Oregon State University’s College of Engineering is launching a unique program for graduate study in artificial intelligence, with an initial cohort of about 40 students to be enrolled in fall 2021.
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 whopping 5% to 8% of the carbon released into the world’s atmosphere comes from the production of cement, a key component of concrete. At Oregon State University, researchers are developing numerous ways to reduce that load and related climate impacts.
When you think of robots, chances are you picture them in an industrial setting, such as an automotive assembly plant. But one field where robots are poised to make a big impact over the next couple of decades is literally out on the field — in farms and orchards, harvesting food crops.
Mechanization in agriculture began in earnest with the advent of the tractor, which had become standard farm equipment by the 1930s. Today, only about 2% of the U.S. workforce works on farms, compared to about one-third around the time of World War II.
The long-feared 9.0 magnitude Cascadia subduction zone earthquake, which seismologists say is inevitable, could claim more than 10,000 lives and force thousands more from their homes indefinitely, according to projections by the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Courtesy of Kevin Miller, Oregon Stater
OSU researchers are looking in sewer systems for genetic evidence of the virus that causes COVID-19, in an effort to help determine the virus’ prevalence in an area.
Starting in Bend, researchers analyzed samples from multiple sewer line locations, looking for genetic material from the novel coronavirus that traveled from infected people into the city’s wastewater system. Researchers will also look at water samples from the city’s treatment plant.
By Meriden Vitale
For Kyle McGann, figuring out the details of a project is fun. During one of his deployments to Afghanistan, he built a climbing wall in his room.
“I found the two best pieces of plywood then scrounged some two by fours,” McGann said. “My brackets were other pieces of plywood that I just cut out to put everything together.”
In the days following March 18, the date Oregon State University announced that all courses would be conducted remotely during the spring term in response to the COVID-19 health emergency, students flooded Cassie Pitkin with emails:
Should I stay in Corvallis? Will residence halls stay open? Will international students be able to go home? Will labs be done on Zoom? Can I get financial aid if I lose my job? Will my internship be canceled?
College of Engineering students at Oregon State University who are beset by financial woes caused by the COVID-19 health emergency are getting fast and crucial relief from the college’s Student Emergency Fund.
The fund is part of the Beavers Care Initiative, which was created in partnership by the OSU Foundation and the university to raise money to help students meet their basic needs and stay on track to graduate.
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic hit Oregon State University in mid-March, near the end of the winter term. Faculty members scrambled to deliver final exams remotely as social distancing protocols were implemented.
Then the university announced that remote instruction would be required for all courses throughout the spring term, possibly longer. With classes adjourned for “spring break” — the mother of all misnomers for anyone teaching this term — instructional faculty and staff had just over a week to move their entire classroom-based curriculum into the virtual sphere.
