Can you build skyscrapers or other massive structures with wood? Mass timber buildings are changing skylines and changing the way engineers and architects think about building big with wood. They go up faster than steel and concrete. They cost less. They’re made from sustainable resources, and they’re getting taller and taller.
How do you talk to a robot? How about 250 robots? Julie A. Adams, professor of computer science, describes her research on human-robot interaction and the benefits and challenges of drone swarms.
Cyberattacks are getting more frequent, bigger, and more destructive. New research at Oregon State University aims to stop hackers by combining the muscle power of artificial intelligence with the brains of cybersecurity experts. The project is led by Galois Inc. and includes collaborators at University of Edinburgh and Synaptiq.
https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/season-4-partners-research/collaboration-catch-hackers-s4e6
How can we prepare most effectively for the Cascadia subduction zone earthquake? An interactive website called O-HELP, developed by Oregon State researchers, zooms in to any point in Oregon and displays the various risks, giving planning agencies, utilities, and individuals a head start.
How do you forecast and model huge waves in the open ocean? As part of the National Marine Renewable Energy Center, researchers at Oregon State University and the University of Washington are modeling and forecasting extreme waves to help inform wave energy technology.
Is it possible to revolutionize nuclear power in the United States? Oregon State Nuclear Engineering Professor Jose Reyes co-founded NuScale Power to do just that. He's joined by fellow Oregon State Nuclear Engineering Professors Qiao Wu and Todd Palmer to discuss NuScale's revolutionary reactor design and its test facility here on campus.
Are faster networks with more users and devices possible? Researchers at Oregon State with help from Tektronix are advancing technologies to push the boundaries of speed in data collection and transmission. Matt Johnston, Arun Natarajan, and Tejasvi Anand explain their research that spans the networking chain from sensors to wireless and wired transmission.
Goran Jovanovic, professor of chemical engineering at Oregon State, was interested in finding ways to convert carbon dioxide into useful products using renewable energy. When the U.S. Department of Energy rejected a proposal in 2005, Jovanovic sent out an email to former Ph.D. students around the world, looking for potential collaborators. A copy of that email landed in the inbox of Thana Sornchamni, leading to an enduring and mutually beneficial partnership with PTT, Thailand’s biggest industrial giant.
What are magnetic nanoparticles and how can they be used in medicine? Oregon State Associate Professor Pallavi Dhagat and graduate student Phil Lenox explain the very sensitive techniques they are developing using magnetic nanoparticles to detect a biomarker for disease in just a drop of blood or look deep inside the human body.
Biosensor technology is used to detect a wide variety of substances — from drugs, to cancer biomarkers, to chemical contaminants in our food and drinking water. Diatoms — tiny, single-celled plants found in water all over the planet — are playing a big role in a new type of biosensor being developed by Alan Wang at Oregon State. The new technology has a high selectivity and sensitivity, and is much less expensive than traditional methods of detection.
How do you prove someone tested a nuclear weapon? Researchers, Steven Czyz, Lily Ranjbar, and Salam Alhawsawi from the Radiation Detection Group at Oregon State are developing devices smaller than Pop-Tarts that use the metallic alloy CZT to detect radioactive isotopes of the noble gas xenon. This helps prove if someone tested a weapon, supporting the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) that's been signed by 183 nation states.
Advances in 3D graphics have made movies and video games more realistic, but can also have an impact on science. Associate Professor Eugene Zhang and Assistant Professor Yue Zhang describe their research to help medical doctors better target cancerous tumors by using 3D modeling and simulation.
https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/season-3-environmental-and-human-health/toy-story-tumors-s3e1
It’s no secret that women and minorities have historically been underrepresented in science and engineering and have faced a lot of bias upon entering those fields. But what is Oregon State University doing to change that? To find out, we talk to Joe McGuire, one of the College of Engineering’s associate deans, and Anne Gillies, the search advocate program director at Oregon State about how they are building an inclusive environment.
To learn about the efforts to recruit and retain more students of underrepresented groups we talk to Ellen Momsen, director of the Women and Minorities in Engineering program and Kameron Kadooka, the coordinator of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program. We also hear from alumni, Patricia Walsh, Janice Levenhagen-Seeley and Justin Conner about their experiences at Oregon State. Janice describes ChickTech, the non-profit she founded to recruit and retain more girls and women in technology fields.
https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/season-2-engineering-inclusivity/change-and-chicktech-s2e6
In this week's episode, we feature two stories from the Oregon State Robotics Group.
Ravi Balasubramanian, mechanical engineering assistant professor, is designing robo-inspired implantable mechanisms to improve orthopedic surgeries of all types--with a specific focus on tendon transfer surgery related to restoring function of the hand. We talk with him in part 1.
In part 2, we explore Project Chiron, a kit that turns a mechanized wheelchair into a self-driving wheelchair to help those with ALS. It's being developed by Bill Smart, mechanical engineering associate professor, and his graduate student Benjamin Narin.
https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/season-2-engineering-inclusivity/inside-and-outside-s2e5
In this episode, we hear from Greg Herman, professor of chemical engineering, about a sensor he's developed that has the potential to monitor glucose levels via a contact lens.
