A Space for STEM and Opportunity
The final weeks of Maseeh College’s spring term shared the school’s accomplishments and opened doors. Guests ranged from high school students imagining their futures to industry partners exploring collaboration opportunities to alumni reconnecting with a space that shaped their careers. By welcoming the community into its labs and classrooms, the college showed what makes it unique: an award-winning, affordable, and accessible education rooted in solving real-world problems.
“We’re here to solve problems that matter to Oregon,” one faculty member said during a lab tour. “And we’re doing it in a way that makes this kind of education available to everyone.”
From the self-guided tours to the Ignite Talks and the Wedge Awards, Maseeh College demonstrated how it brings PSU’s mission to life. Research here doesn’t stay locked in academic journals or hidden behind lab doors—it serves. It educates. And it connects.
Maseeh College: Defying Limits, Serving the City
In the atrium of Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science, as visitors gathered to watch a demo of the Dryden Drop Tower in action, a quiet song refrain began to gain volume drawing conversations to a halt. Portland State's Choir, led by Grammy semifinalist Coty Raven Morris, Hinckley Assistant Professor of Choir, Music Education and Social Justice in Portland State University’s School of Music & Theater, slowly grew in volume and number in a surprise flash mob performance of “Defying Gravity,” the song made famous in Wicked. The song’s message about overcoming limitations felt perfectly at home in the space, where students, faculty, and guests had gathered to celebrate innovation and people and research that push boundaries.
The performance wasn’t just a moment of celebration—it was a fitting metaphor for the work happening across Maseeh College. Whether it’s launching rockets with the Portland State Aerospace Society, conducting microgravity experiments in the college’s drop tower, or creating renewable energy systems that harness the power of wind and waves, the labs at Maseeh embody the same drive to push beyond boundaries.
Research Week invited the community into this world of discovery. Self-guided lab tours gave attendees—from prospective students to industry leaders—a chance to see firsthand how the college is solving real-world problems while preparing the next generation of engineers and scientists.
A Tour of Possibilities
Visitors wandered through six floors of cutting-edge research facilities on self-guided lab tours, stopping to ask graduate students about their work. In the NEAR Lab, students explained how they design acoustic systems that track underwater objects while visitors handled sonar components. The wind tunnel caught attention as researchers tested airflow around scale models, with graduate students describing how these experiments improve electric vehicle aerodynamics and building ventilation throughout Portland.
At the shake table, visitors watched as graduate students demonstrated how the equipment tests building materials under earthquake conditions. The Agile and Adaptive Robotics Lab drew crowds who observed mechanical systems perform precise tasks while students explained applications in manufacturing and healthcare. In the Electronics Prototyping Lab, graduate students showed visitors the custom instruments they build, explaining how these tools enable research across every engineering discipline. Each stop revealed how laboratory work connects to real problems facing Oregon communities.
Each lab offered innovation that served a purpose. From magnetic devices for renewable energy generation to wireless environmental sensors that monitor ecosystems, the projects on display reflected Maseeh College’s mission to address pressing challenges while making STEM education affordable and accessible.
Research That Lifts
The night’s Ignite Talks brought the labs and projects into sharper focus. Faculty members who had just earned four of PSU's most prestigious research awards participated in the evening's Ignite talks. They excelled at the challenge of distilling complicated and promising work into just five minutes and 20 slides, connecting technical challenges to the communities they impact.
- Diane Moug, Maseeh College Researcher of the Year, described her work stabilizing soil in earthquake-prone regions like the Pacific Northwest. “We’re testing ground treatments that can prevent catastrophic failures,” she said, referencing a Portland research site where her team is piloting new methods to reduce soil liquefaction.
- Elliott Gall, recipient of the Faculty Award for Public Impact Research, spoke about the urgency of wildfire air filtration. “We’re focusing on affordability,” he explained, “because cleaner air shouldn’t be a luxury.”
- Thomas Schumacher, honored for Graduate Mentoring Excellence, shared how his non-destructive testing methods help extend the life of bridges and runways. “We’re finding ways to preserve infrastructure without tearing it apart,” he said.
- Raúl Bayoán Cal, winner of the Presidential Career Research Award, brought the audience into his world of fluid mechanics, explaining how his research spans disciplines—from wind energy to space exploration.
Each talk highlighted a core value of Maseeh College: research isn’t just about solving problems—it’s about lifting people, communities, and industries through education and innovation.
Defying Gravity, Together
From the flash mob performance to the hands-on lab tours, Research Week captured the essence of Maseeh College: a place where STEM education isn’t confined to textbooks or research papers. Our students design rockets, simulate microgravity, and build systems that improve lives—not just in the future, but today
By opening its doors and sharing its work, Maseeh College demonstrated that innovation flourishes through connection. The questions visitors posed, the problems they shared, and the possibilities they glimpsed will shape tomorrow's research agenda. In this ongoing conversation between university and community, knowledge serves by soaring beyond conventional bounds.