Undergraduate students of today must be actively involved in research to meet future demands of industry and academia. Active participation in research, outreach, and extension will help undergraduate students to think deeply about the subject as well as develop critical thinking and problem solving abilities to be work-force ready.

The Department of Wood Science and Engineering at OSU, with support from the US Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Education and Literacy Initiative, is offering 12 week research and extension experiences for 12 undergraduate students during the summer of 2024. The sky is the limit for topics of these experiences. Example projects with potential mentors include the following:

• Andre Barbosa – Mass timber full-scale testing and analysis
• Raffaele De Amicis - virtual reality in timber construction
• Islam Hafez - Novel Composite Products
• Scott Leavengood - Extension and Outreach, Industry 4.0
• Byrne Miyamoto – Instrumentation and Sensors
• Rajat Panwar – Corporate Sustainability
• Gerry Presley - Mass timber durability
• Mariapaola Riggio – the mass timber business ecosystem
• Laurence Schimleck - non-destructive evaluation techniques for lumber quality
• Arijit Sinha – Seismic testing of 3 story structure
• Sarath Vega - Product Characterization RFP
• Daniel Way – Boise Cascade Quality Control
• Wenjia Wang - Additive Manufacturing

Each undergraduate will receive a stipend of $600/ week, accomodations in a dormitory and a meal plan. Opportunities will be provided to disseminate results of the experience in regional meetings via posters and/or presentations. To qualify you must be enrolled in an accredited institution of higher education during the 2023-2024 school year.

Interested candidates apply through the online application.