| RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP ACTIVITIES: COLLEGES, CENTERS, AND INSTITUTES |
OSU's College of Engineering has a research mission of growing collaborative, interdisciplinary research clusters that are motivated by local, national, and international needs for knowledge discovery to solve complex global problems. Our faculty are international experts connected to a global collaborative network, and our research and graduate studies programs are national assets.
Our strategic plan targets a significant increase in research activities that will deliver the impact of a top-25 engineering college. We are meeting our targets thanks to an energetic, diverse, and growing faculty. Faculty in our seven departments collaborate in dynamic cross-disciplinary teams, aided by our research clusters and centers that facilitate research in strategic areas, including information usability, sustainable energy, mixed-signal integration, biological and ecological systems, micro/nano-systems, and infrastructure and transportation.
Other target areas include intelligent manufacturing, geographical information systems, microscale systems for toxic waste cleanup, and cooling technologies for portable electronic devices.
Our research provides vital economic impact to the state and industry,
creating new technologies, new spin-off companies, and new jobs. We
will continue to emphasize the importance of our research and graduate
programs as a key contribution to the economic development of Oregon,
the Pacific Northwest, and the world.
We've coined this term for our teams of faculty, students, and industry partners who are pooling resources and expertise in order to solve the world's problems more quickly.
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DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL & ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING |
The department conducts research, teaching and outreach in biological, ecological and water resource engineering that addresses national needs in environmental technology development and application, provide growth opportunities for students, and improve the quality of life for those in Oregon and beyond. Important issues being addressed in the bioengineering area include bioproduct and biofuel engineering, downstream processing in biotechnology, biosystems analysis across temporal and spatial scales, nanosensors, microtechnology, and tissue-based biosensor systems. The water resources group is expanding our knowledge in the area of watershed processes, including the management of water for agriculture and other uses, investigating soil-water-atmosphere-plant system relationships, developing engineering solution for eco-friendly approaches to river and watershed management, developing strategies to minimize the impact of agricultural operations on ground water quality, and conducting ecosystems studies for landscape planning and alternative futures analysis. We are developing management plans to reduce the water quality impacts of rural and agricultural activities from point and non-point sources, and examining the relationship of land-use patterns and practices on water quality and the role of riparian zone. Our new undergraduate program in Ecological Engineering provides a unique opportunity for training in this rapidly emerging field. This work centers on Oregon, but includes projects across the United States, in Canada, as well as in South America and Asia.
To meet the critical need for the State of Oregon, Chemical Engineering Department is changing its research direction toward the high-tech oriented Chemical Engineering, emphasizing microelectronics processing, microtechnology-based energy and chemical systems (MECS), advanced materials, bio-chemical/medical engineering, and environmental chemical engineering. Research projects in fundamental areas, including Chemical Reaction Engineering, fine particle technology, and supercritical fluid processing, will also be maintained, which have been the strengths of the Department.
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL, CONSTRUCTION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
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The School of Civil and Construction Engineering engages in research related to many different problems involving infrastructure and water resources issues, ocean and coastal processes and structures, construction engineering and management, and geomatics. School goals include recognition as a regional and national resource for such activities. Critical issues currently under study include: seismic performance of foundations and structures; "intelligent" structures and transportation methods (i.e., adaptive to dynamic and real-time control); application of fiber-reinforced polymers for renovation of structures; highway materials; access to transportation facilities by disabled persons; identification of critical pollutant transport processes and parameters in the groundwater environment; physical modeling of coastal structures; anadromous fish passage in rivers; stormwater and combined sewer overflow management; risk management, integrated design and construction, and innovation in the design and construction of infrastructure.
With an emphasis on collaborative research, the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) continues to form partnerships both within the campus and with other universities, industry, and other organizations. This collaborative approach has led to world-class research, as well as to attracting award-winning researchers.
Key research thrusts include:
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DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL AND MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING |
| Besides maintaining excellence in our nationally ranked undergraduate programs, we continue to work on increasing the visibility of our graduate programs and to increase our research productivity. The three primary areas of research in the IME department are: | |
Other research areas in the department include: Design and control issues in computer-integrated manufacturing, design of cellular and flexible manufacturing systems, and application of economic and decision analysis methodologies.
Research in mechanical engineering at OSU ranges from fundamental studies to directly applied research. Primary research goals include:
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The department includes four research specialty areas with the following long-term research thrusts:
Interdisciplinary Research Collaborations. Mechanical Engineering faculty are also integrally involved in the highly interdisciplinary Microtechnology-based Energy and Chemical Systems (MECS) initiative at OSU, through which researchers from the colleges of Engineering, Science, and Agricultural Sciences are working to develop microscale applications related to the management of heat transfer, mass transfer, and fluidic processes in energy, chemical, and biological systems—for example, miniature heat pumps, chemical synthesis systems, waste cleanup devices, power sources, and bioreactors. The MECS initiative, in turn, constitutes one arm of the Microproducts Breakthrough Institute (MBI), a collaborative research partnership with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). MECS/MBI researchers are also key players in the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI), a multidisciplinary regional research collaboration spearheaded by OSU, PNNL, the University of Oregon, and Portland State University.
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The primary long-term goal of the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics is to maintain and expand nuclear science and technology education and research by offering a complete suite of degree options from B.S. to Ph.D., and including the MHP and MEng, in both Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics. We also intend to be consistently recognized as one of the top programs in the U.S. in both areas. . |
The global importance of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases will stimulate the future expansion for nuclear supplied electricity around the world and will drive the demand for Nuclear Engineers. Radioactive waste issues, environmental restoration, and medical uses of radiation continue to be important in the Northwest and across the country and drive the need for Radiation Health Physicists.
For the future the Department will continue to develop high quality research programs in three primary areas: nuclear reactor safety and thermal hydraulics, environmental health physics, and computational and numerical methods development
Nuclear reactor safety and thermal hydraulics research embodies both basic and applied studies aimed at understanding the physics, and ensuring the safe operation of, nuclear reactors and other facilities. The Department has had a long-standing history of high quality research in this area with the nationally and internationally known Advanced Thermal Hydraulics Research Laboratory and APEX research facility. These facilities have expanded our nuclear safety and thermal hydraulics experimental capabilities and the exploration of heat transfer and fluid flow research opportunities outside of the nuclear industry.
Environmental health physics includes research aimed at understanding the transport mechanisms for radioactive materials in the environment, developing clean up and environmental restoration technology for radioactive contaminated soils, and developing the methods to produce radioisotopes for medical and other applications.
Computational and numerical methods development bridges and complements research in many nuclear engineering and health physics areas. It includes the development of advanced numerical schemes for the rapid solution of fundamental and applied problems, and the application of advanced computer codes to solve problems in many areas.
Oregon State University Research Office
312 Kerr Administration Building, Corvallis, OR 97331
Phone 541-737-3467 Fax 541-737-9041
researchsupport@oregonstate.edu
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