Oregon scientists and startups have joined forces to create the next generation of “Low-E” window technology.
Category » Innovation
May 21, 2013
Balancing Work and Family
Drew Arnold juggles personal and professional
Babies don’t wait for you to get your master’s degree. They arrive on their own schedules and change your life. Drew Arnold learned that lesson when he became a father. He also found that sleep comes in a distant third to family and education. In 2010, he began a graduate program in mechanical engineering at [...]
May 21, 2013
OSU Advantage: Sustainable Semis
Partnership with Daimler Trucks North America produces carbon-fiber prototype
Trucking companies are looking for new ways to cut fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. A partnership between Oregon State and Daimler is making inroads
May 21, 2013
Sea Trio
Oregon State will lead design and construction of coastal research vessels
Oregon State has been designated by the NSF as the lead institution for the design, building and launching of as many as three state-of-the-art research vessels.
May 21, 2013
Flight Plan
UAV technology can create jobs, save money and lives
UAVs can help manage wildfires, support a search-and-rescue mission, plant trees to avoid wind or heat damage, monitor wildlife, improve irrigation, detect crop-disease outbreaks and gauge environmental health.
May 21, 2013
On the Drawingboard
Space for the new paradigm of teaching and learning
A new learning laboratory will be a seedbed for the latest concepts in active teaching and learning to Oregon State.
May 20, 2013
Online and Face-to-Face
Active learning combines technology and teamwork
The hallowed “sage on the stage” tradition is giving way to a more interactive process leavened by Wi-Fi and the Web.
May 3, 2013
Biochar video
Learn how biochar is made, sequesters carbon and protects water quality
Perry Morrow, student in the Oregon State University Water Resources Graduate Program, produced this video on biochar, the carbonized remains of plants. Turning low-value wood and other biomass into biochar sequesters carbon from the atmosphere for hundreds of years. The resulting material may also benefit water quality by absorbing pollutants such as copper, lead, zinc [...]
January 23, 2013
The Glove Goes Wireless
Student team wins national award for innovative design
A student-designed “wireless hand sensor” may not only help reduce hand and wrist injuries associated with repetitive motion but may have applications in robotics, medicine and computer gaming.
January 10, 2013
Advantage for Business
Oregon State creates "one stop shop" for businesses to access market-driven research, skilled workforce
OSU officials have launched a new initiative called Oregon State University Advantage, designed to boost the university’s impact on job creation and economic progress in Oregon and the nation. “Oregon State University Advantage should foster increased bottom-line success for business,” said Rick Spinrad, OSU vice president for research. “It will dramatically increase private industry access [...]
October 8, 2012
Robots Learn to Walk
An era of walking robots that can help people with physical disabilities, take on dangerous missions or aid in disaster response is about to begin. One of the leaders in this emerging field, Oregon State University engineer Jonathan Hurst, was recognized in October by Popular Mechanics with one of its “Breakthrough Innovator” awards of 2012. [...]
September 27, 2012
Partners in Science
The Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry has been created through a collaboration of state, federal and private sector partners.
September 10, 2012
Behind the Screens
OSU-UO partnership aims at greening the flat-panel display industry
Some of today’s flat-panel TV and computer screens are nearly as big as a living room wall. They bring us unimaginably sharp detail, from the spots on butterfly wings to the grimace on a linebacker’s face. Whether hooked up to your cable feed, DVD player or wi-fi, this technology is becoming integral to daily life. However, our love of flashy high-res has a dark side.
August 6, 2012
Space Dreams
Don Pettit talks about exploration, colonizing other planets and raising zucchini on the International Space Station
When he’s on Earth, Don Pettit dreams about space. But when he’s in space, he dreams about walking on Earth. “Dreams may have something to do with humans never being satisfied, which is why we go exploring in the first place,” he says. If there’s a gene for the urge to explore new worlds, Pettit [...]
June 1, 2012
Value-Added Scientist
Mark Whitham’s know-how is a sought-after commodity for small canners hoping to kick-start or upgrade their facilities.
June 1, 2012
“They Never Tasted Fish Like This Before”
A Coos Bay entrepreneur teamed up with an Oregon Sea Grant seafood specialist to create a new business and local jobs.
May 30, 2012
Running Clear
Gary Klinkhammer turned water analysis into environmental protection
The Arctic Ocean, 1997. Gary Klinkhammer had strapped a water chemistry analyzer onto the hull of a retired U.S. Navy nuclear submarine to measure carbon. He had come to this bleak and desolate place looking for organic matter, fertile detritus dumped into the ocean by massive rivers in Siberia and North America. “The Arctic in [...]
