Newsroom
Maseeh College Featured News:
Roncken and Sutherland to
Join PSU’s Dynamic Intellectual Community
The Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science at Portland State University (PSU) announces the formation of the Asynchronous Research Center (ARC), a collaborative research project conceived by Marly Roncken and Ivan Sutherland. The ARC will provide an environment in which Roncken and Sutherland can collaborate with the Maseeh College's Departments of Computer Science (CS) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) in advancing technology for the design of self-timed and asynchronous circuits, systems, design methods, and design tools.
Roncken and Sutherland are the central technical participants; they hold appointments within the College in CS and ECE respectively. Sutherland will serve in a technical role and Roncken will serve both technically and as Director of the ARC. PSU professors Andrew Black (CS) and Malgorzata Chrzanowska-Jeske (ECE) are the principal internal academic contacts for the ARC. The ARC has initial support from a private Trust and through a founding grant from Sun Microsystems. The ARC seeks additional industrial, private, and public support.
In modern integrated circuit chips, wire delays make it increasingly difficult to synchronize the actions of an entire chip to a single fixed clock rhythm. Because it was easy in older technologies to use a single rhythm, the computer industry has become accustomed to the design simplicity of using a single clock signal to start and stop all computing actions. With logic now faster than wires, it makes more sense to communicate time signals only where necessary. As circuits complete tasks they can give go-ahead signals to the circuits that must wait for them to finish. Localizing time signals in this way not only avoids distributing the same time signal everywhere, which is increasingly difficult, but also saves power and allows each circuit to take only the time necessary for its particular operation. The ARC seeks to collect, understand, enhance, and teach computer-aided design tools, verification techniques, and design approaches relevant to the use of these more flexible timing formats.
The Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science is excited by the potential offered by the ARC which began limited operation in April 2009 when Roncken and Sutherland arrived on campus. The ARC's goals align directly with PSU's guiding themes regarding achieving global excellence, enhancing education opportunities, and deepening civic engagement. As the ARC develops over the next few years, we expect that its opportunities for research, teaching, discovery, publication, and economic development will bring important benefits to PSU and to our intellectual community and industry in Portland and beyond.
Civil and Environmental Engineering Suite Named
The Maseeh College of Engineering and
Computer Science is pleased to announce that the Civil and
Environmental Engineering Suite has been
named after Dr. Franz and Leecia Rad.
Dr. Rad is the Arthur M. James Professor of Structural Engineering and has served as a faculty member and department head in the
Maseeh College for thirty-seven years.
At a reception held on June 5, Franz and Leecia were recognized for
their support of the Maseeh College.
Remarks were made by PSU President Wim Wiewel, Maseeh College Interim
Dean Richard I. Knight, Maseeh College Dean Emeritus Chik Erzurumlu, and University Professor Robert D. Dryden.
President
Wiewel shared a few remarks from PSU Alumnus Dr. Fariborz Maseeh. "As
your former student and grateful PSU alumnus it means a
great deal to me that you took a leadership role to help garner this
valuable
injection of funds" wrote Dr. Maseeh. "Franz, your generosity of spirit
continues to inspire me."
Franz and Leecia thank you for your many contributions to
the Maseeh College and the Portland State community.
PSU awarded $2 Million Intel Vietnam Scholars Program
On Tuesday, June 23, representatives from Portland State University (PSU) and Intel Corporation will welcome 28 new international students from five universities in Vietnam. The students are the first recipients of the new Intel Vietnam Scholars program and will begin classes this summer.
Intel is sponsoring the $2 million program because of its long-term commitment to train a technical pipeline of well-educated employees at Intel Vietnam. Intel is building its largest global Assembly/Test site in Ho Chi Minh City. The new site is where silicon wafers are sliced into individual chips and then packaged and tested for their electrical functions and reliability before being shipped to customers. The scholars program is timed to the student's return in 2011. Read More
Faculty receive Sigma Xi awards
The Columbia Willamette chapter of Sigma Xi, International
Scientific Research Society, awarded the following six PSU faculty
members with its Fourth Annual Outstanding Science Researcher Awards on
May 21 at the chapter’s annual banquet in Smith Union. President Linda
Mantel and Vice President Scott Burns made the awards of $500 each and
an engraved plaque to:
Behavioral Sciences: Leslie Hammer, Psychology; Biological Sciences:
Catherine de Rivera, Environmental Sciences and Management; Physical
Sciences: Mingdi Yan, Chemistry; Earth Sciences: Alex Ruzicka, Geology;
Mathematics: Bin Jiang, Mathematics and Statistics; and Engineering:
Rob Daasch, Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Siderius wins the 2009 Medwin Prize in Acoustical Oceanography
Dr. Martin Siderius was
awarded the Medwin Prize in Acoustical Oceanography from the Acoustical Society
of America (ASA), for his research accomplishments in the field of acoustical
oceanography.
