The 6.7 temblor that struck Northridge, Calif., 20 years ago caused an estimated $20 billion in damages during 20 seconds of shaking. Although it was a strong quake, the world has seen much worse, and it was a wakeup call to civil engineers. Collapsed overpasses and pancaked buildings stood as mute, deadly testimony to the fact that the modern construction techniques used at the time were no match for the forces of nature.

Marcus Turner has no doubt as to how he managed a successful career in computer science, which began at Hewlett-Packard in Corvallis. 

“The best thing my parents ever did for me was to instill a drive and passion to be the hardest worker,” Turner said.

It paid off on his first day at Hewlett-Packard, when he was instantly promoted with new responsibilities. In preparation for his new job he had completed the work they wanted him to do in his first month.

As a first-generation college student, Brandon Greenley didn’t have footsteps to follow, so choosing Oregon State University was based on the quality of its engineering school. Still a Beaver fan, he also has a deeper connection to his alma mater in his role as Tektronix liaison to Oregon State.

Ronald L. Anderson, CEO and co-founder of the A&K Development Co., talks to School of MIME mechanical engineering graduate student Tim Foglesong at the A&K facility in Eugene, Oregon.

Eugene Equipment Manufacturer Benefits from Virtual Design

For more than three decades, Ron Anderson, owner and founder of the A&K Development Co. based in Eugene, Oregon, has been building and selling food processing machines.

Howard Yang (center) and colleagues at the initial public offering of Montage Technology on the Nasdaq Global Market in September 2013. 

Brad Heller (’09 Computer Science) is in many ways the prototypical Portland, Oregon, tech start-up guy — he’s scary-smart, works hard and plays hard, yet doesn’t take himself too seriously. He may work as the high-powered director of engineering for Cloudability, one of Portland’s most-buzzed about new tech companies, but he’s not above heading to the video game store at midnight to get his hands on the much-anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto V.

Fascination with electricity started Oregon State alumnus, Doug Fisher, on a path to becoming the top manager for Intel’s software and services group.

“I was intrigued with how electricity, although invisible, could create action, and by understanding how it worked you could have the ability to control things — almost like a puppeteer,” Fisher says.