May 30, 2012
Turncoat Proteins
Scientists scope out the earliest signs of disease
It’s one of life’s little ironies. The proteins in our bodies fight infection, carry messages, ferry oxygen and build tissue. But then, like double agents in a spy novel, they can betray us. They overreact to a virus and attack our own organs. They promote cancer, help clog arteries or set up roadblocks in the [...]
May 30, 2012
Business Partners
Entrepreneurs leverage OSU research in startup companies
One sunny spring afternoon, friends sat together in the backyard of a Corvallis home sipping wine, bemoaning the recent hike in gas prices to $3.50 per gallon. Among them were a former product-development specialist for Hewlett-Packard and an Oregon State University chemist. Perhaps inspired by the bioethanol in their glasses, what might happen, they wondered, [...]
May 30, 2012
Sowing seeds for business
Startup companies and entrepreneurs work hand-in-hand with researchers
New startup companies are emerging from Oregon State research. Here are three young companies just getting their feet on the ground.
May 26, 2012
Data Driven
Chris Patton uses computer modeling to help build world-champion racecars
When Chris Patton was helping his Formula SAE team design a racecar for international competition, he made an unusual suggestion: angle the rear wheels outward in relation to the car. Common knowledge would warn against that move. Turning the rear tires outward makes the car less stable. But Patton, a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering [...]
May 8, 2012
New Corvallis microtechnology firm launches line of industrial micromixers
Company aims for $2 billion microreactor life-sciences market
Microflow CVO (www.microflowcvo.com), a new company spun off from research in the Oregon State University Microproducts Breakthrough Institute (MBI), has launched its first product line of stainless steel micromixers. Inside the precision-engineered devices are a multilayer network of channels designed to meet manufacturer needs in the pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, personal care products and other industries. Dime-sized [...]
February 21, 2012
Taking stock of wave energy
Researchers make preparations for an emerging industry
These are the formative years of a West Coast wave energy industry, and scientists are working with businesses, communities and policymakers to gather environmental data, test new technologies and consider the options. Their work is coordinated through the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC), a partnership between Oregon State University and the University of [...]
December 21, 2011
New OSU spinoff company ships first product
Biosurfactant aims at pharmaceutical, cosmetic, environmental remediation and other global markets.
AGAE Technologies opened its doors in May 2011 on the basis of research by Xihou Yin, research scientist in the College of Pharmacy.
December 8, 2011
OSU undergraduate solves long-standing problem in organic chemistry
Sam Bartlett's findings make chemical synthesis faster, more efficient
When Sam Bartlett, an Oregon State University senior in chemistry, put on his lab coat, goggles and latex gloves in the summer of 2010, he didn’t expect to wind up helping organic chemists around the world. With guidance from Chris Beaudry, assistant professor of chemistry, he developed the most efficient and productive method yet reported [...]
December 6, 2011
Mapmaker for the climate
OSU grad student will help Web users visualize climate data
If you love 3-D graphics, the daily TV weather maps just keep getting better. With the sweep of an arm, an announcer can set winds and weather systems in motion like the master of ceremonies in a three-ring circus. We can sit back and watch clouds, rain and snow swirl over landscapes from local to [...]
October 28, 2011
24/7 Checkup
Sensors could transmit vital signs around the clock
A new chapter in high-tech medicine is being written by electrical engineers at Oregon State University. A team led by Patrick Chiang has confirmed that an electronic technology called “ultrawideband” could lead to the development of sophisticated “body-area networks,” systems of wearable sensors and communication devices designed to track an individual’s health. Such networks would [...]
October 27, 2011
Testing Our Metal
Research sharpens manufacturing's competitive edge
Chain saws, baseball bats, truck bodies, jet engine parts and bridges. All from America’s industrial heartland, right? Or made in China? Wrong. Companies that produce these and other metal products — from kitchen knives and laboratory incubators to steel fabrication stock — employ thousands of Oregonians. One of the tools in their toolbox is a [...]
October 27, 2011
Chemistry for Life
The foundation for OSU's new science center was built a century ago
In 2011, the first Baby Boomer turned 65 — the leading edge of a wave that is going to change the country. By 2030 one in every five Americans will be older than that. People are already living longer, taking time to travel and to enjoy their families. Think gourmet cooking classes, fishing trips and [...]
October 26, 2011
The Science of Design
On the cutting edge of functional apparel for health, comfort and sustainability
One day last spring, a Nike executive was touring Oregon State University’s apparel design facilities. After being shown the textile lab, the thermal lab and the chemistry lab, he blurted out: “Oh my gosh! This is design with beakers!” He was right — but only partly. Beakers are just the beginning of science-based apparel design [...]