He is the ninth recipient
of the Medwin Prize, which is given annually to a young- to mid-career
scientist who demonstrates effective use of sound in the discovery and
understanding of physical and biological parameters and processes in the sea.
Dr. Siderius' current
research interests include remote sensing and inversion methods, exploiting
ocean noise for seabed imaging, characterizing the effects of sonar systems on marine
life, detection and localization of marine mammals and other underwater
targets, underwater acoustic communications and environmentally adaptive signal
processing.
Xerox Corporation President Ursula M. Burns to accept award from PSU
June 12, 2009 - Xerox Corporation President Ursula M. Burns and Maseeh College graduate student Lisa S. Diercksen will be inducted into the Denice Dee Denton Women Engineers Hall of Fame at the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science at Portland State University (PSU) on Friday, June 12. The induction ceremony will be held in conjunction with the Maseeh College's All College Graduation Reception. Accepting the award for Ms. Burns will be Debra Koehler, Xerox's Director of Sustainability. Ms. Koehler and Ms. Diercksen will briefly address the members of the Maseeh College's graduating class. "The Denton award was created to recognize outstanding women who are shaping the engineering profession," states Maseeh College Interim Dean Richard I. Knight. "Ms. Burns and Ms. Diercksen exemplify the success and importance of women in engineering and serve as important role models for others." Read more
The tides, they are a-changin’:
Increase in tidal ranges along Pacific Coast
previously undetected
Tides in the eastern Pacific Ocean, from Alaska to Mexico, have increased in
amplitude, with the range between highest and lowest tides increasing, and
global climate change the likely culprit.
Though global sea level rise
has been well documented, the astronomically driven tides have long been
considered to be constant – “the music of the spheres.” But a new study by David
A. Jay, professor of Civil and Environmental
Engineering at Portland State University reveals evidence to the
contrary.
Using historic tidal data from 34 sites along the Pacific coast
of North and Central America, Jay looked at hourly recordings of water level
spanning 44 to 109 years. From 18˚N in central Mexico to 62˚N in Alaska, the
historic record showed a growing disparity between daily high and low tides,
with both the once-daily and twice-daily tides increasing by an average of 2.2
percent/century. Astoria, Ore., showed one of the most pronounced changes, with
tide range increasing at a rate of 0.8 feet/century since 1925. The study also
found significant increases in the tidal amplitudes at San Francisco, in Queen
Charlotte Islands of British Columbia, and in southeastern Alaska. Read More
MCECS Professor Earns CAREER Award
Thomas Shrimpton,
assistant professor of Computer Science in the Maseeh College of Engineering
and Computer Science at Portland State University, has received a five-year
$400,000 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER)
award. "I'm really honored to receive
this grant. It's a big vote of
confidence by the NSF for my research," says Professor Shrimpton.
Shrimpton's proposal,
"Design principles for cryptographic hash functions: foundations, primitives,
and transforms," focuses on a critical element of modern cryptographic systems,
the hash function. Secure hash functions
are needed for operating systems, ATM machines, point-of-sale terminals,
e-commerce, and authentication protocols, to name only a few applications. Shrimpton's research is well timed, as recent
attacks on MD5, SHA-1 and other hash functions highlight a need for new
constructions and a deeper understanding of what it means for a hash function
to be "secure." Graduate and undergraduate
students will have the opportunity to assist Shrimpton with his research. He also plans to leverage his work, which is
largely a mixture of math, probability, and algorithms, for the development of
new courses.
Professor Shrimpton
joined the Maseeh College's Computer Science department in September of
2004. Recently, he has also held
visiting positions at universities in Switzerland.
The CAREER award
is the National Science Foundation's most prestigious award in support of the
early career development of those teacher-scholars who most effectively
integrate research and education.
MCECS student awarded National Science
Foundation
Graduate Research Fellowship
Alex Bigazzi, an undergraduate student in the Department of
Civil and Environmental Engineering and an undergraduate research assistant in
the Intelligent Transportation Systems Laboratory at PSU, has been awarded a
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. NSF Fellowships are
generous three-year awards in the fields of science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics. "NSF Fellows are expected to become knowledge experts who
can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science
and engineering." Alex will begin
graduate studies at PSU in the fall.
