An electrical and computer engineering student. A student club leader. An Army ROTC cadet. A peer adviser. An avid runner and athlete. Cera Olson is all of these things and still finds time for (a little) sleep despite her demanding schedule and obligations. Read Cera’s whole story.
Category Archives: Students
Making It Real: Intel Learning Company Jump Starts Freshmen
By Rachel Robertson
Even in a sluggish economy, industries are still struggling to recruit computer science graduates. So, keeping students interested throughout their education is a common goal for both industry and educators.
Engaging the best talent as freshman is the aim of the Intel Learning Company (ILC), a joint project by the Intel Corporation and OSU’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). Supervised by faculty members Carlos Jensen and Kevin McGrath, the students work in teams on real projects to gain valuable work-ready skills in programming, teamwork and leadership.
“We’re really emphasizing experiential learning and challenging students beyond what they can do right now,” said Terri Fiez, head of EECS.
Armed with their new skills, ILC students found summer work programming, teaching, performing research and community outreach. Students credited the ILC with helping to secure opportunities and be successful in their positions. They applied their lessons in networking, communication skills, problems solving, and workflow, and found having a broader range of experiences with programming languages made them more employable.
OSU’s Hydrogen Club
Whether it’s to boost your resume, make friends, or learn more about a topic you find interesting, Oregon State has many student clubs for a variety of interests. One club that deserves some attention is the OSU Hydrogen Club. The club aims to raise awareness about hydrogen, consider the production, transfer, storage and consummation of hydrogen, and to develop hydrogen-based projects.
The hydrogen club already has some exciting projects lined up for this term including work with an electrolyzer to generate hydrogen and using the OSU Hydrogen Trailer for some community education projects!
If you’re hydrogen curious, check them out at:
http://groups.oregonstate.edu/hydrogen/
–Chelsi Rayford
Coming Back from Kenya
Engineers Without Borders summarizes their July 2012 implementation trip for a water project in Lela, Kenya
In 2008, the small farming community of Lela, Kenya asked Engineers Without Borders USA, for help with the Lela Community
Water Project, an effort to address the community’s lack of access to potable water. In 2009, the Oregon State University chapter of EWB-USA adopted the project and sent their first travel team to Lela. A second team returned in 2011 to conduct a technical water source assessment. After three years of work, which included a health survey, GPS mapping, water quality testing, and an alternatives analysis, EWB-OSU determined the best solutions were to drill a community water well fitted with an Afridev hand pump, and to build a rainwater catchment at the Lela Primary School. Continue reading
Making music from art
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