Oregon BEST E-news Masthead
MAY, 2012         
In This Issue...
Oregon BEST Grant Recipient Expands Business
Oregon BEST Labs Illuminate
Massive Wind Tunnel Open for Collaboratiion at PSU
Revised Strategic Plan Sharpens Focus
Jennifer Allen to Head ISS
Oregon BEST FEST: Save the Date!
OIT Program Nabs Another National First
Friends of Oregon BEST Named Pivotal Leaders
Oregon BEST Researchers Make Headlines

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Early-Bird Rates to
Oregon BEST FEST '12!

 
  Save the Date!
Register Online Now! 

Oregon BEST Commercialization Grants


Grants totaling $1M in funding for university-industry teams during next 12 months.

Funding Opportunities
Upcoming
Events

June 13-14 

SunShot Grand Challenge: Summit and Technology Forum

This event marks the first time the top minds in solar-scientists, utility companies, manufacturers, and policymakers-working on the common SunShot goal will come together in one place. Event features distinguished speakers (including U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu), highlights of progress made by more than 250 SunShot Initiative awardees, and identifies  central issues to resolve in order to reach the Energy Department's SunShot goals. Denver, CO. 

   

June 22-24

Educators from around the world gather to discuss how biomimicry can provide the next generation with a roadmap for systems thinking, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and sustainable innovation. (For information about scholarships available to Oregon BEST Member Faculty, contact Johanna Brickman at Oregon BEST.) Portland, OR

June 31 - August 4

Ecosystem Services Partnership Conference 

The theme of this 5th annual conference is "Ecosystem Services Come of Age: Linking Science, Policy, and Participation for Sustainable Human Well-Being." Three sections include: SCIENCE: Quantifying, mapping, modeling, and valuing ES; POLICY: Institutions, governance and management of ES; PARTICIPATION: Communicating, coordinating, and implementing ES. Portland, OR

   

September 12   

The Pacific Northwest's premier cleantech innovation conference, Oregon BEST FEST convenes university researchers, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and others to envision, build, and accelerate solutions to environmental challenges that deliver prosperity in all corners of Oregon. Early-bird rates available online now! Portland, OR. 

 

More About
Oregon BEST 
Oregon BEST Researchers

Oregon BEST in the News

Oregon BEST Sustainable Built Environment Shared-User Research Network

Oregon BEST Solar Energy Shared-User Research Network

Oregon BEST Sustainable Built Environment Research Consortium

Oregon BEST Commercialization Program 


CONTACT US
 
Oregon BEST
P.O. Box 212
Portland, OR 97207
Tel. 503-725-9849




Executive Director's Report

A New Plan, National Attention  
 
Greetings!
 
David Kenney portraitIn May, our Board of Directors ratified our revised Strategic Plan, which contains several significant changes, including a new mission statement, a broadened range of the clean technologies we will engage with, and a new strategic filter process for selecting projects with the highest potential for commercialization (see full story below).

We're seeing growing interest in our shared-user research labs, with recent visits from national-level innovators and investors, who come away with a clear understanding of the research capabilities and collaboration opportunities. Among the recent visitors are Stephen Selkowitz, head of the Building Technologies Department at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and investors from Seattle-based Northwest Energy Angels (see full story below).

As Oregon BEST continues to grow, we are refining our strategic approach to commercialization and economic development, adding more research facilities to our network, and building a national reputation for the way we approach cleantech innovation and commercialization here in Oregon. 


Thank you for your support,

 

David Kenney, President & Executive Director

 
Company's Ingenuity Paying Off

Commercialization Grant Recipient expands business, funding   

Trillium FiberFuels teamBiofuels startup Trillium FiberFuels (recipient of a 2011 Commercialization Grant from Oregon BEST) has launched a new business venture that's helping cash flow while the company continues developing innovative enzymes that could lead to new products from biomass and enhanced yields of cellulosic ethanol.

The six-person company launched Cascade Analytical Reagents and Biochemicals to sell chemical reagents to researchers at up to 80 percent less than from big suppliers. Trillium also just won another $150,000 Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy.

Read more about how Oregon BEST's Commercialization Program is helping Trillium and other companies succeed through "unexpected ingenuity."

Oregon BEST Labs Illuminate
National and international visitors impressed with capabilities

  

Energy Studies in Buildings Lab, UO, Portland

Green building luminaries from around the world recently toured several Oregon BEST shared-user research labs as part of the Living Future unConference in Portland. Tour attendees included Stephen Selkowitz, head of the Building Technologies Dept. at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and designers of Living Building Challenge projects in the U.S. and abroad, including from the firms Hughes Condon Marler, Miller Hull, HDR, and others.

