OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY CORVALLIS, OREGON 97331
The Summer Barometer
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V. John Mathews hired as new head of EECS.
V. John Mathews hired as new head of OSU’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
very young,” Mathews said in an email. After a national search, Oregon State University has hired Mathews, an expert in information processing and biomedical engineering, to take over as the new head of the School of Electrical Engineering and By Lindsay Free Computer Science. THE SUMMER BAROMETER Mathews will be coming to OSU from At an age when most kids were dreaming of becoming firefighters or professional the University of Utah, where he has athletes, V. John Mathews knew exactly what been teaching since 1985, and served as Chairman of the department of Electrical he wanted to be — an engineer. “I remember writing an essay about and Computer Engineering for four years. The role of a school head is multifaceted. wanting to become an electronics engineer Mathews will be doing everything from in my sixth or seventh grade, so I knew this was something I wanted to do when I was setting priorities for the School of Electrical
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WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12, 2015 VOL. CXVIII, NO. 8
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Engineering and Computer Science, to guiding the hiring of faculty and staff, to promoting student recruitment. This is something Mathews has experience with – during his time at the University of Utah, he was able to increase the number of undergraduate students enrolled in department of Electrical and Computer Engineering by 50 percent. Mathews also has a knack for securing funding for research, having tripled the amount of research funding at University of Utah’s Electrical and Computer Engineering. See MATHEWS | page2
Endowed professorship in Tours give glimpse of college life humanitarian engineering n
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OSU alumni donate $1.5 million to fund humanitarian engineer program By Jason Owen THE SUMMER BAROMETER
A recent $1.5 million dollar donation by Oregon State University alumni Richard Evans and Gretchen Evans has afforded an endowed professorship in Humanitarian Engineering. This position will be filled by Kendra Sharp, who is currently a professor of mechanical engineering at OSU. As a new program here at OSU and as a fairly new field in general, the term humanitarian engineer may seem a little mysterious. “Humanitarian engineering is using science or engineering based solutions that can help improve access to basic human needs like water or energy while also improving the quality of life. This is about how we can use engineering and technology to provide solutions that improve the standard of living,” Sharp said. Starting fall term, OSU will offer a new minor in humanitarian engineering. This minor will allow students to further develop practical skills that will be useful in their future careers while also completing their core engineering curriculum. “I like to call it engineering in context, because part of what we’re interested in is looking at the context: the social, the cultural, the resources and environmental impact. We have an emphasis on both local and global,” Sharp said. Students will work on skills that
have a wide range of applications along with the traditional engineering curriculum. Work accomplished by this program is focused on underserved or impoverished communities in Oregon and around the world. “There is an emphasis of wanting to focus communities that are in transition, or under served communities that have resources and abilities. We see what we can do to improve processes that allow more small and medium sized enterprises to be able to scale up to sustain themselves,” Sharp said. OSU is guided towards serving the community in part because it is a land-grant institution. The purpose of the land-grant mission is to teach practical agriculture, engineering and science. The addition of an endowed professorship to the humanitarian engineering program will certainly contribute towards fulfilling this mission. A project overseen by engineering professor Chinweike Eseonu is an example of the department’s commitment to working with under-developed communities here in Oregon. Eseonu worked with Latino women in Monroe, Oregon to develop a scalable process to manufacture sopes, a traditional Latino dish. “What we’re seeing among students is that they want to make a difference. Students want to work in careers that have a social impact. We feel that our program will help students gain skills alongside their traditional engineering curriculum that will have a meaningful and positive impact on people,” Sharp said.
By Calvy Yue THE SUMMER BAROMETER
On a Thursday morning, high school students and parents gather outside the entrance to Kerr Administrative Building and wait for their tour around campus to begin. This sight is rather familiar for many current Oregon State students, who may have gone on these tours themselves before starting classes at OSU. During the summer, OSU offers these tours four times a day Monday through Friday. In 90 minutes, tour guides walk around and introduce the most commonly visited places around campus, such as the Memorial Union, Dixon Rec Center, Valley Library and the Student Experience Center. Shalin Gogri, a high school junior from Bellevue, Washington, said that he was stopping by after a soccer tournament in Portland and was particularly impressed
with the on-campus atmosphere that OSU has to offer. “It has a good community feel,” Gogri said. “It’s not that small, but compared to the University of Washington everything is close to each other.” Gogri says that he is interested in the university’s honors college and what the math and sciences department has to offer. “I’m trying to keep my options open, but I’m liking it so far,” Gogri said. Jessica Robles, who is entering her senior year at West Linn High School, said that her friends who go to OSU tell her she is given a lot of opportunities to be independent and explore. “I’m worried about being overwhelmed by what college has to offer, but I look forward to a new experience,” Robles said. Logan King, who is visiting from Virginia, said that he heard a lot of good things about the engineering program. “There is a lot of good resources and freedom to do the things you want,” said Logan King.
Answering all your football questions Sports, page 5
See TOURS | page 2
Isabel Brady, a junior kinesiology major, and Jon Fishback, a junior business major, speak to a campus tour group on Campus Way Tuesday afternoon.
Nicki Silva
THE SUMMER BAROMETER
See ENGINEERING | page 3
Majestic Theatre brings on the madness
News, page 2
Tours of Oregon State campus attract future students, provide opportunities for current students to develop skills, campus knowledge
Get to know folk duo Buffalo Romeo A&E, page 7