PSU Magazine Spring 2000

Engineering program given to Portland State The Engineering School grew in numbers and prestige this winter through an unusual arrangement. The private Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology (OGI) tran - ferred to PSU its entire materials science program, including five profe - sors, $2.8 million of equipment, and $2 million in annual research grants. The Hillsboro institute, which plans to focus more on electronics and other area , found a good fit for its program at Portland State. Materials science i the study of the properties and applications of substances such as metals and ceramics. The move increased the size of PSU's Mechanical Engineering Department by 50 percent, from 10 to 15 faculty. The transfer comes at an opportune time for PSU. The University is work– ing toward expanding its engineering program. The school plans, with the help of the city and a fund-raising campaign, to build a new engineering center. High-tech industry in the state is working with Portland State, OGI, Oregon State University, and University of Oregon to encourage research and graduates in the engi– neering fields. Earlier this year, PSU dedicated a new Integrated Circuit Design and Test Laboratory funded through corporate support from Credence Systems Inc. of Beaverton, and other industry partners. Moving a program from a private to a public school is unusual, but PSU benefited from a similar deal in 1997, when Lewis & C lark College gave its public administration department to the Univer ity. Tmy rooms, big view A novel technique combining video, still photography, and digital projec– tion is allowing architecture students and local designers to "walk" through small building models. The Department of Architecture has developed a unique way to preview architectural spaces without the costly expense of 3-D computer graphics or the laborious construction of actual rooms. The key is the use of a fiber optic micro-video camera that can be inserted into a model. The camera lens-smaller than a roll of film– permits students to see their designs on a TV screen, make instant photographs, or project images to life– size and actually walk into the space. The micro-technology used is all off– the-shelf components that can be assembled for approximately $5,000. Local architecture firm al o are getting a chance to use the equipment, including Yost Grube Hall, Hol t Architecture, and Dull Olson Weekes. "The photos we took of an elemen– tary school were of such tremendous value that our office u ed them in marketing brochures," says Jeff Schnabel, architect with Dull Olson Weekes. Nation's best speak out PSU's forens ic team is hosting more than 4,500 high school students, coache , and parent at the National Forensic League Championships June 11-16-the fir t national competition to be held in Oregon since the league's founding in 1925. Before descending on campus, the highly motivated students will have competed in local contests at more than 3,000 high schools in all 50 states and the U.S. territories. Categories of competition include Lincoln-Douglas debate, humorous interpretation, origi– nal oratory, poetry reading, and extem– poraneous commentary. Events will be held on campus, at Jantzen Beach, and at the Oregon Convention Center. Portland State's own forensic team was revived in 1996 and for the past three years has placed in the top three berth of the Division II Northwe t Forensics Conference. Each year the team hosts the Ben Padro Memorial Tournament for university students, in memory the late PSU forensic and College Bowl coach. The team will host its own perfor– mance banquet in May. All alumni and members of the public are welcome to see the squad at it best. Call 725-5358 or e-mail amandaf@tele– port.com for more information. Musicians and singers soar to new heights With its massive orchestra and chorus, Gustav Mahler's Resurrection is the kind of work one normally expects to hear performed only once in a decade. That time is close. More than 400 performers-PSU students, professional musicians, and members of Portland's community choir -will bring this breathtaking symphony to Civic Auditorium on Sunday, June 4, at 8 p.m. Keith Clark, music faculty, conducts. Resurrection concludes a season of demanding performances put on by the faculty and students of the School of Fine and Performing Arts. The Opera Program, under the direction of Ruth Dobson, will sing its first produc– tion in Italian, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, April 28 through May 6. These spring performances are made possible through a major new gift from James E Miller. The gift was the first of an anticipated multiyear commitment of$153,000 annually in support of opera and orchestra. D Sherman Alexie, award-winning author of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, will close the PSU First– American Education Series with a presen– tation on May 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the Chemawa Indian School in Salem. The series will start again in fall 2000. For more information, call (503) 315-4281. SPRING 2000 P U MAGAZINE 5