2 THIS AMAZING PLACE Prosperity Through Innovation
<strong>Oregon</strong> is an amazing place to build an engineering program that will have a lasting impact on our future. Many <strong>of</strong> us native <strong>Oregon</strong>ians remember the roadside signs that read: Keep <strong>Oregon</strong> Green. I saw that phrase so <strong>of</strong>ten while growing up that “<strong>Oregon</strong>” and “Green” became synonymous for me. Back then, <strong>Oregon</strong> was natural resource rich and technology poor. Today, we’re home to one <strong>of</strong> the greatest concentrations <strong>of</strong> technology industry in the nation, and we’re “green” at the same time. That blend <strong>of</strong> greenness and technology sets us apart from the rest <strong>of</strong> the world and gives this <strong>College</strong> the opportunity to develop the engineers and spin out the innovations that will make the future more prosperous for <strong>Oregon</strong>ians and the world. From sustainable development and new sources <strong>of</strong> clean energy, to advances in medical technology, civil infrastructure, and information technology, our students are learning to solve the most challenging global problems. We’ve made great strides in our quest to increase our impact on innovation. Our community <strong>of</strong> faculty, staff, and students are advancing on many fronts – from researchers spinning out new companies to students doing amazing things. The number one contribution we make is creating new engineers who enter the workforce ready to innovate – women and men who know the fundamentals, work well on teams, and have enough hands-on experience to understand their roles in helping organizations succeed in the global economy. Many <strong>of</strong> our student teams took top honors this year at international design competitions. One group is helping develop a $100 laptop computer for developing nations (see p. 28), and another is helping design heated clothing that played a role in OSU’s baseball team clinching its second consecutive NCAA Championship (see p. 30). fruit: more than a dozen ideas are moving from laboratory discoveries to spin-outs <strong>of</strong> new products and companies. A few examples include wind turbines that can be mounted on buildings (see p. 4), biological fuel cells that produce 10 times more electricity than previously thought possible (see p. 12), scanning systems that identify insects to ensure stream health (see p. 8), bleach replacements for the paper industry (see p. 14), smarter spreadsheet s<strong>of</strong>tware (see p. 18), and a communication system for safer emergency C-sections (see p. 16). The list goes on and on, so be sure to visit our dynamic engineering community online at engr.oregonstate.edu to read more. All this work by these outstanding people translates into greater prosperity – in the broadest sense <strong>of</strong> that word – for everyone. We’ve even found a way to measure our impact on prosperity. It’s called “innovation capacity” and is a combination <strong>of</strong> delivering top engineering talent and creating powerful impact through research. Using this metric, we currently rank No. 40 among more than 300 U.S. engineering schools, up from No. 56 in 2000. Thanks to our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends, we’re succeeding at building on our historic legacy <strong>of</strong> excellence to become one <strong>of</strong> the nation’s finest engineering programs. Thank you all for your ongoing involvement and support <strong>of</strong> our successes. With best wishes, Ron Adams, Dean Dean Ron Adams and student Ambassadors (from left: Meghaan Smith, Erika McQuillen, Elizabeth Spencer, Beth Beaudry, Kyle Robinson, Laura Magaña, and Oman Meza) help open doors for new engineering students at <strong>Oregon</strong> <strong>State</strong>. Learning and working in our unique culture <strong>of</strong> innovation and entrepreneurship is an advantage. Our research clusters are bearing OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> <strong>2007</strong> Annual Report 3
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