The removal of four dams from the Klamath River was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture the interplay of science, engineering, and culture. Desirée Tullos, professor of water resources engineering at Oregon State University assembled a collaborative team that unites Western science and traditional ecological knowledge of Indigenous people. …

This is a historic year on the Klamath River, where the biggest dam removal in the U.S. is underway. The hope for the monumental engineering project is that it will restore some balance to a damaged ecological system. We hear from Mark Bransom, who is overseeing the demolition and restoration, about why and how it’s happening and some of the challe…

Will swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles be able to aid humans in wildland firefighting or package delivery? Research summarized in a new paper in Field Robotics represents a big step towards realizing such a future. In this interview, Professor Julie A. Adams describes the research showing that one person can supervise more than 100 autonomous grou…

The final episode of the season occupies a time of transition, as spinoff company Espiku ramps up. We get an update on two systems that received patents and a third that could provide an environmentally benign technology for extracting lithium. We also hear from four graduating students who reflect on their experiences. Bonus content: Tapping techn…

The pandemic didn’t stop Bahman Abbasi’s desalination research. In this third episode, we learn about the successful lab-scale demonstration of his team’s technology and the next steps toward its commercialization. Plus, the team takes on a new project to clean up wastewater from oil and gas production. Bonus content: Espiku, OSU spin-off company T…

In the second episode of this four-part season, we travel to Bend, Oregon to visit the Water and Energy Technologies Laboratory and meet the team that is inventing a new technology to desalinate water. Bahman Abbassi, associate professor of mechanical engineering, talks about building the lab from the ground up, and graduate student Mohammed Elhash…

Can turning seawater into drinking water be a cost-effective way to provide clean, fresh water for the growing numbers of people facing water scarcity? Bahman Abbasi, associate professor of mechanical engineering, is taking up that challenge with a mobile, modular, solar-powered, desalination system. This is the first episode in a four-part season.…

What is Oregon doing to prepare for earthquakes, tsunamis, and wildfire? Researchers at Oregon State University are working with the state Legislature to help them make informed decisions about how to prepare for natural hazards. BONUS CONTENT: “A Song for Japan” project Japan 2011 Earthquake Japan quake: Infrastructure damage will delay recovery. …

Can plants fortify Oregon’s coastal dunes against storm surge? Meagan Wengrove, assistant professor of coastal and ocean engineering, built scale versions of dunes in one of the world’s largest wave flumes to find out. BONUS CONTENT: Protecting coastal regions with natural defenses New faculty members bring expertise in wave energy, structural and …

After a major disaster, hidden amid the rubble and debris are precious clues about the extreme forcesstructures were subjected to, and exactly what caused them to fail. How can researchers collect this perishable data before it’s swept away? Michael Olsen, professor of geomatics and technical director of the NHERI RAPID Facility, talks about a majo…

What will it take for Oregon to recover after a magnitude 9.0 Cascadia subduction zone earthquake? Among other things, it will need a major airport to receive the tons of relief supplies from around the world. Prof. Armin Stuedlein and a research team from Oregon State University conducted crucial testing that guided engineers with big plans to mak…

Wildfires that devastate mountain communities have the potential to foul the water distribution system running underneath residential structures. But knowing which water pipes have been affected is challenging. Erica Fischer, assistant professor of structural engineering, is working with a team of engineers and scientists to develop and test sensor…

How do engineers fight wildfires? With fire. David Blunck, associate professor of mechanical engineering, is trying to better understand and predict the behavior of embers that spread blazes. To do this, he has to burn a few of his own. BONUS CONTENT: Firebrands: How to protect your home from wildfires’ windblown flaming debris, by David Blunck (Th…

What happens to bridges, buildings, and pipelines when the soil holding them up behaves like a liquid? Ben Mason, associate professor geotechnical engineering, has traveled the world doing post-earthquake reconnaissance to find out and make us better prepared for impending earthquakes. BONUS CONTENT: At Work: Ben Mason (Seismological Society of Ame…

The long-feared 9.0 magnitude Cascadia subduction zone earthquake, which seismologists say is inevitable, will damage or destroy large swaths of Oregon’s electrical grid. How long will it take to get the juice flowing again? Weeks? Months? Professor Ted Brekken and his team are applying high-powered simulations to find out and to identify which par…

