NSF

Realistic virtual labs are key to expanding online engineering degree programs

Jeff Nason, professor of environmental engineering and associate head for graduate programs in the School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering, has been awarded a two- year, $200,000 National Science Foundation grant to gauge differences in how physical and virtual laboratories prepare students for an engineering career.

Xiao Fu earns NSF CAREER Award

Xiao Fu, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and artificial intelligence, has received a Faculty Early Career Development, or CAREER, award from the National Science Foundation. Fu will use his five-year, $500,000 award to develop a suite of nonlinear factor analysis tools and contribute to a deeper understanding of unsupervised machine learning and sensing systems. 

Accelerating innovation at the nexus of food, energy, and water systems

In collaboration with the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded Oregon State University a $1.5 million grant. This funding is part of the new NSF-USDA INFEWS program focused on accelerating discovery and innovation at the nexus of food, energy, and water systems.

Layer by layer

Not long ago, Brian Paul considered metal additive manufacturing to be an expensive, niche technique best suited for fabricating a small number of one-off parts. From his perspective, the technology (also known as MAM, or 3D metal printing) held little promise for displacing conventional manufacturing processes, like investment casting or machining. Two unrelated developments changed his mind.

Teaching computer science concepts with Connect Four and more

Researchers at Oregon State University are taking an innovative approach to teaching computer science concepts to middle school students using tabletop games such as Connect Four and Battleship. Working in partnership with teachers and administrators at Linus Pauling Middle School in Corvallis, Oregon, the team will develop and investigate a new curriculum to teach algorithmic thinking to sixth and seventh graders.