What's New: College of Engineering
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Merry Christmas Engineering Alumni!
This year has brought its share of challenges to us all, from COVID19 to challenges in building community virtually. We continue to be grateful for the time we've shared together in the past and ask for your prayers for our current students. They face challenges unique to this era. We would ask for your help in recruiting them as interns and in job placements after graduation as you are able. We also ask that if you have high schoolers in your life, you recommend your alma mater for their studies.
You know the unique experience you had as a student with the professors here who truly know and care for the students, who pray for them regularly and we want the next generation of students to experience that same level of care. We need your help to reach the next students. In spite of our ongoing efforts and the awesome experiences each of you can attest to having had during your time here at Fox, George Fox Engineering continues to be a well kept secret - and we need your help in changing that.
We have many exciting things we are working on in the midst of the pandemic and look forward to the time when we can welcome you back to campus to see what's happening in the Maker Hub now and meet in person with the current students for our Networking Expo as you look to hire interns & grads.
We certainly appreciate the option to connect virtually with those of you no longer in the area. So please contact us to do an info session on your company that is hiring, to lead a Life Group virtually this spring or join me for our book club!
Christmas blessings to you and your family,
Bob
Robert Harder, PhD
Dean, College of Engineering
Executive Dean, Industrial Enterprise
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Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. - Colossians 4:2
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What’s it like to be a student at George Fox (pre-COVID)? We asked senior engineering major Thomas Noel to show us!
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Engineering alumni Aaron Park and Nick Bratney crossed paths aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt earlier this fall.
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Park ('08) works as an officer in the reactor department on board the ship. In his position as Main Propulsion Assistant (MPA), he is the head of the reactor propulsion division responsible for operating and maintaining some of the most complex equipment in the propulsion plants, including the main steam turbine engines, main reduction gears, and main propulsion shafts.
Bratney ('09) is working as a project engineer in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. He is currently planning for the ship's 18-month-long, dry-docking maintenance in Bremerton that will start next summer. Bratney, along with his wife and two children, returned to Bremerton in July after spending the last seven years working as a project engineer at the shipyard in Yokosuka, Japan.
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Faith. Grit. Joy. Campaign
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On your morning commute, you may have noticed the College of Engineering featured on our new Faith. Grit. Joy. brand campaign billboard. This billboard image is currently on display in two locations: On Highway 217 between 99W and 1-5, and on Highway 34 between Albany and Corvallis. We also recently had it up at one of our most prominent locations on I-5 next to OHSU. The full-sized board is 14 feet high and 48 feet wide.
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Dr. Jeff Walters continues to work, in cooperation with WASH Systems Learning Partnership, on projects to promote water, sanitation and hygiene programs in countries that include Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Cambodia, Nicaragua, East Timor and Chile, along with investigating how to integrate systems-thinking within engineering education.
This important work is funded by USAID and run by the University of Colorado Boulder. Recently, in connection to his work in this area, he gave a webinar talk for the Research in Global Design Seminar Series for Engineering for Change on his research, engaging Ethiopian, Kenyan and Ugandan water and sanitation stakeholders in systems-thinking and systems-modeling workshops. A recording of the webinar can be found here.
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For the first time in more than 40 years, George Fox University will not raise traditional undergraduate tuition.
“We recognize the significant financial toll the pandemic has taken on students and families in our Bruin community, and will take the necessary steps to absorb the rising cost of education in this season,” said Lindsay Knox, vice president for enrollment and marketing. “We want to find a financial path for students to become and stay a Bruin.”
(George Fox News Releases, Dec. 10, 2020)
For the full story, click here.
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Richter Scholars
The Richter Committee is pleased to let you know that a series of video presentations from our 2020-21 Richter Scholars is available for viewing on YouTube. In lieu of a poster symposium during fall semester, we asked each participant to record a five- to eight-minute presentation of their research.
You are encouraged to view the videos and send your thanks, encouragement and questions to the individual scholars. Their work is outstanding, and we would like to celebrate this achievement with them. You can access the videos here.
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Holman Summer Research in Biomedical Engineering
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Jarrod Infante is among our engineering students selected for Holman Summer Research who conducted research over the summer of 2020. Infante worked with Dr. Abraham Kang (Biomedical Engineering) along with the help of Dr. Tyler Cuddeford and Robin Dorociak from the university's physical therapy program.
Infante's research on collegiate male basketball players focused on identifying any abnormalities presenting in the landing strategies of select injured athletes in order to prevent these same abnormalities in healthy athletes. Infante investigated a relationship between a vertical-drop jump landing and the lower-limb injury by analyzing quantitative data of the range of motion, moment, and stiffness at the hip, knee, and ankle using MatLab.
Infante's research showed that the injured participants exhibited a deficiency in their range of motion and higher stiffness at the hip joint than the healthy group. He expects these results would be used in developing mathematical modeling to predict and prevent lower-limb injuries in athletes.
