By Tony Platt’s family

Tony Platt and Midnight
Tony with Midnight, showing off his patented piggy-back-ride trick. Midnight came to Tony as a frightened pup that was evidence in a criminal case and was adopted out 15 months later as a happy, well-adjusted dog with several tricks in his repertoire.

Tony Platt (Electrical Eng. ’07) passed away unexpectedly on May 21, 2012, at age 28. Tony was one of seven children raised by Mark and Kathy Platt in Lake Oswego, Oregon. He had four brothers—Mark, Danny, Nathan, and his twin, Chris—and two sisters, Emily and Betsy. We will always remember Tony for his intelligence, compassion, witty sense of humor, and contagious smile.

After earning a degree in electrical engineering from Oregon State, Tony was working toward an MBA at Portland State University while working full-time as a sales engineer at Analog Devices. Despite a full schedule, he successfully balanced work, school, sports, and volunteer work. For example, he regularly fostered dogs that needed a home prior to being adopted, and in 2011 the Oregon Humane Society awarded him the Diamond Collar Hero Award. He was also an amazing athlete who played soccer, basketball, and golf. Continue reading

By Lori Brandt

Life has been good to OSU alumni Mike and Judy Gaulke. So when it came time to determine how they would share their good fortune, they chose the institutions that had been meaningful in their lives, and topping the list was Oregon State University.

Mike and Judy Gaulke
Mike and Judy Gaulke (Photo by Karl Maasdam)

The Gaulkes have pledged $3.5 million to create the Michael and Judith Gaulke Chair of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at OSU. This endowed faculty position fund is the largest to date for the College of Engineering. The inaugural chair will be awarded to OSU electrical engineering professor John Wager, an award-winning teacher and dedicated researcher.

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Musician and project sponsor Ken Saul of Hewlett-Packard originated the idea for an Android app called Crayon Composer, and initiated a challenge to Oregon State University engineering students to develop this creative and instructive blend of art, music, and technology. Now, Crayon Composer inspires maestros of all ages by translating their original artwork into musical compositions. Continue reading

Radioactive soil remediationIn March 2011, following the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, radioactive contaminants were released at the Japanese Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility. Since then, the radioactive contaminant cesium 137 (Cs-137) has been detected in the soil in areas surrounding the facility, and scientists have been exploring cost-effective ways to clean up the site that do more than just move the contaminates from one place to another or unintentionally create a chain reaction of contamination throughout the entire ecosystem. Continue reading