A new documentary featuring a group of OSU engineering students in Kenya is now available on the web. (photo: Justin Smith)

Community members of Lela, Kenya, spent hours every day fetching water, which was so contaminated it often sickened young children. Now, thanks to a partnership with Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA) and its Oregon State University chapter (EWB-OSU), the 2,000 residents of the remote, rural community can access safe water.

A team of five Oregon State students, plus a technical mentor, traveled in July 2012 to the Kenyan village near Lake Victoria. The team oversaw drilling of a well and construction of a rainwater catchment system, culminating three years of work and planning.

The mission of EWB-OSU is to work with developing communities around the world to provide basic human needs, said Nicholas Kusanto, a chemical engineering student and current president of the group.

“At the same time, ” Kusanto said, “we strive to promote an environment for our members to use the skills they learn in the classroom to gain experiences, build résumés, and feel as if they can make an impact on the world.”

The project was such a success that the team has been invited to return this June to drill a second well. The partnership is slated to continue through 2014.

In 2008, Lela submitted an application to EWB-USA for help developing a sustainable source of potable water. EWB-OSU adopted the project the following year. After two assessment trips to Lela to conduct a community health survey, technical water source assessment, and GPS mapping, the team determined that the best implementation options were to drill a community well fitted with an Afridev hand pump, which can pump water from 100 meters below the surface, and to construct a rainwater catchment system at the village’s primary school.

The OSU team spearheaded fundraisers and sought grants to realize its goals. Emirates Airline donated airplane tickets. The team’s mentor, Jeff Randall, a retired groundwater hydrologist at CH2M HILL, volunteered his experience and expertise.

“We owe a great deal to our donors, the Corvallis community, and OSU,” said Zachary Dunn, project coordinator and public policy graduate student. “We are thrilled with the way it turned out.”

Students from all engineering disciplines, as well as other departments, are encouraged to take part in the efforts of EWB-OSU. The Kenya Project team members agreed that a wide skill set came in handy, especially as the team encountered challenges.  For example, civil engineering student Jessy Cawly, was able to bring more to bear than just engineering know-how.   As a speaker of Swahili, she was able to speak to those in the community who did not speak English, typically older women.

“Trips like these require defined responsibilities yet flexible roles,” said Jordan Machtelinckx, a civil engineering student on the team. “Working in developing communities, and eastern Africa in particular, always has unexpected challenges. The main one was scheduling according to ‘Africa time’ because we were obviously on a time crunch. This created some unexpected and unfamiliar stress for our team to work through.”

Despite delays in the arrival of materials and equipment, including the drilling rig, the team was able to complete the project on time. “One of the bigger challenges the team faced was getting used to a pit latrine that was home to several bats, which the team eventually termed the ‘bat cave,’” said Dunn.

The team members found themselves comfortable yet cozy living in a small stick and mud hut, with mosquito nets to hang above their mattresses.  Despite having to adjust to conditions, students were embraced by the people, who reached out to invite them into their homes for lunch or dinner.

“We learned a new meaning of generosity and welcome,” said Machtelinckx. “Even though many of us may have joined EWB because we liked the idea of drilling a well or constructing a catchment, we stay involved because we know we now have family in Lela.”

“The best moments from the trip were when we hit water during drilling, and when the entire community threw us a going away party before we left,” Dunn added. “They are much better dancers than us, but we gave it our best.”

The university created a video documentary about the endeavor titled “Kel Wer,” which means “to bring song” in the local Dholuo language. The film has been screened in Portland and Corvallis.

“I saw the opportunity to tell a compelling story about our engineering students applying what they’ve learned toward the common good via the documentary film format,” said Thuy Tran, director of marketing communications for the College of Engineering.

Documentary film maker Justin Smith and two new friends. (contributed photo)

Justin Smith, Oregon State’s multimedia production manager, traveled with the team to document their efforts.

Smith encountered his own logistical challenges in Lela.  “Shooting in a remote location has endless challenges [such as heat, bugs, and limited power],” he said, “but ultimately it became very motivating to reflect on the fact that I had an opportunity to tell this story.”

Before traveling to Kenya, Smith envisioned shooting a climactic scene of a well gushing with water, similar to an oil well.  “It wasn’t exactly how I imagined it,” Smith said. “The water just kind of dribbled out. And I thought, ‘Wow, that’s it?’”

