Competitive grant funding from federal and state agencies and private organizations supports a variety of research projects tackling some of the greatest technological challenges of our time. Here are the 12 largest grants awarded to the College of Engineering over the past 12 months.

1. Additive manufacturing of graded and tailored alloys
   $8.8 million
   U.S. Air Force
   PI: Richard Wirz
   The goal of this project is developing additive manufacturing of graded and tailored alloys to help meet the needs of a wide range of challenging applications for energy, aerospace, and manufacturing.
2. NSRS modernization and workforce development
   $6.5 million
   National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
   PI: Christopher Parrish
   The primary objectives of this project are to modernize geodetic tools for the National Spatial Reference System, create new operating procedures for working with the NSRS, and develop a geodetic workforce for the future.
3. Community benefits from offshore wind development
   $2.5 million
   Department of Energy
   PI: Hilary S. Boudet
   This Oregon State-led, multi-university collaboration seeks to collect, analyze, and disseminate community perspectives on the benefits of offshore wind development. Funding is coordinated through the Pacific Marine Energy Center, housed in the College of Engineering.
4. Developing better computational methods to predict RNA structures
   $1.5 million
   National Science Foundation
   PI: Liang Huang
   This project aims to develop efficient algorithms, using computational linguistics and Deep Learning, to predict the structures of homologous RNA sequences, such as SARS-CoV-2 variants. Accurate modeling of these structures is critical for designing vaccines, test kits, and drugs.
5. Consortium for Nuclear Forensics
   $2.5 million
   National Nuclear Security Administration
   PI: Camille Palmer
   Camille Palmer, associate professor of nuclear engineering, has been selected as deputy director of a $25 million, 16-university consortium tasked with educating the next generation of nuclear forensic scientists while researching new technology for nuclear security and nonproliferation.
6. The epithelial matrisome and drug transport kinetics
   $1.75 million
   National Institutes of Health
   PI: Kaitlin Fogg
   The goal of this research is understanding how epithelial barriers, such as skin, lung, and oral surfaces, change with age, inflammation, and hormonal signaling. Understanding the underlying biological processes and mechanisms will help develop tools for disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
7. Expanded PRISM capabilities to support federal crop insurance program
   $1.75 million
   USDA Risk Management Agency
   PI: Christopher Daly
   This grant expands PRISM’s high-resolution spatial weather maps and data to cover Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. These tools will allow the USDA to determine risk more accurately, improve underwriting capability, substantiate weather events, and better assess the validity of claims.
8. Well-rounded computer science education
   $1.3 million
   Oregon Dept of Education
   PI: Jill Hubbard
   This project will expand capacity for computer science education across Oregon through research-based, inquiry-focused curriculum and professional development. The goal is to meet the Oregon Department of Education's Computer Science State Plan goals for every student statewide.
9. ATR I-loop primary circulation pump testing
   $1.1 million
   Idaho National Laboratory
   PI: Guillaume Mignot
   This research supports ongoing work at the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory. The “I-Loop” comprises the ATR’s outer ring of facility positions, into which pressure boundaries can be inserted to allow for radiation exposure while remaining separate of the core’s operating environment.
10. New method of synthesizing actinide ceramics
    $1 million
    Department of Energy
    PI: Alexander “Sasha” Chemey
    Generation IV reactor designers have identified uranium mononitride and uranium monocarbide alongside other actinide nitrides as promising non-oxide ceramic reactor fuels. This project proposes a new method of synthesis that could greatly reduce the cost of these advanced fuels.
11. Multiscale fire assessments for mass timber buildings
    $1 million
    USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
    PI: Erica Fischer
    This multidisciplinary project aims to develop new research methods for testing mass timber in fire, with the aim of informing engineering solutions for designing fire-safe mass timber buildings with firefighter safety in mind.
12. Advancing semiconductor technologies in the Northwest
    $958,000
    National Science Foundation
    PI: Greg Herman
    The goal of this project is developing an innovation ecosystem to advance use-inspired semiconductors, invent scalable nanofabrication manufacturing processes, develop innovative computational tools for predicting material properties, expand innovation and entrepreneurship, and create training programs to enable a diverse workforce.