Graduate Success

“There's a huge wealth of engineering talent at Oregon State.”

— Brandon Greenley, manager for Tektronix, New Product Development

“Oregon State graduates are rapidly moving in to positions where they are making key contributions to brand new, trend-setting products here at NVIDIA.”

— Kelly McArthur, Desktop Engineering Product Manager, NVIDIA

“Oregon State has produced some of the best engineering and leadership talent in the industry.”

— Doug Fisher, vice president and general manager of Intel Software and Services Group

“Oregon State University does an excellent job preparing students with the practical knowledge they need to begin contributing quickly when they enter industry.”

— Steve Gorshe, Ph.D., Distinguished Engineer – CTO Organization, PMC-Sierra

“Oregon State engineering students really fit into our culture of teamwork.”

— Carl Niedner, Coelo Company of Design

Where Do Graduates Go to Work?
A few examples:

Alumni Stories

Brian Benavidez, 2014 B.S. in electrical and computer engineering
Commissioned second lieutenant, U.S. Army

A Second Chance for College: Brian Benavidez did not expect to have a chance to go to college since he had enlisted in the U.S. Air Force immediately after graduating from high school.

Sharada Bose, 1984 B.S., 1988 M.S. in computer science
Chief operating officer at Way.com

Learning the meaning of perseverance: At age 19, Sharada Bose moved from India to Corvallis, Oregon, having never been in the U.S. before.

Jennifer Burns, 2015 B.S. in computer science
Cybersecurity Engineer at MITRE

Exceeding Expectations: Transitioning from a band teacher to a software engineer seemed like a huge leap at first for Jennifer Burns, but things quickly started falling into place for her after she made the switch.

Hannah Colett, 2013 B.S. in computer science
Human factors engineer at Intel

Impact Through Mentorship: Hannah Colett willingly admits she was intimidated when she began pursuing a computer science degree at Oregon State, and credits the support and guidance of many people for her success.

Jennifer Davidson, 2014 Ph.D. in computer science
Senior User Experience Researcher at Mozilla

Video: Jennifer Davidson’s Ph.D. is in human-computer interaction combining psychology with computer science.

Doug Fisher, 1985 B.S. in electrical and computer engineering
Vice president and general manager of Intel Software and Services Group

Rising to the Top: Fascination with electricity started Oregon State alumnus, Doug Fisher, on a path to becoming the top manager for Intel’s software and services group.

Katie Gibson, 1990 M.S. in computer science
Co-founder and software developer, High Country Apps

Creating Her Path: A fan of mountains and outdoor activities, Katie Gibson choose to go west from the Midwest for college, where she could also find schools strong in engineering.

Brandon Greenley, 1999 B.S., 2001 M.S. in electrical and computer engineering
General Manager at Pacific Scientific, a Fortive Company

Keeping Connected to Oregon State: As a first-generation college student, Brandon Greenley didn’t have footsteps to follow, so choosing Oregon State University was based on the quality of its engineering school.

Brad Heller, 2009 B.S. in computer science
Co-founder and CTO at Reflect Technologies, Inc.

Oregon State Grad Helps Fuel PDX Tech Boom: Brad Heller is in many ways the prototypical Portland, Oregon, tech start-up guy — he’s scary-smart, works hard and plays hard, yet doesn’t take himself too seriously.

Mollie Holmes, 2015 B.S. in computer science
Firmware engineer, Hewlett-Packard

True to Herself: Mollie Holmes took a risk to change her direction in life and return to school as a post-baccalaureate to receive a computer science degree through Oregon State’s online degree program.

Jen-Hsun Huang, 1984 B.S. in electrical engineering
Founder, president, & CEO, NVIDIA

Serendipity and Hard Work: Huang came to Oregon State when he was 16 to start his degree in electrical engineering. One of the best things that came out of his experience here, he said, was meeting his wife, Lori Mills.

Ron Khormaei, 1988 B.S. in electrical engineering, 1989 M.S. in electrical engineering, 1995 Ph.D. in electrical engineering
Vice president of engineering, SawStop

Graduate Ron Khormaei: Ron Khormaei left Iran when he was 15 years old to seek a better future. His varied career included positions as director of engineering for HP and Logitech, CEO at Lensbaby, Circle Technologies, and his own start-up, FINEX.

Janice Levenhagen-Seeley, 2006 B.S. computer engineering
Founder & executive director, ChickTech

Standing up for Women in Tech: Becoming a computer engineer was a rocky road for Janice Levenhagen-Seeley, and in the end she gave up on the idea of having a career in high tech. But rather than give up on the field as whole, she found a way to make it better.

Nadia Payet, 2011 Ph.D. in computer science
Senior Software Engineer at Google

An unexpected dream: Nadia Payet did not expect to find herself at Google when she was growing up in Réunion, a French island near Madagascar.

Alex Polvi, 2007 B.S. in computer science
CEO, Core OS, Inc

Kicking the Cloud(s): Alex Polvi’s career trajectory — from his first job running a chain saw on his family’s Christmas tree farm, through various student positions in computer science at OSU, to being CEO of a Silicon Valley startup — has been nothing short of stratospheric. Also featured in Business Insider, Wired , and Xconomy.

Kyle Rector, 2010 B.S. in computer science and electrical and computer engineering
Assistant professor, University of Iowa

A Warrior for the Blind: Kyle Rector develops technologies to enhance the quality of life for people who are blind or have low vision. As part of her doctoral dissertation she developed a program to help blind people learn yoga.

Patricia Walsh, 2006 B.S. in computer science and electrical engineering
Advisor to joint ventures, Mozido; Founder, Blind Ambition Speaking; Author, Blind Ambition

The Amazing Story of the Blind Engineer (Who is Also a Triathlete): Patricia Walsh is one of those people who seems to excel at everything she does. After several years in a successful and coveted stint as an engineer at Microsoft, she left to join Austin, Texas-based mobile payment app Mozido—a job she loves—in 2013.