When Ishita Joshi arrived at Oregon State University, she knew she wanted to study chemical engineering. What she didn’t know was how deeply her experience would shape her values, her career goals, and her understanding of what it means to be an engineer.
At Oregon State University, Stacey Harper has built a career at the intersection of cutting-edge nanotechnology and environmental health. Her research focuses on a deceptively simple question: when engineered materials shrink to the nanoscale, what happens when they encounter living systems?
In a field where surgical outcomes are often unpredictable and chronic pain can persist despite multiple interventions, Morgan Giers is helping to reshape the landscape of spine care. As an assistant professor of bioengineering at Oregon State University and co-founder of the startup Spine by Design, Inc., Giers is leveraging predictive modeling, machine learning, and advanced imaging to bring precision and personalization to spinal treatment.
More than a decade ago, Oregon State University was selected as a core member of a national alliance of experts dedicated to safely integrating uncrewed aircraft systems into national and international airspace.
The Federal Aviation Administration Center of Excellence for UAS Research called ASSURE — the Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence — is a coalition of 21 core universities, 11 affiliated universities, and over 100 industry and government partners, with Mississippi State University serving as the lead institution.
Lam Research is partnering with Oregon State University on research to explore the use of new materials in semiconductor devices. The collaboration includes a $520,000 grant per year for up to five years from Lam Research.
“Lam Research has had numerous collaborations with individual faculty over the years, but this is the first large-scale collaboration with multiple faculty members,” said Dennis Hausmann, senior director of the deposition product group at Lam Research.
When Lucas Ellis tried explaining how you can design catalysts to his students, he often ran into blank stares. Even for undergraduates, the concept of how a catalyst’s structure influences its performance in chemical reactions can be abstract and difficult to visualize.
So, he tried something different: toys.
When Tatiana Ostrik left her hometown of Eugene to study engineering at Oregon State University, she wasn’t entirely sure which path she’d take. She just knew she wanted to build something meaningful — and Oregon State offered the perfect launchpad.
“I wanted to get away from home and study engineering,” Ostrik said. “Oregon State was the best option financially, and it has a great reputation for engineering. It just made sense.”
Charlie Harriman didn’t have to look far to find inspiration for his academic path. Growing up in Portland surrounded by a family full of Oregon State University alumni — including a cousin and younger brother who also chose chemical engineering — Harriman’s decision to attend Oregon State felt like a natural continuation of a family tradition. But it wasn’t just legacy that drew him in.