PSU Professor and
Alumni Selected to receive
the 2008 Technical
Excellence Award
Robert Daasch, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and PSU alumni Amit Nahar '06 now at TI, and Liwei Ning '04 a postdoctoral researcher at Portland State University have been selected as the 2008 recipients of the Technical Excellence Award sponsored by the Semiconductor Research Corporation.
The Technical Excellence Award is given for key contributions to technology that significantly enhances the productivity of the semiconductor industry. Daasch accepted the award in Austin, Texas as a part of TECHCON 2008 hosted by the Semiconductor Research Corporation. Daasch and his team received the 2008 Technical Excellence Award for their research entitled "Outlier Screening for Reduced Burn-On."
Daasch is the Founder and Director of the Integrated Circuits Design and Test Laboratory (ICDT) which is home to the Advanced Test Methods Group. The ICDT laboratory is used to develop and improve methods in semiconductor design and test.
November 2008
PSU Engineering Student Awarded a
Graduate Traineeship Award by Office of Naval Research
Jorge Quijano, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) in the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science at Portland State University (PSU), has been awarded a Graduate Traineeship Award by the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The award is competitively given to students who "have demonstrated a special aptitude and desire for advanced training in ocean acoustics." Quijano's award will provide financial support for up to three years of his Ph.D. studies, including stipend, tuition, and travel expenses. Read more
MCECS Professor Receives Fulbright Scholar Grant for 2008-09
James Morris, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will be lecturing and conducting research on "Nanotechnology Applications in Electrically Conductive Adhesives for Electronics Packaging" at Helsinki University of Technology in Helsinki, Finland.
The U.S. Fulbright Scholars Program awarded 2008-09 grants to six Portland State professors, who will lecture or conduct research in Croatia, Canada, Vietnam, New Zealand, Finland and Taiwan. Portland State is also hosting a visiting Fulbright scholar from Oman.
Recipients of Fulbright Scholar awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The Portland State professors are six of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad to some 130 countries for the 2008-2009 academic year through the Fulbright Scholar Program. Read more
October 2008
Oregon Companies Invest in the Maseeh College
The Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science extends its thanks and appreciation to Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) and Intel for their generous contributions to the Maseeh College.
"The Maseeh College appreciates our partnerships with DTNA and Intel and the support both companies have given the College. Their contributions will allow the College to increase the quality of the education our students receive," states Interim Dean Richard Knight. "In addition to the financial support, DTNA and Intel provide research opportunities for our students and faculty and company representatives serve on the College’s Advisory Board. It is with deep gratitude that we say thank you to Daimler Trucks North America and Intel." Read more
Greening from the Top Down
October 15, 2008
By: Terri Hardin
When planners seek assurance of a venue's sustainability, they most often look to reduce the amount of paper and to make donations. However, they may not make it to the roof, where innovative technologies—or just plain sod—are changing the ways buildings are heated, lit, and cooled.
"Typically, a green roof has a waterproof membrane, a drainage layer, a filter fabric, growing media, and plants," explained David Sailor, Ph.D., Portland State University, and principal investigator for A Green Roof Energy Calculator. "The growing media is usually composed of a lightweight aggregate, sand, and a small amount of organic matter." Read more
September 2008
PSU Engineering Students Develop Technology
for Local Company
A Portland State University student engineering team proved PSU's motto of "Let knowledge serve the city" by creating new technology valued at $50,000 for a local start-up company. The student project was done at no cost other than time to the company.
"We gave the students an idea which they optimized so completely that we can see how to build a market around what was really only an idea last November," stated APTIV President and CEO, Philipp Kirsch.
APTIV is a start-up company located in PSU's Business Accelerator. It specializes in developing earth-friendly means of controlling unwanted insect populations. According to Kirsch, insects cause millions of dollars in crop damage in the United States annually. With growing world populations and rising agricultural commodity prices, any improvement in existing insect management solutions would help to relieve food shortages and economic tensions. APTIV also focuses on reducing harm to the earth and people through excessive use of pesticides. Read more
Oregon MESA Makes a Difference
Meet William Yuan, a seventh-grader at Meadow Park Middle School, who participates in the Oregon MESA program at the Maseeh College, and learn more about his research in the area of solar cells.
Seventh-grader shines with solar cell research
William Yuan won a $25,000 scholarship for his graduate level work
By Christina Lent
The Beaverton Valley Times, Sep 11, 2008, Updated Sep 16, 2008
William Yuan's bright idea to create a new, more efficient solar cell earned him top honors as Oregon's only 2008 Davidson Fellow.
As part of the honor, the 12-year-old Bethany boy will be flown to Washington, D.C., for a reception Sept. 24 at the Library of Congress where he will receive his award and a $25,000 scholarship from the Davidson Institute for Talent Development.
Newsroom