2025 IEP Designee – Oregon State University

At Oregon State University, big discoveries drive big solutions that fuel a thriving world

Oregon State University earned the Innovation and Economic Prosperity designation from APLU in 2025, but collaboration and economic development are nothing new. Partnering with industries and communities across Oregon has been integral to its land-grant mission for more than 150 years.

Among recent industry collaborations are FAST, the Frontiers of Advanced Semiconductor Technology initiative, which aims to expand workforce training, create thousands of high-wage jobs and harness artificial intelligence to advance semiconductor design, performance and manufacturing in Oregon. CorMic, the Corvallis Microfluidics Tech Hub, is an Oregon State-led partnership of more than 60 organizations, including HP, NVIDIA, Siemens, Intel, the University of Oregon and Oregon Health & Science University, to develop, scale and commercialize microfluidics technology for use in semiconductor cooling, biotechnology and advanced materials. The Pacific Northwest Mass Timber Tech Hub is working to make the region a global leader in mass timber design and manufacturing, creating jobs, reducing the construction industry’s carbon footprint and making housing more affordable.

Oregon State continues to invest in new facilities to support research, innovation and industry collaboration. The Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex, supported by the philanthropy of OSU alumni Jensen and Lori Huang, opens in late fall 2026. It will feature one of the nation’s most powerful NVIDIA supercomputers and be home to team-based transdisciplinary research and teaching, with a focus on artificial intelligence and applications. At OSU-Cascades, the university’s campus in Bend, Oregon, development is expected to begin on the first phase of an Innovation District, which will provide opportunities to advance research, commercial innovations and student experiential learning through collaborations with companies in Central Oregon.

With $417 million in research expenditures in 2025 and $3.5 billion in economic impact each year, Oregon State’s economic engagement ecosystem spans all 36 Oregon counties. The university’s 2024-30 strategic plan, Prosperity Widely Shared, affirms and prioritizes its role as a statewide engine for inclusive economic growth, rewarding the public’s trust by proving what public universities can achieve. Two of the three goals in the strategic plan emphasize innovation and economic development: Oregon State will be a university focused on big discoveries that drive big solutions and one that fuels a thriving world.

As highlighted in its 2025 Research and Innovation Annual Report, research discoveries at OSU build on long-standing strengths in climate science, clean energy, AI and robotics and integrated health and biotechnology. Examples include:

• Doubling the carbon dioxide uptake of a copper-based material used for industrial carbon capture, a promising step toward scalable, efficient carbon scrubbing technologies.
• Advancing aqueous batteries, a safer, more sustainable alternative to traditional energy storage that could transform how electricity is stored and used across the grid.
• Developing a new 3D-printing approach for shape-changing materials, likened to muscles, with potential applications in robotics, biomedical devices and energy systems.
• Creating a nanoparticle drug delivery system that can get anti-inflammatory medicine across the blood-brain barrier, offering potential new therapies for diseases like Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s.

Recognizing the societal value of faculty research, Oregon State leads PTIE — Promotion and Tenure – Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a national movement of more than 75 institutions. As envisioned by PTIE, solving real-world problems, partnering with industry and launching new products and companies will be additional factors considered in the promotion and tenure process.

To further strengthen partnerships with industries and communities across the state, OSU launched the Office of Economic Development and Industry Relations in 2024. EDIR provides a central point of access to cutting-edge research, faculty expertise, skilled graduates and state-of-the-art facilities.

OSU earned the IEP Designation after an independent review process of its submission, which included a self-assessment of its economic engagement initiatives and insights from more than 500 stakeholders — representing faculty, staff, students, employers, public agencies, nonprofit organizations and Tribal governments. The process identified OSU’s key strengths and priorities:

• Workforce and talent development, including applied learning and career-aligned programs, are key elements of the new Core Education curriculum. OSU also offers more than 50 microcredentials and customized workforce training programs.
• Innovation and use-inspired research, expanding commercialization and problem-solving partnerships with industry, particularly in semiconductors, robotics and AI, wood products, health and biotechnology and clean energy.
• Equity and community reach, investing in outcomes-based programs to strengthen rural, Tribal and underserved communities.

The IEP Designation affirms the strength of OSU’s engagement with industry, government and communities across the state, and it reflects the university’s role as a trusted, long-term partner in driving innovation, talent development and economic development.

A primary goal outlined in OSU’s IEP application is to be Oregon’s partner of choice. By incorporating economic engagement across its operations to deliver inclusive, sustainable prosperity, Oregon State University is making that goal a reality.

Authors:

Jayathi A. Murthy, President, Oregon State University
Rebecca Robinson, Associate Vice President for Economic Development and Industry Relations, Oregon State University