Upcoming Events
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August 27, 2010
Tour the new Oregon Process Innovation Center (OPIC) for Sustainable Solar Cell Manufacturing, a signature
research facility of Oregon BEST. The event
celebrates the extensive renovation of a building on the
Hewlett-Packard campus in Corvallis, Oregon that houses the new Oregon BEST facility, as well as the Microproducts Breakthrough Institute and ONAMI. Following the ceremony,
attend the ONAMI
Mega-Mixer. More info here.
��� September 13, 2010
Register NOW for this exciting one-day research expo and networking event in Portland that brings the best of Oregon BEST together to collaborate, innovate, and build community. See full agenda, sponsorship opportunities, and registration details here.
��� October 13, 2010
Learn how Oregon businesses can boost their environmental
performance, competitiveness, and profitability and how geen chemistry can strengthen Oregon's
nationally-recognized leadership in sustainable industries. Join Oregon
BEST Researcher Jim Hutchison at the
University of Oregon's White Stag Building in Portland.
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CONTACT US
Oregon BEST
P.O. Box 212
Portland, OR 97207
Tel. 503-725-9849
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SPOTLIGHT on Oregon BEST Research
Research Helps Create Rural Jobs
Recycled pallets become energy efficient green building blocks
Van Denend & FasWall  | What happens when you combine recycled wood pallets, a
passionate entrepreneur working out of a shuttered lumber mill in rural Oregon,
a dash of cement, and an Oregon BEST researcher who runs a cutting-edge seismic
research lab in downtown Portland?
First: a green building
construction product that uses fewer resources and lowers energy costs. Second: more new sustainable jobs for Oregonians. And third: a product that might replace stick-framed structures because it's designed to last decades
longer, is more energy efficient, and is easy to work with.
PSU's Peter Dusicka  | Oregon BEST researcher and Portland State University engineering professor Peter Dusicka and the iSTAR (infraStructure & Applied Research) Laboratory) at PSU are helping Tom Van Denend, president of ShelterWorks, a small company in Philomath, Oregon, improve its insulated concrete forms called FasWall that are used as green building blocks. Read more >>
(There's more good news: Dusicka also collaborated with APEX Block, a company acquired by Lacuna, Inc., which is opening a manufacturing facility in Roseburg that will employ 100+ workers making 100% post-industrial/pre-consumer recycled polystyrene insulated concrete forms.)
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Executive Director's Report
Commercialization Grants Available
Oregon BEST's David Kenney  |
The Commercialization Grant Program offers grants
of up to $75,000 to teams made up of small companies collaborating with Oregon BEST researchers to help move a green innovation aligned with Oregon BEST's focus areas from research to the marketplace. We have up to $225,000 available to distribute via this new program, so I encourage entrepreneurs and small businesses to team up with one or more of our 180+ Oregon BEST researchers and apply for this funding. This program is another way that we're working hard to help ensure Oregon's leadership position in the clean-tech economy.
 Don't forget to register for Oregon BEST FEST '10 coming up on September 13th. With an exciting agenda built around
collaboration and commercialization, this is an excellent opportunity to build connections that spark collaborative new projects. Information about sponsorship opportunities, registration, and the agenda are available here. David Kenney, President & Executive Director
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BEST FEST '10: Coming Sept. 13th
Industry-Researcher Gathering to Spark Green Collaboration
The agenda is set and the lineup is exciting! Register now to attend Oregon BEST FEST '10 in Portland, where you'll join university researchers and industry leaders from across Oregon engaged in renewable
energy and the sustainable built environment. Come discover how green research,
innovation, and collaboration are fueling Oregon's green economy. Sponsorship opportunities available at oregonbestfest.org. |
Oregon BEST Researcher PROFILE
Water Light Shelf Reflects Nature
Water-filled shelf calms patients, boosts worker concentration
Light shelf installed  | Oregon BEST researcher and University of Oregon professor of architecture Kevin Nute has taken the light shelf to a new level by flooding it with a layer of water. When the sun hits the water's
surface, moving wave patterns created by air movement outside are transmitted to the floor and ceiling inside the building, bringing a bit of nature - and a calming effect - to building occupants.
 Nute and graduate student Aaron Weiss have installed several prototypes of the innovative device and are looking for industry partners to help them commercialize the new green building product. Their research indicates that bringing aspects of the
ever-changing natural world back into our indoor living and working environments, can improve health, morale, and productivity. View video and read more >>
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Bringing Solar Power to Tanzania
Students, professor install PV panels on African schools
Prof. Petrovic in Tanzania  | Students in the Renewable Energy Engineering Program at the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) are headed to East Africa next month to install solar panels on rural schools in Tanzanian villages.
The project is led by Oregon BEST researcher and OIT professor Slobodan Petrovic, who spent time in Tanzania last year on a similar project and
founded a nonprofit, Solar Hope, to establish
renewable energy projects in underdeveloped regions of the world.
He says, unlike oil, the sun is not controlled by anyone and is so abundant it should
"translate into abundant energy for everyone." OIT's Renewable Energy Engineering Program was the first of it's kind in the nation and has grown dramatically in recent years. Read the Oregonian story >>
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From waste wood 'flour,' to white roofs, to helping veterans...
Oregon BEST Researchers IN THE NEWS...
 ��� LECH MUSZYNSKI, a professor of Wood Science & Engineering at Oregon State University, looks at ways to utilize a waste wood "flour" to reduce the use of plastics along highways in mileposts, sound walls, snow fences, etc. ODOT is discussing commercialization with Muszynski and says his composite material has promise. Read more >>
 ��� JIM HUTCHISON, associate vice president for research and strategic initiatives at the University of Oregon, discusses how businesses can create sustainable products and practices by hiring the right people, investing in the right R&D, and identifying the right facilities. Read more >> ��� SUSAN SAFFORD, Oregon BEST's Operations Director, says returning veterans and the skills they bring back to Oregon might be a good fit for clean-tech companies. She attended a gathering addressed by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley, and Gov. Kulongoski. Read more >>
 ��� PSU's DAVID SAILOR, who directs the Green Building Research Lab, a signature research facility of Oregon BEST, discusses the impact roof colors have on energy savings in buildings. White, black, and green (planted) roofs all play a role. Read more >> ��� KAICHANG LI, a professor of Wood Science & Engineering at OSU, has discovered a non-toxic glue for pressure-sensitive adhesives that costs about half as much to make and uses none of the petroleum-based solvents and chemicals currently used in adhesive manufacturing. Read more >> or Listen to the OPB story >> |
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The Oregon Built Environment & Sustainable Technologies Center (Oregon BEST)
connects Oregon businesses with the state's shared-user network of university facilities to transform green building and renewable energy research into
on-the-ground products, services, and jobs that power Oregon's green
economy. Oregon BEST's founding partner universities include Oregon State University, the Oregon Institute of Technology, Portland State University, and the University of Oregon.
Oregon BEST � PO Box 212 � Portland, OR 97207-0212Tel. 503-725-9849 � On the web: oregonbest.org |
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