The Makerspace at Oregon State University - Cascades is now accepting requests from industry representatives and community members for client projects.

Client services provided by the Makerspace range from design consultations, prototype fabrication and manufacturing advice. Projects are managed by staff and trained undergraduate students. 

The Makerspace is home to machines and tools including 3D printers, a 3D scanner, laser engraver and cutter, desktop computer numerical control mill, and a standard and an industrial sewing machine.

A degree program launched at Oregon State University - Cascades more than a decade ago to address the national need for energy-savvy engineers has contributed more than 200 workers to the field, with most working in Central Oregon and around the state.

Oregon State University – Cascades will graduate 303 students, including the 5,000th graduate of the campus, during its commencement ceremony on Sunday, June 18.

A total of 238 students are expected to participate in the ceremony, which will take place at 10 a.m. on the oval green on the OSU-Cascades campus. 

Including the Class of 2023, OSU-Cascades will have awarded 5,295 undergraduate and graduate degrees since it was established in 2001, with nearly 2,000 students having earned degrees while studying at the campus that opened in 2016.

Oregon State University – Cascades has announced that 23 students of the Class of 2023 are being honored as the recipients of the 2023 Distinguished Student Awards.

The Distinguished Student Awards are among the top honors given by faculty to students and recognize outstanding academic achievement and contributions to each degree program’s field of study.

The undergraduate students and their fields of study are:

Oregon State University - Cascades will honor Bend area business and community leaders Bill and Trish Smith during its 22nd annual commencement ceremony on June 18, for their decades-long community leadership in Central Oregon.

Trish Smith will accept the Distinguished Service Award on behalf of herself and her husband, who died on Nov. 18, 2022. The annual award honors individuals, businesses or organizations who have made exceptional contributions to OSU-Cascades, Central Oregon, Oregon or the world.

Rod Ray, a lifetime Central Oregonian and former leader of Bend Research, Inc., will give the commencement address at the Oregon State University - Cascades commencement ceremonies on Sunday, June 18.

“Rod has pursued excellence and collaboration as an engineer, in his professional career and in his role as a contributor to his industry, Central Oregon and Oregon State University,” said Sherm Bloomer, chancellor and dean of OSU-Cascades. “I know he will have a valuable message for OSU-Cascades’ graduates.”

Registration is open for the Summer Academy at Oregon State University – Cascades, an annual program for high school students that includes classes, outdoor recreation experiences in Central Oregon and an introduction to college life.

Now in its fourth year, Summer Academy is a six-day, in-person program led by OSU-Cascades faculty and other experts. It will be offered July 30 to Aug. 4 and Aug. 13 to 18. The program is for high school students entering grades 10, 11 and 12. Both day and overnight options are available.

Andrew Ketsdever, dean of academic affairs at Oregon State University – Cascades, has been named dean of College of Engineering at Cal Poly Pomona.

A mechanical and aerospace engineer, Ketsdever recently served as interim vice president OSU-Cascades. He  will begin his new position at Cal Poly on July 10 and oversee a college with 18 undergraduate and graduate engineering programs, and approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

Oregon State University - Cascades’ biologist Matt Orr will present “Science, Spirituality and a Sustainable Future,” a talk exploring ways contemporary spirituality may evolve to address the current environmental crisis and improve human well-being, on May 16.

The OSU-Cascades Science Pub will take place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at Worthy Brewing’s Eastside Brewery & Pub, 495 NE Bellevue Drive in Bend. Doors open at 5 p.m., and the presentation begins at 6:30 p.m.

Adam Krynicki, executive director of the Oregon State University - Cascades Innovation Co-Lab, will step down from his position to join the University of Washington as digital innovation and asset manager.