In Part 2, we explore the research of John Mathews, professor and head of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer science, whose goal is to enable people with serious spinal cord injuries to regain the use of paralyzed limbs.
https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/season-2-engineering-inclusivity/lenses-and-limbs-s2e4
Nordica MacCarty, a faculty member in the Humanitarian Engineering Program at Oregon State, talks about improving the lives of women and children in the developing world through cleaner-burning cook stove technology. We also follow the unlikely journey taken by assistant professor Chinweike Eseonu, three women from the tiny town of Monroe, Oregon, Spanish instructor Loren Chavarria, and three determined engineering students, all made possible by some tasty Mexican food.
In part one, we’ll uncover the extreme challenges of air travel for people with disabilities, the risky measures they take in order to fly, and the serious harm they face every time they board an aircraft. And we’ll meet Associate Professor Katharine Hunter-Zaworski who, for more than three decades, has been is fighting to remove barriers and improve access to transportation for people with disabilities.
By observing crashes, researchers can make recommendations on how to prevent them and ultimately make roads safer for more users. Crashes, however, are difficult to predict and to observe. In part two, we tour the Driving and Bicycling Simulator where Associate Professor David Hurwitz conducts experiments on right-hook crashes in a virtual environment.
https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/season-2-engineering-inclusivity/air-and-land-s2e2
Inclusivity means listening to all voices — creating a beautiful polyphonic sound. Learn about Distinguished Professor Margaret Burnett’s mission to change the way software is designed to be more gender inclusive. Also, meet her former student Kyle Rector, now at University of Iowa, who designed software to help people with vision impairments learn yoga.
In part one, we meet computer science Assistant Professor Stephen Ramsey, who uses computational modeling to look deep into the human genome. His goal: predict who among us is more susceptible to heart disease. The information could determine not only who will benefit most from preventive action, but may even lead to new drugs for treating cardiovascular disease.
We then shift from humans to the world of plants and animals with Ph.D. student Caitlin Condon and Ph.D. candidate Delvan Neville from the Radioecology Research Group in the School of Nuclear Science and Engineering. They are both creating voxel phantom models: Caitlin for pine trees, and Delvan for marine life. By creating these 3-D models, they hope to begin to much more accurately understand radiation dose rates in biota.
https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/season-1-data-science-and-engineering/hearts-and-phantoms-s1e6
The Monte Carlo method conjures images of a suave gambler beating the house in Monaco. In reality, Monte Carlo methods are computational algorithms that use randomness to solve problems.
In this episode we hear from Todd Palmer, professor of nuclear engineering, about his use of Monte Carlo simulations in nuclear power. In addition, find out how Haizhong Wang, assistant professor in transportation engineering, is incorporating Monte Carlo to model tsunami evacuation routes in the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
Available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and YouTube.
https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/season-1-data-science-and-engineering/odds-and-ends-s1e5
In this episode, we find out how researchers are utilizing unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs) to gather data.
Dr. Dan Gillins, affiliated faculty member, along with his brother Matt Gillins, a graduate student at Oregon State, is conducting research on the feasibility of using UAVs to conduct bridge inspections. Gillins’ research seeks to determine if UAVs can help defray some of the cost and eliminate some of the risk involved with traditional bridge inspections.
COE postdoctoral researcher Dr. Eric Becker developed a UAV-mounted Radiation Compass that maps radiation sources autonomously in real time. The Radiation Compass weighs only 650 grams and can be built for $3,000 giving it a major advantage over current detectors.
The age of Big Data and cloud computing has created greater demand for advanced cryptography. To store data on the cloud safely it must be encrypted; in order to use the data it needs to be decrypted, at which point it becomes vulnerable to attacks. Professors Mike Rosulek and Attila Yavuz are finding new ways to perform operations on encrypted data without leaking critical information.
Professor Glencora Borradaille teaches workshops and a new class on personal computer security to empower people to protect their own data. With community organizer Michele Charrete, she explains why people should be concerned about security and how to use tools encrypting email and anonymous web browsing.
https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/season-1-data-science-and-engineering/lock-and-key-s1e3
Xiaoli Fern, associate professor in computer science, explains how she and her team are using machine learning and bird song recordings to help biologists track bird populations. Plus, Geoff Hollinger, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is teaching underwater robots to use human preferences to take on risk as they complete their scientific missions.
https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/season-1-data-science-and-engineering/sea-and-sky-s1e2
What is data science and engineering? To kick off the podcast season on this topic, Tom Dietterich, distinguished professor of computer science, explains what it is, how it is related to Big Data, and shares his thoughts on the pros and cons.
https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/season-1-data-science-and-engineering/pros-and-cons-s1e1
The teaser for Engineering Out Loud--a brand new podcast from the College of Engineering at Oregon State University. We're telling the stories of how our research and innovation is helping change the world.