By Steve Frandzel
Cell phone photographs radiation, warns of dangerSophia Uchiyama and her Expo team have designed a small, inexpensive radiation detector which will enable anyone with a smart phone to “photograph” radiation and determine in a flash if they’re being exposed to high levels of radiation.

“We wanted something that’s easy to understand for people who are not trained in nuclear science, and which literally presents a picture of the radiation around them,” said Uchiyama, who will graduate next year with a degree in radiation physics after finishing coursework for a math minor.

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by Makenzie Budge and Caleb Lennon

The Oregon State University student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) completed its second international service project last summer. The chapter designed and built a rainwater catchment system to bring clean, potable water to the community of Little Corn Island, Nicaragua, where the community’s septic systems were infiltrating the groundwater table during heavy rainfall. The project is currently providing clean water to approximately 400 people.

Oregon State Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers in Nicaragua
Oregon State Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers in Nicaragua

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Mechanical engineer endeavors to improve hand surgeries

Sutures have been the primary way to connect muscles, tendons, or any biological tissue for 30,000 years. This fundamental method of sewing together living body parts has served humankind well, but Ravi Balasubramanian sees room for improvement. Through a new research project called REHand (for Re-Engineering the Hand) he is designing a mechanical implant that provides an alternative to the suture for attaching muscles to tendons in certain applications such as tendon transfer surgeries on patients with hand injuries.  Continue reading

Increasingly, we’ve found that engineering students at Oregon State University (OSU) are seeking ways to make a lasting impact on our world. In response to this demand, a diverse group of faculty is working together to launch a humanitarian engineering (HE) program: We define HE as the co-development of science- or engineering-based solutions to improve the human condition, namely through improved access to basic human needs (e.g., clean water, clean energy), an improved quality of life, or improved level of community resilience (e.g., disaster mitigation, economic resilience).

Members of the Oregon State University chapter of Engineers Without Borders in Lela, Kenya
Members of the Oregon State University chapter of Engineers Without Borders in Lela, Kenya

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