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Healthy Economy Innovation

More Than Machines

Educating tomorrow’s electrical engineers has come to this: Teamwork, creativity and ownership are as important as the principles of theory and design. All get rolled into a box that first-year Oregon State University students receive in their introduction to the field.

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Healthy People Innovation

Mental Health Lifeline

No longer focused only on dispensing prescriptions, pharmacists increasingly serve as consultants and sometimes as lifelines for people with chronic illness — diabetes, high blood pressure, schizophrenia. The hope is that as specialists in drug effectiveness and interactions, pharmacists can help stabilize lives and reduce hospital visits. For people with mental illness, that includes staying out of jails and homeless shelters.

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Healthy Economy Innovation

Growing Technology

From microbes to plants, OSU researchers are leveraging biological materials to develop a variety of new products.

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Healthy Economy Innovation

Pressure’s On

Fred Kamke, professor in the OSU Department of Wood Science and Engineering, has now improved the process, achieving strength increases up to 400 percent, taking less time and using less mechanical force. He has applied for a patent on the technique, known as viscoelastic thermal compression, or VTC. The strength and stiffness of VTC wood is better than the best available Douglas fir.

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Healthy Economy Innovation

Know Thy Customer

Teams of students led by faculty mentors design and conduct research that start-ups or established firms can use to inform their marketing plans and guide product development.

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Healthy Economy Innovation Inquiry

The Weight of Wine

For Jim Kennedy, it’s all about mouth feel. The sensation of wine on the palate can be silky and smooth or coarse and hard. Wine experts call it texture.