alumni-mag-spring-2021

Take A Walk Through History

OREGON STATE’S ‘ENGINEERING TRIANGLE’

In 2008, 180 acres of Oregon State University’s Corvallis campus was designated a National Historic District. At the time, it included 83 structures, 59 of which are historically significant. One wedge-shaped area in the district’s northeast corner encompasses buildings predominantly related to engineering, physics, and chemistry. Landscape architect Albert Davis Taylor, who updated the campus master plan in 1926 and 1945, dubbed this area the Engineering Triangle.

Staying Flexible

Crystal structure stretches wearable electronics’ possibilities

If you’ve ever changed clothes to feel warmer or cooler — and, of course, who hasn’t? — rest assured that researchers in the College of Engineering are working on solving that small problem for you, and in the process many other, much larger ones too.

Beyond 40 Hours: Bryony DuPont

For much of her childhood, Bryony DuPont thought she would grow up to be a performer. She acted in her first musical at age 5. By 13, she was taking professional voice lessons and singing in multiple choirs.

However, in high school, she developed another passion.

“I was always good at math, and I was really drawn toward engineering, especially aerospace,” DuPont said.

Engineering won out, at least professionally. DuPont earned her doctorate from Carnegie Mellon in 2013 and joined the faculty of the Oregon State University College of Engineering.

Catalyst

CATALYST Scholars Program

The Catalyst Scholars Program was launched in 2020 by the College of Engineering at Oregon State University in partnership with the OSU Foundation and donors who are passionate about student success. The program aims to bridge the gap between traditional funding sources — loans, grants, scholarships, personal income — and the cost of attendance for students who are the first generation of their family to attend college, who demonstrate high achievement, and who have unmet financial need.

Till We Meet Again

Student Clubs Go Remote

Nothing tests a budding engineer’s problem-solving abilities like a real-life challenge, and the COVID-19 pandemic has offered just that for student clubs. Many have risen to the occasion. Some have flourished. But none would deny that it’s been difficult.  

In Good Hands

Prototype lab drives trucking industry toward greater safety 

When Daimler Trucks North America wanted to get a handle on a dangerous and expensive problem in the trucking business — drivers slipping and falling while exiting or entering their cab — the company reached out to Oregon State University engineering students, who gave the entire industry something to hold onto. 

A Scintillating Discovery

Small, efficient radiation detector could find its way into mammogram machines 

In 2015, a team of Oregon State University researchers devised a new solid-state, scintillator-type radiation detector that offers several key advantages over existing designs: It’s more compact, less expensive to produce, and, critically, does not require lots of high-voltage current to operate.