Participants said the experience helped them understand Oregon BEST's work and the opportunities for firms to engage in collaborative research that taps the labs' capabilities and the expertise of Oregon BEST Member Faculty.

 

Also, a dozen investors from Seattle-based Northwest Energy Angels recently toured the Green Building Research Lab at Portland State University as part of a two-day visit to the area. Oregon BEST introduced the investors to four new cleantech startup companies, and they were impressed by Oregon's unique approach to commercializing clean technologies and how Oregon BEST serves as a catalyst for economic development.

 

To arrange for a tour of any of Oregon BEST's shared-user research facilities, please contact us


Massive Wind Tunnel Comes to PSU

Research tool poised to help wind energy companies, others    

 

PSU Wind Tunnel

A massive wind tunnel at Portland State University is now offering state-of-the-art capabilities to business-industry teams collaborating on research.

 

Although the giant tunnel almost fills a 1,500-sq.-ft. campus lab, what makes it unique is the 17-ft.-long observation and test section made of operable glass panels. The ceiling of the section can be raised and lowered to simulate a range of weather conditions, the floor panels can be heated or cooled to simulate ground temperatures, and air flow patterns and gusts can be precisely adjusted using multi-directional baffles known as a dynamic grid. 

 

The brain-child of Oregon BEST researcher and PSU professor of mechanical engineering Ra�l Bayo�n Cal, the tunnel has already attracted several National Science Foundation projects (including a $300,000 NSF grant that a $30,000 matching grant from Oregon BEST helped secure), a NASA project, and queries from architects, a car-top bicycle rack manufacturer, volcanologists studying ash plume dispersion, and even an umbrella maker. Read more.


Revised Strategic Plan Sharpens Focus
New strategic filter process to help Oregon BEST target resources

 

Strategic Plan graphicOregon BEST has developed a new Strategic Plan for 2012-15 that includes:

  • a broadened range of the clean technologies Oregon BEST will engage with
  • a more refined and strategic filter process for focusing Oregon BEST's limited human and financial resources on opportunities with the greatest commercialization potential
  • an expanded stakeholder circle that explicitly includes entrepreneurs and investors, in addition to cleantech industry partners and university researchers

Given the breadth, depth, and pace of change of the cleantech sector, an almost infinite number of worthwhile engagement opportunities exist for Oregon BEST. The new Strategic Plan emphasizes Oregon BEST's core mission of economic development by providing a strategic filter system to better prioritize cleantech engagement opportunities and pair Oregon BEST's resources with the opportunities most likely to create economic impact for Oregon and the region. More 

 

RESEARCHER SPOTLIGHT: Oregon BEST Member Faculty
 
Jennifer Allen to Head ISS


Jennifer Allen, PSU

Oregon BEST researcher and PSU professor of public administration, Jennifer Allen has been named director of the Institute for Sustainable Solutions at Portland State University, after serving as the interim director since October.

Allen also served as interim director of the institute's precursor, PSU's Center for Sustainable Processes and Practices. She has been an advocate for green chemistry, green building materials, and other sustainability initiatives.

 

In her sustainability work Allen has worked for the World Bank, Ecotrust, and the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department. She serves on multiple advisory boards and holds degrees from Yale University, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and George Mason University. 


Save the Date: September 12th

Register now to take advantage of early-bird rates 

 

 

Oregon BEST FEST has become the Pacific Northwest's premier cleantech innovation conference. This one-day gathering convenes university researchers, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and others to envision, build, and accelerate cleantech solutions to environmental challenges that deliver prosperity in all corners of Oregon. Register online now at early-bird rates.

Karina EdmondsThis year's keynote speaker is Karina Edmonds, the U.S. Energy Department's Technology Transfer Coordinator. Dr. Edmonds works with the National Labs to accelerate the process of moving discoveries from the lab to the private sector. A mechanical and aeronautical engineer, she previously served as Director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory Technology Transfer at the California Institute of Technology, where she was responsible for licensing Caltech/JPL technologies to both startups and large companies, managing the JPL patent portfolio, and assisting start-up companies.


OIT Program Nabs Another Nat'l. First

Nation's first Renewable Energy Engineering Program grows   

 

OIT REE studentsIn 2005, the Oregon Institute of Technology launched the nation's first Bachelor of Science in Renewable Energy Engineering. The ground-breaking program (students, pictured right) recently became the first of its kind in the U.S. to receive ABET accreditation.

In addition, OIT has just launched a Master of Science in Renewable Energy Engineering, welcoming the first students this fall.

