In 2016, MIME launched a set of Strategic Excellence Awards in support of the College of Engineering’s four strategic goals:
- Become a recognized model as an inclusive and collaborative community.
- Provide a transformational educational experience that produces graduates who drive change throughout their lives.
- Lead research and innovation to drive breakthroughs that change the world.
- Establish the College of Engineering as the partner of choice for industry, government, and academia.
These awards, made possible through gifts from alumni and other supporters to the MIME Excellence Fund, provide faculty with grants to move these goals forward and create a better future.
In a little over a year, we have already seen tremendous impact. Here is a snapshot of just some of what recent awards have enabled:
A team of students along with Senior Instructor Nancy Squires was able to participate in A Rocket Launch for International Student Satellites (ARLISS) in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. The team also had a chance to launch their high altitude rocket at the event. It reached an Oregon State record altitude of 80,000 feet!
David Porter, professor of industrial engineering, and Hector Vergara, assistant professor of industrial engineering, acquired and installed new light-directed systems, which are designed to improve accuracy, speed, and efficiency in manufacturing processes.
Nordica MacCarty, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, along with Shaozheng Zhang, assistant professor of anthropology, and MIME graduate student Jennifer Ventrella (pictured) conducted pilot testing in Uganda and Honduras of 100 sensors for their research on cookstoves used in the developing world.
MacCarty and Somayeh Pasebani, assistant professor of advanced manufacturing, were also able to initiate accelerated lifecycle testing of novel coatings and materials for combustion chambers of cookstoves, which will push this vital research forward.
Julie Tucker, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Melissa Santala, assistant professor of materials science, updated and modernized the Materials Science Metallography lab, enhancing students’ research capacities.
Many of our students are benefiting from newly purchased state-of-the-art pieces of equipment,including an ORLAS CREATOR metal 3D printing system, a desktop PCB printer for rapid prototyping, a smart grinding testbed for clean energy manufacturing research, and an Autometrix Advantage Ply Cutter. These tools will help advance research and provide students with hands-on experience with the latest technology.