Over spring break, six students from the Oregon State chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) swapped rest and relaxation for networking and professional development at the 39th annual NSBE convention in Indianapolis. Under the leadership of OSU NSBE President and Industrial Engineering senior, Nathan Okorley, the chapter set out to increase Oregon State’s profile at NSBE through service on regional executive board and professional development. Continue reading
Author Archives: philliab
Focus and Dedication: A Profile on Cera Olson
An electrical and computer engineering student. A student club leader. An Army ROTC cadet. A peer adviser. An avid runner and athlete. Cera Olson is all of these things and still finds time for (a little) sleep despite her demanding schedule and obligations. Read Cera’s whole story.
Making It Real: Intel Learning Company Jump Starts Freshmen
By Rachel Robertson
Even in a sluggish economy, industries are still struggling to recruit computer science graduates. So, keeping students interested throughout their education is a common goal for both industry and educators.
Engaging the best talent as freshman is the aim of the Intel Learning Company (ILC), a joint project by the Intel Corporation and OSU’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). Supervised by faculty members Carlos Jensen and Kevin McGrath, the students work in teams on real projects to gain valuable work-ready skills in programming, teamwork and leadership.
“We’re really emphasizing experiential learning and challenging students beyond what they can do right now,” said Terri Fiez, head of EECS.
Armed with their new skills, ILC students found summer work programming, teaching, performing research and community outreach. Students credited the ILC with helping to secure opportunities and be successful in their positions. They applied their lessons in networking, communication skills, problems solving, and workflow, and found having a broader range of experiences with programming languages made them more employable.
Coming Back from Kenya
Engineers Without Borders summarizes their July 2012 implementation trip for a water project in Lela, Kenya
In 2008, the small farming community of Lela, Kenya asked Engineers Without Borders USA, for help with the Lela Community
Water Project, an effort to address the community’s lack of access to potable water. In 2009, the Oregon State University chapter of EWB-USA adopted the project and sent their first travel team to Lela. A second team returned in 2011 to conduct a technical water source assessment. After three years of work, which included a health survey, GPS mapping, water quality testing, and an alternatives analysis, EWB-OSU determined the best solutions were to drill a community water well fitted with an Afridev hand pump, and to build a rainwater catchment at the Lela Primary School. Continue reading
Oregon State Researchers Collaborate to Build Ocean Lander
Scientists at the College of Engineering and the College of Earth, Oceanic, and Atmospheric Sciences are developing a cutting-edge ocean lander, an autonomous vehicle that will descend to the sea floor to collect valuable geophysical data. Roberto Albertani, professor in the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering, is spearheading an important part of the lander: the shield, which will protect the vehicle, provide stability, and ensure proper buoyancy as it dives up to 4,000 meters to the ocean floor. Continue reading