The Engineering Transdisciplinary Outreach Project in the Arts (ETOPiA) uses performance arts staged in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences to inspire a cross-disciplinary dialogue about the role of science and technology in society. This annual event highlights the pursuit and application of knowledge by individuals whose historical and personal circumstances span from tragic to epic.

ETOPiA strives to generate awareness among students of all ages and disciplines about the interdependence of the different fields of study, and the services, responsibilities, and obligations of engineers and scientists in today's society. 

ETOPiA was founded by MRSEC Researcher Professor Matthew Grayson, and recieves support from the NU-MRSEC.

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The 2011 ETOPiA season features Caryl Churchill's play A Number, which addresses the subject of human cloning and identity, especially nature versus nurture.

October 27, 2011 Thursday - Preview
October 28, 2011 Friday - Opening night
November 13, 2011 Sunday - Closing

This season features 8pm performances on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays and 2pm matinees on Sundays.

Past Performances

The 2010 ETOPiA season featured Peter Parnell's play QED, a nearly one-man play inspired by the life and writings of physicist Richard Feynman. Feynman, who won the Nobel Prize in 1965 for his work in quantum electrodynamics, is also well known for his role in the Manhattan Project and his investigation of the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy.

In its inaugural year 2008, ETOPiA produced the play Copenhagen and opened the doors of the Technological Institute of Northwestern to an audience of almost a thousand community members, high school students, undergraduates, graduate students, staff, and faculty from the greater university neighborhood.

In the video clip below, MRSEC Professor Matt Grayson discusses the play Copenhagen as the nexus of his passions for science and theater, and shares how he hopes that theater will help a wider audience come to appreciate science.