four Spots, the autonomous dog-like robots from Boston Dynamics that can be programmed to navigate spaces, climb stairs and even perform alongside Marching Mizzou and the Golden Girls. Spot gives undergraduate students the opportunity to learn programming and autonomous systems while working with robotics.
Location: Lafferre Hall
Available to: Engineering students
Standing Computerized Tomography (CT) Scanner
The standing CT scanner lets veterinary medicine faculty and students acquire high-resolution cross-sectional and three-dimensional images while horses are standing, eliminating the need to place the patient under general anesthesia. The scanner — the first of its kind in the region — can provide images of both front and back limbs and can be repositioned to scan the head and neck. It also allows for in-depth teaching opportunities, as students can view medical scans and see bones and joints from different angles.
Location: Clydesdale Hall
Available to: Veterinary medicine students
Weather Analysis and Visualization (WAV) Lab
Aspiring meteorologists can perfect their forecasting, broadcasting and weather modeling skills in a real-world setting in the recently updated WAV Lab. The lab includes a state-of-the-art TV weather graphics computer, green screen and access to National Weather Service software — everything you need to practice and produce your own weather forecasts.
Location: The Anheuser-Busch Natural Resources Building
Available to: Students studying meteorology, environmental sciences and related programs
WeMake — Design and Learn Lab
The WeMake — Design and Learn Lab allows any Mizzou student to get experience 3D printing, scanning, prototyping and creating in a makerspace culture. Bring your ideas to life with Computer Aided Design (CAD) drawing, 3D printers, computers and technology such as the Glowforge laser printer that encourages design and creativity. Need inspiration? There are plenty of design examples in the lab to get you started. And WeMake isn’t the only place you’ll find 3D printers — they’re in academic buildings across campus.
Location: Townsend Hall
Available to: All Mizzou students
7-Tesla magnetic resource imaging scanner (7T MRI)
Heavier than 15 mid-size cars, the Siemens Healthineers MAGNETOM 7T MRI offers more than double the magnetic field strength of conventional scanners, allowing researchers to see in greater detail the structures associated with neurological diseases and conditions affecting muscles and joints. While researchers use the 7T MRI to acquire and analyze images, students have opportunities to work with Siemens, an industry partner, on projects around the scanner.
Location: Roy Blunt NextGen Health building
Available to: Students working in medicine, engineering and related fields