How do you manage a COVID-19 surge? When intensive care units are beyond capacity, health care workers are stretched thin, and life-saving equipment is in short supply, there are a lot of tough choices to be made, and quickly. Joe Agor, assistant professor of industrial engineering, is gathering the data on how hospitals prepared and responded to t…

How can we get a more diverse group of young people interested in computer science? Focus on equity, says Jill Hubbard, instructor of computer science and co-principal investigator of a multi-university project to change how computer science is taught in high school, funded by the National Science Foundation. Over 40 schools are part of a program t…

Can middle schoolers learn computer science concepts using tabletop games? How about during a pandemic, when classroom interaction takes place remotely? Researchers in computer science and education are working closely with teachers to develop an innovative curriculum designed to broaden participation in computer science classes. BONUS CONTENT: Lea…

What can wastewater tell us about the spread of disease? Could the coronavirus’ signature RNA sequence tip public health officials to where the next COVID-19 outbreaks will occur? In this episode, we’ll talk to two researchers who are leading the effort to monitor Oregon’s wastewater streams for coronavirus, in partnership with treatment facilities…

What’s life like for long-haul truck drivers in a COVID-19 world? We’ll get behind-the-wheel perspectives from driver (and musician) Paul Marhoefer and from Associate Professor Sal Hernandez who’s looking into how drivers have adapted to demanding conditions caused by the pandemic and the resiliency of the nation’s freight system. BONUS CONTENT: Mu…

Self-driving cars and planes are in our future. What are we doing to make them safe? Assistant Professor Houssam Abbas uses tiny race cars to test autonomous driving systems. And Oregon State graduate Robert Rose is using his past experience with SpaceX to develop a safe system to automate existing aircraft. BONUS CONTENT Beyond the Books - Autonom…

What will it take for robot assistants to become more integrated in our daily lives? Assistant Professor Naomi Fitter thinks they’ll need to master the physical aspects of social interactions, while Associate Professor Cindy Grimm cautions against programming them to behave just like us. BONUS CONTENT Social Haptics, Assistive Robotics, and Embodim…

Will robots someday replace farm workers? Do we want them to? Assistant Professor and agricultural robotics expert Joe Davidson talks about the potential benefits of using robots in agriculture, and what goes into designing the perfect robotic apple picker. BONUS CONTENT Design, integration, and field evaluation of a robotic apple harvester (Wiley)…

Why should robots have artificial social intelligence? According to Heather Knight, assistant professor of computer science, if robots are going to help in hospitals or work with people in factories, they will need to be adapted to our social conventions.By Engineering Out Loud

For robots to be more useful around people, they’ll need to go where we go. But how? Associate Professor Jonathan Hurst thinks the answer is simple. Walking. But actually making a walking robot is no simple feat.By Engineering Out Loud

Can we trust artificial intelligence to make good decisions? The answer is a resounding maybe. More and more, society and individuals are entrusting AI to make potentially life-changing decisions. Rather than putting blind trust in the judgment of these remarkable systems, Alan Fern and a team of computer scientists want to reveal their reasoning p…

How do you combine ethics, policy, and practicality into the design of revolutionary robotics and artificial intelligence systems? Researchers Kagan Tumer and Tom Dietterich are collaborating to find out as they help lead the Oregon State Collaborative Robotics and Intelligent Systems Institute. BONUS CONTENT The Promise and Peril of Artificial Int…

Geoff Hollinger, associate 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-s1e2By Engineering Out Loud

What can be done to protect workers in one of the most dangerous industries on Earth? For much of his career, John Gambatese has studied, developed and evaluated a wide range of options designed to keep construction workers out of harm’s way.By Engineering Out Loud

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. BONUS MATERIAL Associate Professor Eugene Zhang's webs…

How can we help in the fight against Parkinson’s disease? Harriet Nembhard and her colleagues developed a sensor system to detect the disease early on, opening the door to earlier treatment and improved quality of life. Nembhard is the head of the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering and Eric R. Smith Professor of Enginee…

Aid workers put their lives on the line to treat patients with Ebola. Can robots help make their jobs a little easier and allow more people to survive the disease? Bill Smart, professor of robotics at Oregon State University, is exploring how robots may be most useful during disease outbreaks. BONUS CONTENT Doctors Without Borders Oregon State’s si…

What makes a frog’s tongue sticky, or a snake’s skin slippery? Joe Baio, assistant professor of bioengineering, looks to nature for substances that could provide clues to developing new biomedical adhesives and anti-fouling surfaces. BONUS CONTENT The Baio Lab home page “Snake Scales” video featuring Joe Baio Press release https://engineering.orego…