The documentary evolved over the time he spent in Kenya.   The story wasn’t just about drilling a well. “I realized,” Smith said, “that the story was primarily about the people—what they were about, and what this meant to them, and what it meant to the team.”

“Kel Wer” has been released online at http://poweredbyorange.com/kelwer/.

OSU President Ed Ray gave a State of the University speech in Portland on Jan. 31, 2013. (photo: David Baker)

President Ed Ray gave a “State of the University” address at the Portland Hilton Thursday afternoon, where he shared a long list of achievements with the crowd of nearly 500 people.

Ray announced two initiatives supported by private gifts – a $40 million engineering research facility leveraged by three gifts totaling $20 million; and a $5 million gift commitment to boost performing arts at OSU and throughout the state.

Ray outlined Oregon State’s role as a 21st-century Land Grant university that is “reinventing the workforce,” a notion that is appealing to top students within the state. The OSU president noted that more than 40 percent of the university’s incoming freshmen from Oregon had a high school grade point average of 3.75 or higher, and Oregon State attracts more valedictorians and salutatorians than any other institution in the state.

OSU’s enrollment has climbed every year and is near 26,000, and it has nearly doubled its international enrollment. To meet the demand, the university has hired more than 180 tenure track faculty in the last two years.

“I know of no other university in the nation that has hired this many new faculty,” Ray emphasized.

Despite the nationwide recession, Oregon State is on solid financial ground, Ray said, and praised his faculty for their research contributions and the Oregon State University Foundation for its successful Campaign for OSU.

Last year, Oregon State faculty brought in $281 million in research funding – despite federal cutbacks at the agency level. At the same time, the university signed a record 108 licensing agreements.

“Since 2006, we have spun off 17 companies that have attracted more than $180 million in capital investment,” Ray said. He added that earlier this month, OSU launched a new initiative – the Oregon State University Advantage – to serve business partners throughout the region in areas including innovative materials, advanced manufacturing, energy and clean technology, high tech, health care and innovation related to food, water and the environment.

The Campaign for OSU has raised some $888 million toward a goal of $1 billion and was bolstered by Ray’s announcement of new gifts.

The engineering initiative is being fueled by a $7 million gift from Peter and Rosalie Johnson, a $10 million gift from an anonymous donor, and $3 million in additional private funds and matching state funds. Peter Johnson, a 1955 engineering alumnus, ran Tekmax, Inc., in Tangent, Ore., a company that revolutionized battery manufacturing equipment.

The gifts will fund a new educational and research facility for the College of Engineering that will help accommodate a near-34 percent growth in student enrollment that has occurred over the past three years; will provide additional labs for collaborative research; and will expand Oregon State’s nationally recognized leadership in chemical, biological and environmental engineering.

“This new building will help to revolutionize how Oregon State approaches collaborative projects involving scientists and students in engineering and other colleges in essential areas of study and discovery,” Ray said.

Performing arts at OSU is getting a $5 million boost from an anonymous donor. (contributed photo)

A $5 million commitment from an anonymous donor – the largest gift the university has ever received for the arts – will advance performing arts at OSU and beyond. The anonymous gift establishes endowments for four faculty and staff positions, including support for the head of the School of Arts and Communication and two professors. The fourth endowment will support a new position at the university:  a director of the performing arts who will promote arts offerings at OSU and connect with arts programs in the area.

“This cornerstone investment in the arts is vital to our mission because great arts and sciences programs are at the core of every great research university,” said Ray. “The arts provide the context and inspiration – they drive the culture of creativity, innovation and diversity that is essential to a thriving research environment. Excellence in the arts supports OSU’s growing impact and influence in all arenas.”

A portion of the gift comes as a challenge, with $1 million of the commitment contingent upon the university securing an additional $1 million in private support for the School of Arts and Communication. Any gift or pledge of $25,000 or more to the school qualifies for this challenge.