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Holman Summer Research in Agrivoltaics
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The primary goals of this research were to evaluate impacts of residential agrivoltaic set-ups on water use and plants, and on energy production and economics. The project team consisted of Blake Riihimaki (civil), Matthew Martin (electrical), Emma Chapman (mechanical), and doctors Giudice and Stillinger. The team constructed test plots, including two garden beds planted with lettuce and two off-grid solar panel set-ups (one ground
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mount above a lettuce bed, one roof mount). They grew lettuce plants while measuring water use, environmental conditions, and plant growth parameters, and measured PV (photovoltaic) panel temperature and power from both solar set-ups. Data was analyzed and assessed, and a report was drafted and submitted to the IEEE Greentech Conference, which will be taking place in April 2021.
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This research will continue in the summer of 2021.
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COVID-19 Campus Highlights
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A Look at In-Person Education this Fall
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Through the tireless efforts of the the COVID Response Team, creative classroom modifications and implemented safety protocols such as reduced class size, physical distancing, and mandatory mask wearing, we were able to host in-person classes from Aug. 24 through Nov. 20. Check out this post from The Bruin Blog for an inside look at campus amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Engineering a Solution
In March, as students headed home for the remainder of the school year, the College of Engineering took up a new, if temporary, vocation: creating plastic face shields for healthcare workers – eight hours a day, sometimes more. To date, 1,090 face shields have been produced, almost all of them distributed to healthcare workers who desperately need them. (George Fox Journal, Summer 2020)
Click here to read the full story.
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Check out this video to get a glimpse of our amazing Maker Hub!
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A Creative Space for All
The Maker Hub is the College of Engineering's space for design, prototyping and fabrication. The 16,000-square-foot facility, located in the Klages Center, consists of a variety of work spaces designed to support the educational, humanitarian and professional design aspirations of the College of Engineering. These spaces include a 24-station computing lab; eight meeting rooms with 48-inch monitors; a wood shop with a large computer numerical control (CNC) router; a metal shop with a CNC milling machine; a welding shop; a paint booth; a prototyping lab with 3D printers and laser cutters; and a PCB fabrication lab.
These spaces surround an open configurable collaboration space known as "the Hub," a 6,000-square-foot area used by students representing a wide range of majors. It is equipped with workbenches and a variety of tools and equipment such as sewing machines, mobile computer stations, electronics lab equipment, and a large vinyl cutter.
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Fire on the Mountain
The Chehalem Mountain Bald Peak fire began just a couple of miles from campus on Sept. 8 and was 100% contained by Sept. 14 with an estimated 875 acres burned. We are grateful for the first responders around the state who worked tirelessly to contain the multiple wildfires in Oregon. Here are some photos of the sky over George Fox that week.
PC: Adina Briggs McConaughey
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Looking for Life Group Leaders
The Office for Spiritual Life is looking for several Life Group leaders for our seven-week spring Life Groups series (the weeks of Feb. 22 through April 9).
Life Groups are small groups of undergraduate students who meet together for prayer, Bible study and fellowship. Groups meet weekly for 60 to 90 minutes. This spring, all groups will meet over Zoom.
To sign up as a leader, please fill out this form.
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Want to Recruit New Grads or Interns?
We would love to add you to this list of companies who have recruited George Fox students for internships. Please reach out to us here to do a virtual info session to recruit new grads or current students for internships. You can also post your jobs by emailing us or online with our IDEA Center (click the link below).
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Year-End Giving
We celebrate the decision to freeze tuition for the 2021-22 academic year! This announcement brings both relief and joy to our current and incoming students, while also increasing the need for creativity in stretching our budget as we absorb the rising costs of education this next year.
We are tightening the belt and trusting the Lord to provide the finances needed to continue giving our students the excellence in educational experience that makes us George Fox. Join with us in prayer, and if you would like to be part of building the engineering program, please consider us in your year-end giving.*
Thank you for your generous gift!
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*To designate your gift to the College of Engineering, click "Donate," then under the "I want to give to:" drop-down menu, select "Other/Multiple Designations" and specify "College of Engineering."
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Engineering Alumni Book Club
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This spring, we are offering a virtual alumni book club, organized for alumni and program faculty. We will schedule the book club meeting based on your schedule preferences.
How will it work? We will conduct our book club remotely on Zoom. Follow the link below to indicate your interest and preferred date/time!
The sign-up window will close Jan. 15, 2020
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For all who have felt this conflict in the soul between who we are and who God calls us to be, Beautiful Resistance is a bold invitation to reclaim what’s been lost — regardless of the cost.
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Maintaining our "decidedly Christ-centered" engineering program requires us to collectively keep our focus, motivation, and purpose on Jesus Christ and him crucified. Everything we do must flow from this center.
In an effort to prioritize the intentional encouragement and ongoing development of our collective faith formation, each year I select a book for the College of Engineering faculty and staff to read together. These books become part of what is called the Faith Formation Series. Beautiful Resistance is the Faith Formation Series selection for this year.
I'm looking forward to reconnecting with a number of you, and as iron sharpens iron, to stir each other up to love and good works.
Blessings on you in this season of Christ's birth.
Bob.
Bob Harder
Dean of Engineering
George Fox University
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Keep in Touch
You are an important part of the George Fox College of Engineering story! Keep in touch and let us know what's new and when there are things to celebrate. Here's a link where you can share your stories and upload photos.
To simply update your contact information, use the link below.
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