Annual Northwestern SPS Symposium

The 2026 Northwestern SPS Symposium will be October 8-10.  Corresponding with Northwestern Reunion Weekend (Homecoming), the SPS Symposium is an opportunity to meet students outside of your courses, engage with exciting speakers, and experience the Chicago campus. 

Schedule of Events

  • Welcome Reception 
    Thursday, 10/8, 5:30 to 7 p.m. CT
    Chicago campus, Prentice Harris Family Atrium
  • Conference
    Friday, 10/9, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. CT
    Chicago campus, Wieboldt Hall
  • Homecoming Pre-party and Football Game
    Saturday, 10/10, time TBD
    Evanston campus, location TBD

The academic conference on Friday will feature academic presentations and discussion sessions presented by SPS guest speakers, faculty, and students. The event is a great opportunity to engage in topics not covered in a typical course, enrich your professional development, and connect with SPS faculty, staff, alumni, and fellow students.

See the tentative program for this year's academic conference below.  Questions? Feel free to reach out at spsevents@northwestern.edu. 

Conference

Friday, October 9, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. CT

Wieboldt Hall (339 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago)

2026 Conference Schedule

Symposium Schedule
9–10am

Breakfast

Wieboldt 704
9am–1pm

Complimentary Professional Headshots 

Wieboldt 7th floor lounge
10:00–10:40am

Machine Learning for Early Prediction of Alzheimer's Disease Progression Using Multimodal ADNI Data

(Warda Saeed)

Quantum Computing: How Much Will It Cost?

(Melvin Ott)

Crisis, Coordination, and Adaptation: Organizational Theory in Action During COVID-19

(Mollie Foust)

Transfer Mobility: The Transfer Portal, NIL, and the Reshaping of College Football Careers

(Max Mitchell)

 
10:40–10:50am Break
10:50–11:30am

Comparative Accuracy of Reasoning v. Non Reasoning Models for CPT Coding Assignments

(Abdalrahman Katranji & Apoorv Saraogee)

Community-Based Participatory Research: Tools & Techniques Using AI & Data

(Andy Sharma)

Built to Compete: What You're Pretending Not to Know About Your Own Next Move

(Corbin Annette)

Plain Language, Better Communication

(Kelly Hazenfield)
11:30–11:40am Break
11:40am–12:20pm

When Healthcare AI Fails: Strengthening RAG Pipelines Against PHI Exposure, Hallucinations, and Compliance Risks

(Avik Datta)

Panel Discussion, TBD

Teaching Storytelling in the Age of AI: Reimagining Media Literacy through Documentary Filmmaking

(Courtney Edwards)

Strategic Evolution in the NFL: The Offensive-Defensive Chess Match and Its Implications for Modern Football Analytics

(Aakash Adhia)
12:20–1:30pm

Lunch Break

Wieboldt 704
1:30–2:10pm

Evaluating Sequencing and Tokenization Strategies for EHR Foundation Models

(Maddie Stapulionis)

World Model Reinforcement Learning for Industrial Optimization

(David Van Dyke)

GenAI in Group Projects: Bridging Faculty Expectations and Student Realities

(Rachel Goc, Mark Schumacher)

AI Entrepreneurship: Why This Moment Matters 

(Kimberly Chulis)

 
2:10–2:20pm Break
2:20–2:50pm

Keynote: TBD

Wieboldt 704
2:50 - 3pm

SPS Alumni Award Presentation and Closing Remarks

Wieboldt 704

 

Homecoming Pre-Party & Football Game 

Saturday, October 10, time TBD

2026 Homecoming Schedule

Pre-Party: Evanston campus, time and location TBD

Time and location TBD

Game: Northwestern vs. Ball State
Ryan Field

1501 Central St

Evanston, IL 60208

 

Time TBD

 

 

Travel and Accommodations

Travel arrangements

Please refer to the Northwestern University Reunion Weekend's webpage on travel and accommodations. Preferred Chicago hotels can be found on this page. These are suggestions and accommodations made by the University to make booking your stay easier. You are not obligated to stay in these recommended hotels to attend the SPS Symposium. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements.

Parking on the Chicago campus

A discounted daily and evening rate will be available for parking at the Erie Ontario Garage and the Huron Superior Garage from 4:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. or daily from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. You must park and exit within the specified time to receive the discounted rate. If you enter before the rate takes effect, or exit after the specified end time on the date of entry you will be charged the full public rate for the entire time you are parked. If parked for 12 hours or more, regular garage rates will apply. See the Chicago campus parking map.

Parking discount instructions

Parking discount instructions for the Chicago campus:

  1. Park in the eligible garage and obtain a parking ticket at entry.
  2. While at Symposium in Wieboldt Hall, obtain a QR code from the check-in desk, the Symposium Guidebook app, or the Erie-Ontario or Huron Superior Customer Service Offices.
  3. When ready to exit, go to a garage pay station on the ground level and insert your parking ticket.
  4. Once the pay station has stated parking fee, scan the QR code on the pay station scanner. Once scanned correctly, the pay station will reduce the parking fee.
  5. Pay the fee with payment card or cash following the machine instructions.
  6. Collect the parking ticket back from the machine after your transaction is complete.
  7. Insert the parking ticket at the exit gate as you leave the garage with your vehicle.

Parking on the Evanston campus

Please refer to the Travel & Accommodations section of the Northwestern University Reunion Weekend's webpage for specific information on parking on the Evanston campus.

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