Among other OSU accomplishments Ray pointed out:

• This week, the National Science Foundation announced that it has selected OSU as lead institution on a project to design and coordinate construction of as many as three research vessels – a 10-year project that could total $290 million;
• The state’s first branch campus, OSU-Cascades, is rapidly moving toward becoming a four-year institution. Since late April, the campus has raised $3.3 million of a $4 million private fundraising goal to help fund the expansion;
• This fall, the Fiske Guide to Colleges named OSU as one of the nation’s 41 “best buy schools” based on strong academics and reasonable cost. Only 20 public universities were so ranked.
• During the last year, OSU opened the Linus Pauling Science Center, the Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families, the International Living Learning Center, and the Graduate Studies Center at OSU-Cascades, and renovated Furman Hall.

Sandra Woods, new dean of the College of Engineering

Sandra Woods, a former Oregon State University environmental engineer who has led the engineering program at Colorado State University for the past seven years, was today named dean of the OSU College of Engineering.

Woods replaces Ron Adams, who stepped down as dean to lead a new initiative at OSU on industry relations as executive associate vice president for research. She will begin her new duties as dean of OSU’s College of Engineering on July 30.

Woods has been dean of Colorado State’s College of Engineering since July 1, 2006, after a one-year appointment as interim dean. She previously was on the engineering faculty at Oregon State, where she also helped launch the university’s distance and continuing education programs. Woods was on the OSU faculty from 1984 to 2001.

“Sandra Woods is an experienced and visionary leader, who directed Colorado State’s engineering program through an impressive period of growth in enrollment, research and impact,” said Sabah Randhawa, OSU’s provost and executive vice president. “She also has led numerous initiatives with distance learning and graduate education and she has been an advocate for women pursuing engineering as a career. We’re delighted to bring her back to our campus.”

After graduating from Michigan State University, Woods earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in civil engineering from the University of Washington and joined the OSU faculty in 1984. She is an environmental engineer who specializes in the bioremediation and biotransformation of environmental contaminants, for which she received a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1985.

While at OSU, Woods was honored for her teaching and also served in a variety of administrative roles, both in the College of Engineering and throughout the university. She helped launch Oregon State’s distance and continuing education programs and served as interim dean of the program in 1998-99.

In 2001, Woods was appointed head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University. She served as department head until her appointment as interim dean in 2005.

As dean, she led a college with more than 2,500 students and annual research expenditures of about $63 million. Under her leadership, the college is building a $71 million interdisciplinary teaching and research facility. Other key projects have included construction of a new residence hall to house an engineering living/learning community, a new co-op program, new interdisciplinary majors, options and minors, and a novel freshman retention program.

The college received the Women in Engineering Program Advocates Network “Women in Engineering Initiative Award” for its success in improving gender diversity within the engineering program. In 2010, the Colorado section of the American Council of Engineering Companies awarded Woods the General Palmer Award as the “Outstanding Engineer in Industry” for her leadership and contributions.

As dean of OSU’s College of Engineering, Woods will take over the leadership of a college with an annual budget of $73 million, a total of 253 faculty and staff, and more than 5,200 students.

Scott Ashford has served as interim dean of OSU’s College of Engineering since Adams’ left the position.

Twenty-three senior university administrators and faculty have been appointed to the A۰P۰L۰U Energy Initiative Technical Working Group. Ronald Adams, Dean of the College of Engineering at Oregon State University, was among those appointed. Launched in the spring, the Energy Initiative is designed to maximize and advance the contributions of public research universities in the nation’s drive to energy independence.

Novelist gives reading at Center for the Humanities

This year’s opening presentation at the Center for the Humanities will be a reading from his current novel by Ehud Havazelet followed by a reception to welcome the 2009-10 Research Fellows. The talk will begin at 4 p.m., Oct. 12, and will be followed by the reception. The Center is in Autzen House, 811 S.W. Jefferson Avenue.
Havazelet is a winner of both the California and Oregon book awards for fiction. An associate professor in the writing program at the University of Oregon, he is a former Research Fellow at the Center and is the author of Like Never Before (Farrar, Straus, & Giroux), What Is It Then Between Us? (Scribners), and Bearing the Body (Picador), which was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2008.

Jeffers’ photography on display

A collection of photographs by composer, artist and longtime Corvallis resident Ron Jeffers is on exhibit at Oregon State University’s Center for the Humanities. The show, “Oregon Photographs from the Last 30 Years,” includes realistic and abstract works, in color as well as black and white.
The photographs in the exhibit were made over a period of 40 years, using both analog and digital methods. Copies of the prints in the exhibit are available for sale; proceeds will go to Corvallis Community Outreach, Inc.
The exhibit, at 811 S.W. Jefferson Avenue, Corvallis, is free and open to the public weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For information, call 737-2450.