Ever wonder why so many truckers park their rigs on highway off-ramps, in retail store parking lots and at other odd locations? It’s not their first choice, and it’s not the safest choice either, but sometimes it’s their only choice. Research by Sal Hernandez reveals that the national truck parking shortage takes an enormous toll on people and comm…

How can we support nuclear medicine efforts that help more than 40,000 people in the U.S. everyday? Researchers at the Oregon State University College of Engineering have developed a way to produce the much-needed radioisotope technetium-99m using small research reactors like the one here at the university. BONUS CONTENT The Oregon State TRIGA Reac…

Can turning seawater into drinking water be a cost-effective way to provide clean, fresh water for the growing numbers of people facing water scarcity? Bahman Abbasi, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is taking up that challenge with a mobile, modular, solar-powered, desalination system. Bonus content OSU-Cascades researcher awarded $2…

How can we remove toxic contaminants like TNT from groundwater? Jack Istok and Mandy Michalsen are using pioneering bioremediation and bioaugmentation methods developed here at Oregon State to restore the groundwater at the Umatilla Chemical Depot. BONUS CONTENT Underground Story of Water in Oregon Umatilla Army Depot Superfund Site Groundwater Res…

How do you ensure a product designed for the developing world is useful for the people it’s intended to help? A team of researchers, led by Nordica MacCarty, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is combining engineering with anthropology in field tests of a water purification system.By Engineering Out Loud

How can students at Oregon State improve access clean water for rural communities around the world? We hear from three students who worked in Nicaragua and Cambodia on projects that changed people’s lives -- including their own.By Engineering Out Loud

How long will the world’s supply of clean fresh water last? Just the fact that we have to ask that question is enough to start worrying, as threats from pollution, climate change, and overpopulation continue to get worse. Fortunately, researchers like Tyler Radniecki are at the vanguard of the search for solutions to revive and restore this preciou…

How can we clean up pollution from toxic chemicals that have seeped into the groundwater, hundreds of feet below the surface? Lewis Semprini, Distinguished Professor of environmental engineering, discusses strategies for bioremediation, using microorganisms to break down dangerous chemicals into harmless end-products. BONUS CONTENT Clean and Sustai…

How does culture influence engineering design? Two seniors in civil engineering tell about how they incorporated their research on the culture of Ethiopia into the design of a housing structure, an irrigation system, and a restroom.By Engineering Out Loud

Javier Calvo-Amodio, Sage Kittelman, and Siqi Wang examine how teams and their communications function as systems within large, complex organizations. They are working with Boeing to understand how those systems can be improved to make manufacturing more efficient. https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/season-6-student-research/engineering-culture-pr…

Can clean and renewable energy sources like wind and solar power reduce our dependence on fossil fuels? One major challenge is figuring out how to make that energy available when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. Lynza Sprowl, a chemical engineering Ph.D. student, says the key is building better batteries. BONUS CONTENT Showcase win…

Will a new breed of highly mobile, radiation-resistant soft robots become automated work horses for the nuclear industry—or save the day during nuclear disasters? A team of graduate students from Oregon State University wants to make sure they’re up to the task.By Engineering Out Loud

How can two undergraduates impact the health of people with mental illness? Inspired by her own experience with bipolar disorder, Alison Bowden from Oregon State University created an app to help manage the daily challenges of living with mental illness. She co-founded Wellio with Houston Morgan from Arizona State University.…

How do you quickly calculate a worker's radiation skin dose in the event of exposure? VARSKIN--maintained and updated at Oregon State--is one of the main computer codes used by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and undergrad Logan Anspach's peer-reviewed paper examines how it stacks up against other tools.…

How do you prove a country tested a nuclear weapon, and who’s keeping an eye on this stuff? Researchers at Oregon State and University of Michigan are part of the crew doing this work.By Engineering Out Loud

How are Oregon State researchers impacting the apps on your phone? Danny Dig and his team have been improving software for companies like Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Boeing, and Google for years by developing tools that find and fix bugs. Dig is an associate professor of computer science at Oregon State and an adjunct professor at University of Illinois…

How do you help reduce risk in the nation's most dangerous occupation? Researchers at Oregon State University are partnering with Blount International to help make timber harvesting equipment safer. To understand a specific type of accident that occurs in the field, they’ve designed and built a machine to recreate it in the safety of a shipping con…