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September, 2007 |
update! RESEARCH NEWSLETTER |
Scott Ashford: Shaking Up a New SchoolOn July 16 — just as Scott Ashford arrived at OSU to begin as director of the new School of Civil and Construction Engineering — the earth shook. Specifically, Japan experienced a 6.6 magnitude earthquake. Because Ashford's interests are earthquake engineering and coastal erosion, he flew off two days later to Niigata-Chuetsu Oki for reconnaissance. "It was important to collect perishable information," he said. |
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The NSF-funded team he joined studied over 1,100 complete collapses of residences, and damage to lifeline utilities of gas, water, and electricity; bridges, ports, tanks, industrial facilities, and transportation systems. Of particular interest was the temporary shut-down of the world's largest nuclear power plant. "It will be critical for us to fully understand the performance of that plant, particularly in the context of our growing industry in the U.S.," Ashford said. Ashford's part was to focus on bridge performance and lateral spreading. "We found that bridges performed quite well in this moderate earthquake," he said. "The site-specific data will help improve our computer models, helping make more efficient use of tax dollars spent on earthquake safety in Oregon." |
Now, settled in his new office, Ashford has turned attention to bolstering the strength of CCE research as well as the graduate and undergraduate programs.
"With opportunities for our excellent faculty to do more research, we can complement the education, making it a more vibrant environment," he said.
He's also planning bridges — across disciplines. "There are huge potentials for collaboration with COAS; we share a graduate program with Business, and of course we'll collaborate within Engineering. Plus I'm actively developing joint research projects with agencies in California."
"It feels very good here," said the OSU alumnus, who has taught and conducted research in many parts of the world. As professor at the University of California, San Diego, he helped its School of Engineering climb the national rankings.
In October he will return to Japan with a new NSF grant. "We're going to liquefy the ground," he said.
Simulating an earthquake effect, he will work with 30 Japanese research entities to raise the water pressure in the ground, causing it to lose strength
"This is a problem for bridge foundations and buildings. Ground improvement is key," he said. "We'll explore the effectiveness of different ways densifying or strengthening the ground, such as injecting a fluid that will gel prior to an earthquake. Or allowing for drainage.This project will aim toward application at airports."
He adds, "The experiment will make great video!"
Read about Ashford's accomplishments, projects, and plans,
the CCE website, and the report on the Japanese Earthquake
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The Linus Pauling Institute moved to OSU from California and had fewer than ten staff members in 1996. The next year, Balz Frei was recruited to hold the endowed Linus Pauling Institute Chair, becoming LPI’s first Principal Investigator and Director. Under his guidance, LPI has grown to 60 staff, including 11 Principal Investigators. This growth has enabled the development of research programs in cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, aging, and neurodegenerative disease. Annual extramural funding administered through LPI increased from about $250,000 in 1998 to $2.4 million in 2006-7. Its outreach program has expanded dramatically with the online Micronutrient Information Center (MIC), now visited by over 130,000 people each month. |
| Linus Pauling contemplates Balz Frei. |
Frei is the PI on a five-year, $5.8 million NIH grant that designated LPI as one of the first two Centers of Excellence for Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Antioxidant Therapies.
He has won numerous prestigious awards, including in the recent years from the American College for Advancement in Medicine;the Society for Free Radical Biology and Medicine; and the Medical Research Foundation of Oregon Health & Science University. He serves on the editorial board of three professional journals and has published over 160 research articles.
His current research interests are the roles of oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction in atherosclerosis and how these may be ameliorated by antioxidants and metal chelators.
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| Some of the LPI faculty and staff, left to right: Hao Wei, Vicki Drake, Alan Taylor,Cathy Abney (pink shirt) Sharon Krueger (white shirt), Mohaiza Dashwood, Emily Ho, Rod Dashwood, Barbara McVicar, Weijian Zhang, Balz Frei, Steve Lawson, Tory Hagen, Maret Traber, Joe Beckman, Tracy Oddson |
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One way to get a clear picture of recent OSU happenings: the Summer Issue of the Research Office Newsletter. It highlights : |
A focus on the impacts of climate change, by diverse researchers all across campus
Following the 2007 legislative session. President Ray sent thank-you's to all 90 legislators across the state. Here are excerpts from his letter:
. . . the legislature ultimately made a number of significant improvements that will help Oregon State University better serve students from across the state while also propelling the state’s economy . . .
I greatly appreciate the investments you provided . . . a long and impressive list of programs that were either initiated this session, or received a significant increase, including:
The Engineering Technology Industry Council (ETIC) recommended programs -- $15 million increase in general funds for the Oregon University System The Agricultural Experiment Station, Extension Service, and Forest Research Laboratory (the “statewide public service programs”) -- $5 million increase for program improvements
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The Oregon Innovation Council (Oregon INC) components -- $28 million for seven initiatives in which OSU is an active participant: Ocean Wave Energy ($4.2 million), Food Processing Innovation & Productivity ($3.4 million), Oregon Translational Research and Drug Discovery (OTRADI -- $5.25 million), the Bio-Economy and Sustainable Technologies Research Center (BEST -- $2.5 million), the Community Seafood Initiative ($900,000), the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute ($9 million), and the Manufacturing Initiative ($2.9 million) . . . Thank you. The job is not done. Edward J. Ray, President |
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Lin Reilly is ready to help secure contracts for PIs to strengthen our research enterprise while protecting intellectual property and insuring academic freedom.
