Discovery

Small Science Creates Big Dividends

Chris Tuschen peers into a monitor.

He fiddles with a tangle of wires connected to a metal probe fixed on his homework: a simple microchip.

Chris, a UO graduate student, scratches his chin, looks at the screen, and smiles. “Hey! That’s what it should look like.” He carefully puts the chip in a tiny petri dish and writes his name on it. Students in the UO microchip master’s program sometimes spend ten-hour stretches in the lab, making chips, making mistakes, and learning how to make semiconductors.

After intense summer classes and lab work, Chris entered a nine-month internship with Hynix, a semiconductor company that’s already offered him a job. More than 90 percent of the students are hired straight from the program.

The microchip program is just one example of how the UO Materials Science Institute prepares students—and Oregon—for tomorrow’s economy. Most recently, the state legislature approved funding for a signature research center, the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI), which combines the expertise of the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, and Portland State University.

Through partnerships, research, and internships, the University of Oregon works closely with industry, preparing students for exciting new careers—and preparing Oregon for the future.