As the daughter of a physics professor and a lawyer, Catalina Segura set her sites on working in a university. Her father was “truly excited to use science to make a difference,” she recalls. “He was very inspiring.”
In her first year in college (Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma), music almost won out over mathematics for Holly Swisher’s attention. During her high school years in Salem, she had played piano and bassoon in a youth symphony, sang in a choir and even played drums in the marching band.
“In a multicultural environment, the boundaries of behavior and appearance are wider than they are in a single culture. But they matter less than the content of ideas and the commitment to values.”
In her tailored navy-blue blouse and dark pinstriped trousers, Minjeong Kim looks all business — muted, buttoned-down. But then you notice her shoes. Sitting at her desk in Milam Hall, she lifts her foot to show off the wedged sneaker with its hidden two-and-a-half-inch heel.
By equipping underwater gliders with acoustic sensors and computer software, Oregon State oceanographers are teaching the autonomous vehicles to identify biological hot spots in the oceans.
Earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes and other natural disasters strike with little or no warning. By developing new computer tools to evaluate buildings, utility networks and other infrastructure, Oregon State is helping communities to reduce damage and speed recovery.