INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS
Working With Industry Partners Generates Economic Impact

From ocean wave energy to transparent electronics, collaborating with industry partners is helping OSU Engineering transform laboratory research into new business ventures that benefit Oregon.

Columbia Power Technologies
OSU engineers and Oregon’s coastline are at the epicenter of wave energy research and development. Innovation by OSU electrical engineering professors Annette von Jouanne, Ted Brekken, and their graduate students has resulted in new buoy technology for harvesting electricity from ocean waves.

Their work launched a partnership with Columbia Power Technologies, a wave energy company that recently opened an office in the Kelley Engineering Center on campus, a short walk from the Wallace Energy and Systems and Renewables Facility (WESRF) where von Jouanne, Brekken, and their team do research.

“Having an office in close proximity to the principal investigators and lab, makes it possible to meet conveniently and respond quickly to new developments,” says Bradford Lamb, president of Columbia Power Technologies.

Lamb’s company pursued the collaboration with OSU because executives saw the advantages of this place and this point in history.

“Oregon has one of the highest energy wave climates in the world, with perhaps the most active academic research program in the country,” Lamb says. “That, coupled with substantial and growing state and federal political support, combine to make Oregon State University an ideal partner for us.”

The company has already hired OSU graduate students Ken Rhinefrank, Al Schacher, and Joe Prudell to join their staff.

“We’re hiring graduate students from Oregon State who have tremendous talent, energy, and commitment to ocean energy research and who can help provide continuity and support
to new students,” Lamb says.

Clear Shape Technologies
When Cadence Systems recently acquired Clear Shape Technologies, a Silicon Valley semiconductor technology firm, OSU liquidated its interest in Clear Shape, generating $100,000 in license income for the university. An equity license agreement with Clear Shape had provided OSU with shares of Clear Shape stock in exchange for rights to algorithms developed by OSU engineering faculty Karti Mayaram, Terri Fiez, and others. The algorithms provided additional accuracy and speed in the software designs of chips.

Hewlett-Packard
Exclusive rights to develop products based on a new class of OSU-developed materials that can be used to create safe, inexpensive, and transparent electronic circuits have been licensed to HP. This might become one of the most valuable collaborations the university has ever developed with private industry.

Photo: Building a better buoy in the WESRF lab, from left: Adam Brown, Chad Stillinger, Annette von Jouanne, Ted Brekken, Ean Amon, Ken Rhinefrank, Joe Prudell (seated), and Al Schacher.