Nowak loves using NISTEM Center of Excellence to spark learning

Every few days, Jeff Nowak opens an email from someone asking for help, and he seems almost incapable of saying no . That’s because he loves what he does, invigorating and inspiring others and himself.

Nowak, a professor of education at Purdue University Fort Wayne, is director of the Northeast Indiana Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education Resource Center, which he founded in 2006. NISTEM was established in partnership with several regional stakeholders. The center’s mission is to encourage active engagement with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related activities, working with children, youth, and educators of all ages.

His work over the years has included facilitating events in schools, parks, and other area locations such as Science Central, the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory, McMillen Health Education Center, Fox Island, Allen County public libraries, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne. He’s set up displays in classrooms, hallways, yards, athletic fields, parking lots, living rooms, and stages. He’s also partnered with many others to host STEAM—the “A” added to the familiar STEM acronym to include the arts—festivals on campus and via outreach on wheels.

“We want to make everybody aware of what is possible,” Nowak said. “We do what we can to help teachers help students find the joy in STEM and STEAM education; if there are ever areas where they need help or assistance, we do our best to help them.”

Whatever his audience is interested in, Nowak is adept at tailoring an engaging lesson for students, teachers, and administrators. Want to try a different idea to see if it works? Nowak is game to diving into something new, largely because he loves exposing young people to future potential. It’s hard to see if the kids are having more fun than he is during his presentations. Many are smiling and laughing before asking, “How did that work?”

“They say the best thing to do is find where you’d want to be doing that anyway and pursue that career,” Nowak said. “I love what I do.”

When he speaks in schools, Nowak often introduces and encourages children to visit the places in the community where they can go to learn or experience more. He’s seen the results in person, hearing from some he has inspired who have decided to attend PFW to study.

Through his work that’s based out of PFW’s School of Education, Nowak instructs future teachers in STEAM with tools they can use in their own classrooms to inspire students. He’s licensed to teach elementary through high school mathematics, general science, physical science, earth/space science, chemistry, biology, and physics. He taught all of those in public schools in Indiana before coming to PFW.

Obviously, Nowak never gets bored.

“Our community is where we live, and enhancing that is rewarding, but I like the idea of passing things forward,” Nowak said. “It helps you better understand what people are seeking. I don’t know if I’ve ever tried to find a good phrase or a way to explain it. I just know I enjoy being a teacher.

“I’ve always loved teaching in the STEM/STEAM field. It has been said to be passionate about something means you are willing to suffer for the cause. I don’t have a job that is unfulfilling. It’s very rewarding because what you do has the potential to help others help themselves—and, in turn, others.”

Maybe the perfect example of this is Nowak’s work with the United States Agency for International Development. Starting in 2007, he has traveled to Macedonia, Kosovo, and Kenya, training teachers in STEM and STEAM.

“I’ve been very fortunate to stand on the shoulders of many great people who have helped me learn a great deal,” Nowak said. “I’m able to share their knowledge and wisdom with others in our region, nationally, and internationally with allies of the U.S. to help them go forward.”

He’s been working with 200 schools in the eastern European country of Georgia for the last three years, spending time overseas hosting seminars and workshops in a project that runs through mid-2026. This work also benefits his current preservice teachers, Nowak says, as it provides him opportunities to use cutting-edge technologies, which he also uses in his PFW courses.

Helping humankind, and showing what is possible internationally, he’s setting an example of what his students’ potentials might be. There are no limits to making a difference, even around the world.

“Why limit ourselves to our immediate surroundings?” Nowak said. “I’ve learned so much traveling and spending time with others abroad. It’s important to be mindful of other people and the planet we all share. Our collective future holds so many unknowns. Yet education knows no boundaries or borders, and providing professional development to present and future educators is reciprocal and affords us an opportunity to help one another reach our potential.”