Student earns Killam fellowship

Amy Owen, a graphic design and business & entreprenuership major at OSU, has been awarded one of the 14 Killam fellowships for study in Canada for 2009-10. She will attend the University of Victoria. The award includes a $10,000 scholarship; health insurance, mobility grant, orientation in Ottawa and spring seminar in Washington, D.C.

Researchers given NSF awards

Five researchers in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University have been recognized this year with National Science Foundation CAREER Awards, which is 11th in the nation for the number of awards presented to engineering and computer science faculty.
Each award provides funding of at least $400,000 for a new research project with an educational/outreach component. Before this, no more than three OSU engineering faculty had received CAREER Awards in the same year.
The 2009 award recipients are Thinh Nguyen, Ted Brekken, and Bechir Hamdaoui, assistant professors in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Desiree Tullos, assistant professor in the Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering; and Michael Scott, assistant professor in the School of Civil and Construction Engineering.

Fall Golf Classic

The Associated Students of Oregon State University is holding their seventh annual Fall Golf Classic, a tournament to benefit the Student Leadership Fund. The tournament is an 18-hole scramble tournament, with up to four person teams.
Enter for the chance to win a Toyota FJ Cruiser. The tournament takes place Oct. 17 at 10 a.m. A barbecue and awards reception follows the event. Super Tickets are $75 general registration fee, $65 for students. Super Ticket Registration includes all contest entries and 1 mulligan. Regular tickets are $60, $50 for students. Mulligans may be purchased for $5, teams are allowed up to four.
For more information see http://asosu.oregonstate.edu/page/Fall_Golf_Classic

Most of those impacts, however, are largely unknown, and the report itself is being used as a guide for the flood of technological advances seeking to tap a clean, renewable energy source like ocean waves.

OSU's Pacific Storm pulls a wave energy buoy out to sea.

“It’s a framework for the key issues we need to address in marine ecosystems as wave energy develops in the Pacific Northwest,” said George Boehlert, director of OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport and editor of the report.

“The high priority issues deal with potential impacts on marine mammals and seabirds, the effects on the physical environment, and changes to the (ocean floor) habitat,” Boehlert said.

“There also is a need to explore the cumulative effects of wave energy parks as the technology develops and commercialization efforts scale up.”
The report , available online only at http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/waveenergy, identifies five potential impact areas: fish, seabirds, marine mammals, pelagic habitat, and benthic habitat.

Meanwhile, OSU researchers in the College of Engineering tested their latest prototype in ocean experiments near Newport in late September.

“This has been a tremendous collaboration to help zero in on optimum designs,” said Annette von Jouanne, professor of electrical engineering, referring to OSU’s collaboration with Columbia Power Technologies and the U.S. Navy.

Oregon State research assistants adjust the wave energy research buoy that was deployed last week off Newport on the Oregon Coast.

Columbia is driving the effort to commercialization, and OSU is providing the support and research role, she said.

OSU engineers are helping to develop a “direct drive” buoy technology that they believe will have advantages of efficiency and reliability.

“Our ocean tests went exceedingly well,” said Ted Brekken, an assistant professor of nuclear engineering. “The buoy produced power, the hydrodynamic behavior fit our expectations, the deployment went well and we got a lot of data to work with.”

Experts are still estimating that wave energy, when fully developed, might be comparable to the potential of hydroelectric energy in the United States, and could ultimately supply as much as 10 percent of Oregon’s electrical power.

OSU’s wave energy research program is sailing forward on the crest of $13.5 million in new funds from federal and state sources awarded two weeks ago to the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center based at the Hatfield Marine Science Center.

The new money will move the generation of energy by waves, ocean currents, and tides from the laboratory to part of the nation’s alternative energy future. The OSU project  is one of just two new marine renewable energy centers in the nation.

“This is just the beginning,” said Robert Paasch, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, and interim program director of the center. “But we have no doubt that wave energy can become an important contributor to energy independence for the United States, and Oregon can lead those efforts.”