To help meet the growing demand for its renewable energy education, OIT's Electrical Engineering & Renewable Energy Dept. has hired five new faculty:
  • Ryan Wang in automatic control & dynamical systems
  • Feng Shi in solar energy
  • Hope Corsair in energy markets modeling & energy economics
  • Chad Stillinger in power electronics & ocean energy
  • Teshome Jiru in energy efficient building design & simulation

Friends of Oregon BEST Honored

The most innovative and talented cleantech executives in the NW  

    

Pivotal Leaders Wordmark

Five of the just-announced 2012 Pivotal Leaders have close connections to Oregon BEST. Our congratulations to these innovative individuals...
  • Clark Brockman of SERA Architects is a close collaborator with Oregon BEST on a range of Sustainable Built Environment work.
  • Vanessa Keitges of Columbia Green Technologies is collaborating with Oregon BEST Member Faculty Craig Spolek at PSU.
  • Byron McCann of Ascent Partners is Director of the Pacific NW Regional Cleantech Open, a program Oregon BEST partners with.
  • Sam Pardue is CEO of Indow Windows, the Portland window maker that used an Oregon BEST Commercialization Grant to perform research at an Oregon BEST lab and expand operations.
  • Gregg Semler of Lucid Energy is a member of the Oregon BEST Commercialization Advisory Board.
 
From clean water in Rwanda to wave energy in Oregon ...
 
Oregon BEST Researchers IN THE NEWS...


Jim Hutchison, UO��� University of Oregon chemistry professor JIM HUTCHISON says an executive order signed by Gov. Kitzhaber calling on state agencies to support the development of Oregon's green chemistry industry will "catalyze the development, production, and use of greener products and leverage our nation-leading strengths within the state's industrial sector and its universities." Full story

 
Douglas Keszler, OSU
��� DOUGLAS KESZLER, professor of chemistry at Oregon State University, is collaborating with other Oregon BEST Researchers from OSU and the University of Oregon at the Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry, an OSU-UO collaboration that won a $20 million NSF grant last fall and has spun off a new company in Corvallis. Full story

 
Howard Davis, UO��� University of Oregon
architecture professor HOWARD DAVIS has published a book, Living Over the Store, that explores homes above shops - the original mixed-use building that once populated main streets. Davis ties the shop house to current efforts to build mixed-use buildings again, after years of zoning and codes separated living and working spaces. Full story

 

Annette von Jouanne���
In a Forbes magazine article, Oregon State University professor of electrical engineering ANNETTE VON JOUANNE says Oregon is the first place in the U.S. to deploy a mobile platform to test wave energy prototypes. The $1.5 million device will help firms test new technologies in harsh, open ocean conditions. Full Forbes story


 
Scott Ashford, OSUBill McDougal, OSU��� Oregon State University civil engineeringprofessors WILLIAM MCDOUGAL and SCOTT ASHFORD were featured on PBS News Hour in a story about the threat of earthquakes and tsunamis to Oregon. McDougal directs the O. H. Hinsdale Wave Research Lab at OSU and Ashford is the interim dean of the OSU College of Engineering. Watch PBS video


Skip Rochefort, OSU��� The University Honors College at Oregon State University has awarded SKIP ROCHEFORT, professor of chemical engineering in the School of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, a 2012 Eminent Professorship. The Professorships recognize outstanding faculty who participate in University Honors College programs and stimulate creative advancements in teaching. Full story


Evan Thomas, PSU���
  Portland State University professor EVAN THOMAS is collaborating with Portland-based Stevens Water Monitoring Systems, Inc. to help bring potable water and clean-burning cook stoves to 2.2 million people in Rwanda, where sensors developed by the collaboration will track use of the water filters and stoves via the internet. Full story


Adam Higgins, OSUPatrick Chiang, OSU
Brady Gibbons, OSU
���  Oregon State University assistant  professors BRADY GIBBONS (materials science & mechanical engineering), PATRICK CHIANG (electrical & computer engineering), and ADAM HIGGINS (bioengineering) have all been awarded prestigious $400,000 CAREER Awards from the National Science Foundation. Congratulations! Full story


David Hurwitz, OSU���
  Oregon State University professor of transportation engineering DAVID HURWITZ, who operates the Driving and Bicycling Simulator at OSU, is working to improve safety at traffic intersections by studying the 'dilemma zone' and tracking driver response. Full story

 
The nexus for clean technology innovation, Oregon BEST builds capability, convenes collaborations, and accelerates the solutions to environmental challenges that deliver prosperity in all corners of Oregon. Our 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 97207-0212
Tel. 503-725-9849 � On the web: oregonbest.org