By Steve Frandzel

Brian Wood, professor of environmental engineering.
Brian Wood, professor of environmental engineering.

Brian Wood, professor of environmental engineering has been awarded a fellowship by the London Mathematical Society (LMS), the United Kingdom’s leading learned society for mathematics. As part of the fellowship, Wood will reside in Oxford and deliver a series of six lectures at prestigious universities including Oxford University, Cambridge University, Imperial College, and University College.

The fellowship and lectures represent a unique opportunity to bring visibility to Oregon State and help foster potential collaboration. Wood will also conduct collaborative research with Helen Byrne, University Lecturer in Computational Biology at the Mathematical Institute of Oxford. The topic of both the research and the lectures will be upscaling in complex, hierarchical biological systems, such as tissues and organs.

The primary aim of the visit is to establish new partnerships between Wood and members of the Mathematical Institute at Oxford who have common interests in the development and application of tissue homogenization in biology and medicine (creating tissue samples that are equal in composition).

Wood’s primary research interests include the description of mass, momentum, and energy transport in natural and engineered multiscale systems. He also specializes in subsurface hydrology; bioremediation and biochemical processes; water and wastewater treatment; and sustainable design and engineering.

The LMS publishes journals and books, provides grants to support mathematics, and organizes scientific meetings and lectures.

Mechanical engineer endeavors to improve hand surgeries

Sutures have been the primary way to connect muscles, tendons, or any biological tissue for 30,000 years. This fundamental method of sewing together living body parts has served humankind well, but Ravi Balasubramanian sees room for improvement. Through a new research project called REHand (for Re-Engineering the Hand) he is designing a mechanical implant that provides an alternative to the suture for attaching muscles to tendons in certain applications such as tendon transfer surgeries on patients with hand injuries.  Continue reading

David HurwitzCongratulations to David Hurwitz, an assistant professor in the School of Civil and Construction Engineering, for receiving the prestigious ASCE ExCEEd (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) New Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award. Hurwitz was selected from a large pool of highly talented candidates and will be presented with a plaque during the ASEE Annual Conference in June in Indianapolis, IN. Continue reading

Participants in the Raytheon cybersecurity competition
Ryan Snyder and Christopher Stricklan of Raytheon SI and Mike Rosulek, assistant professor at Oregon State, look on while Justin Goins and Maria Pardo-Garber solve cybersecurity problems in a Capture the Flag event.

Students interested in cybersecurity flocked to the Raytheon Capture the Flag (CTF) event hosted by Christopher Stricklan of Raytheon SI on March 7, 2014. Computer science student Daniel Reichert was the top winner at the event, receiving a $50 Amazon gift card and a spot in Raytheon’s intern pool.

The event provided an opportunity for students to learn more about cybersecurity, an increasingly important field as computing technologies become more pervasive and cyber attacks more sophisticated.

The event also underscored Oregon State University’s growing presence in cybersecurity research, according to Assistant Professor Mike Rosulek of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). Rosulek, who specializes in the theory of cryptography, said he was already getting emails from students before he started his position here in fall 2013. Continue reading

Skip Rochefort, Oregon State College of Engineering
Associate Professor Skip Rochefort demonstrates the properties of Super Absorbent Polymers found in disposable diapers.

Skip Rochefort is a myth-buster of sorts. As an associate professor of chemical engineering and executive director of Pre-College Programs, he’s dedicated at least part of his work to demonstrating the impact of engineering in daily life and challenging prevailing stereotypes of what engineers do. (Hint, they don’t just design things.) Continue reading