For anyone working in the semiconductor industry in Oregon, it is no surprise that a recent report estimated a need for a 24% increase in semiconductor-related credentials. Meeting those needs is a focus for the State of Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission, which requested the assessment. It is part of the State’s broader efforts to reinvigorate the semiconductor industry supported by the federal CHIPS and Science Act and Oregon’s CHIPS Act.

Walking into the 18,000-square-foot, high-bay robotics lab in Graf Hall at Oregon State University, one gets the sense that innovation is happening.

Part organized workshop, part messy art studio, the expansive space corrals a vast assortment of robotics projects, where dozens of students are head down in computer code or tinkering with machinery.

Wyatt Weaver started down several academic paths before he found the one that took him where he needed to go.

“I explored architecture, energy systems engineering, and civil engineering before ultimately deciding on mechanical engineering,” said Weaver. “It was a roundabout journey, and I’m surprised I didn't discover my true passion sooner.”

In August, with the congratulatory cheers of June’s Commencement celebrations still ringing in their ears, a group of five 2024 College of Engineering graduates took their senior capstone project on an epic, two-week road trip.

Emma Sparkman doesn’t expect to do much welding after she graduates with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, but in the event the need arises, she’ll be ready.

Sparkman, along with five other College of Engineering students, learned welding, machining, electronics, and other applied manufacturing processes (including computer-aided design and programmable logic controllers) in a summer 2023 practicum conducted by the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center.

In the summer of 2023, an instrumentation teaching lab on the third floor of Rogers Hall was transformed into the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering’s new Industrial Automation Laboratory.

The redesigned facility features new workstations, 3D printers, a laser cutter, and dedicated space for project builds, along with modern robots, new cameras, projectors, and screens for instructional use including distance education.

In 2020, Kendra Sharp helped organize an international development design summit in Thailand. That’s where she met Bryan Hugill, who owns an organic rice farm in the northeastern part of the country.