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Filling a new position as Senior Grant and Contract Officer in the Office of Sponsored Programs, Reilly brings skills in negotiating with industry, universities, state agencies, and other entities. With experience as a contracting officer and administrator sponsored projects [at another state university] , she's well-versed in handling both pre- and post-award matters. "I like working out the issues, putting the puzzle together," she said. "We get to the 'yes' which works for the PI, while meeting all policies and laws. I do my part so that researchers can do theirs, including being free to publish." |
Reilly believes that building relationships is essential for contracting success. "I'd like to begin now to meet faculty and departmental administrators face-to-face."
Pat Hawk, Interim Director of Sponsored Programs, said, "We're excited that Lin brings a lot of experience and familiarity with the big picture and the processes. She is very tuned in to the needs of faculty. And, she is a delightful person to work with!"
Link to all Research Office services and staff
note: In January 2006, the administration of OSU's research contracts was separated from other types of University contracts. The Office of Sponsored Programs now deals with all contracts that directly support research.
More than 80 researchers across campus and the state will benefit from the Chemistry Department 's success in securing funding for an interdepartmental Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Facility. A state-of-the-art NMR spectrometer will be purchased, and lab space will be remodeled to house it, with $710,900 from the National Science Foundation, $400,000 from the Murdock Trust, $300,000 from the Research Office, $66,700 from the College of Science, $66,700 from the Department, and $66,700 from the University's Building Use Credit funds.
The upgraded capacity will solidify OSU's standing as the dominant NMR provider in Oregon, with the most sensitive carbon detector magnet in the world. "Organic chemists make compounds. We then need to we figure out what we've made," said Rich Carter, Associate Professor of Chemistry. "That's the simple way to say that on almost any day, we rely on an NMR spectrometer — it's extremely important to our work." |
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"Nature makes some compounds in very tiny quantities, and our lab makes them in larger amounts so we can test them for bioactivity such as anti-cancer, HIV, and fungal activity," he said. "NMR is the key."
"The instruments we've had contain 300-400 megahertz magnets. They may take a week for a certain experiment, and we share the equipment with a large number of users. For our very high-powered needs, we've had to send compounds out to the company that makes the stronger instruments. It's really slowed us down."
The new spectrometer will be 700 megahertz, and thus capable of much more resolution.
"It's quite complex," said Carter. "For what took a week, it will take only five hours."
That is all good news to over 20 different research groups across Oregon, in 10 OSU departments from Pharmacy to Wood Science; various universities including OHSU and George Fox U.; and three chemical and biotechnology companies.
Carter said, "As soon as NSF came out with its funded proposals list, the companies that manufacture NMRs started contacting me. The bidding is out now. It will take about six months for us to determine details of what we want, and about six months for it to be built.
"It's hard to predict exactly where science will be a year from now, to know exactly what we'll be using this instrument for," said Carter. "One thing certain is that with the increased number of spectrometers, faculty will be better able to integrate NMR into the curriculum for undergraduate and the graduate programs."
The new NMR will be housed with the old ones in Gilbert Addition, awaiting the new LPI/Chemistry building.
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Don't take for granted those piles of squash and peppers in the festive, open-air atmosphere. A long-term OSU study examines why Farmers' Markets in many communities wither on the vine. See the report at http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf/sr/sr1073.pdf Pictured: Linda Brewer, Senior Research Assistant with the OSU Extension Small Farms Program, conducting a survey at the Hillsdale Farmers' Market. |
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Thank you to all who responded to the Research Office request for updates to the Research Office's web postings of the research activities across campus - see oregonstate.edu/research/multi/index.htm |
If you did not yet send in your updates or approve the previous version, please do so as soon as possible, to janaDOTzviblemanAToregonstateDOTedu
Please refer to the July 24th email sent to each college and center, from Rose Lacey on behalf of John. M. Cassady, Vice President for Research.
The Research Office is now accepting proposals for the General Research Fund (GRF) Fall 2007-08 solicitation. Proposals are due in the Research Office by Monday, October 15, 2007.
Please note: Proposals must be submitted electronically.
See complete program description, application materials and proposal criteria of all Research Office Incentive Funds.
The Summer issue of Update the Research Office Newsletter noted Oregon State faculty who have been elected as fellows of The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and National Academy of Sciences (NAS). We obtained the information from the organizations themselves, yet it has become clear that the lists were incomplete. We are posting the names, with additions as we learn of them, at http://oregonstate.edu/research/multi/faculty.htm#honors
Please let us know of any who are still not shown on our lists [you or colleagues, both current and emeritus faculty]. Include the year of election, if possible. mailto:janaDOTzviblemanAToregonstate.edu
note: The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) should not be confused with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Please let us know if you are a fellow of either organization.
| Denis Sather's title was noted incorrectly in Update's Summer issue. He is a Licensing Assistant for the Office of Technology Transfer. |  |
The OSU Research Office is pleased to invite faculty, professional faculty, and staff involved in the research enterprise to attend an orientation program about research success.
Are you a tenure-tenure track faculty that has recently joined OSU?
Were you new last year but missed the Research Office orientation?
In any position, do you support a research effort?
Whatever your discipline, you can gain guidance and tips about grants, compliance, internal funding, intellectual property protection, and more.
Register at oregonstate.edu/training/course_list.php,
for “Research Office New Faculty Orientation”
Enjoy an overview of the diverse services of the Research Office, network with future collaboration partners, and hear from successful, experienced faculty about how they've made use of the OSU system.
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Update, The Research Office Newsletter is produced approximately monthly and announced via email to all OSU faculty and staff. Subscribe at http://lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/listinfo/Update-the-Research-Office-Newsletter. Please send any news or comments to jana.zvibleman@oregonstate.edu . Link to archived issues.
Oregon State University Research Office
312 Kerr Administration Building, Corvallis, OR 97331
Phone 541-737-3437 Fax 541-737-3093
researchsupport@oregonstate.edu
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