Two engineering graduate students at Oregon State University and one recent alum have been selected as fellows in the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

The rescuers search for survivors in the darkness of a vast labyrinth, deep below the surface. They squeeze through tight spaces, navigate blind turns, scramble over obstacles, and struggle to avoid innumerable traps laid for them. One wrong turn could spell disaster. Communication is limited. And time is running out.

Although Bridger Cook is just beginning his graduate studies in mechanical engineering after taking courses through Oregon State University’s Accelerated Master’s Platform, he started to prepare years ago as an energy systems engineering undergraduate at OSU-Cascades in Bend.

When three Oregon State students signed up for a project in the university’s new humanitarian engineering program, the first question was, Have any of you made soap? Nervous laughter broke out when each one said “no.”

“Ok, this will be fun,” Brianna Goodwin recalls thinking.

In a dramatic breakthrough for robotics, researchers in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University used a reinforcement learning algorithm operating in a simulated environment to train a bipedal robot to walk, run, hop, skip, and climb stairs in the real world.

The “sim-to-real” learning process represents a transformation in robotics control, according to Jonathan Hurst, professor of mechanical engineering and robotics.

Where did your interest in wave energy come from?

Oregon State University College of Engineering students and faculty recognize David Blunck as the associate professor of mechanical engineering at the helm of the Combustion, Ignition, Radiation, and Energy Laboratory and the Propulsion Laboratory, and as associate head of the School of Mechanical, Manufacturing, and Industrial En

Our faculty are the heart of the College of Engineering’s pursuit of excellence. These are the people in whom our research and education missions live and breathe. Not only are the college’s faculty shaping the future by driving discovery and innovation — in the areas of artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced manufacturing, clean water, materials science, renewable energy, and many others — they are teaching and mentoring tomorrow’s leaders. Above all, faculty excellence fosters student success.