Tektronix Foundation Donates to Advanced Engineering Programs at Oregon State University

BEAVERTON, Ore., May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Tektronix, Inc., a leading worldwide provider of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation, today announced that the Tektronix Foundation has made a sizeable donation totaling $75,000 to fund three advanced laboratory and engineering programs at Oregon State University. This most recent gift continues the decades-long partnership between Tektronix and OSU. 

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Over the years, Tektronix has partnered in many ways with Oregon State to drive educational excellence," said Dr. Kevin Ilcisin, Chief Technology Officer, Tektronix. "In return, Tektronix has attracted productive and very innovative employees from OSU's undergraduate and graduate programs who are contributing to Tektronix's long term success. With the ever competitive environment of our business, it is imperative that universities educate graduates with broad technical skills, effective interpersonal and leadership skills, and ability to develop innovative solutions to the most challenging problems." 

This latest gift to OSU by the Tektronix Foundation, a private foundation funded each year with a portion of Tektronix' profits, will support:

Creative Collaboratory – Modeled after the MIT media lab, the Oregon State Collaboratory enables teams of engineering students to develop working prototypes of new electrical systems. Project areas include sensing and informatics in living systems, personalized mobile platforms, and smart energy living. The latest commitment supplements the $80,000 seed funding provided by the Tektronix Foundation in September 2012 and supports Tektronix scholars through the end of the year.  

SAE Vehicle Teams – OSU undergraduate and graduate students participating in this program design and build vehicles to compete in student competitions around the world. Vehicles include electric and internal combustion formula cars as well as a mini-Baja vehicle. The formula vehicles are designed, built, and compete in collaboration with DHBW-Ravensburg University in Germany. The SAE vehicle teams have achieved a remarkable total of six first-place finishes over the past two years alone.  In addition, the SAE vehicle teams have also received a donation of a 289 Digital Multi Meter from Tektronix' sister company, Fluke.

Solar Car Challenge – Tektronix continues to support the OSU Solar Vehicle Team. Using funding from Tektronix, the team will be able to purchase new solar cells to upgrade its solar array in order to compete in the Formula Sun Grand Prix to be held October 2013 in Irvine, Calif. The OSU Phoenix is a three-wheeled, single passenger vehicle powered exclusively by solar energy. The team uses Tektronix oscilloscopes and Keithley SourceMeter® SMU instruments to help the vehicle achieve maximum efficiency.

"Support from industry partners like Tektronix is critical to the university," said Terri Feiz, head of OSU's School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. "Tektronix not only helps to fund valuable student research programs, but supports OSU in creative educational opportunities that prepare our students to enter the workforce to hit the ground running. This partnership is invaluable to our programs and students."

Wondering what else Tektronix is up to? Check out the Tektronix Bandwidth Banter blog and stay up to date on the latest news from Tektronix on Twitter and Facebook.

About Tektronix
For more than sixty-five years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test equipment for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge at www.tektronix.com.

About OSU College of Engineering
Oregon State University's College of Engineering is among the nation's largest and most productive engineering programs. Since 1999, the college has more than tripled its research expenditures to $37.2 million by emphasizing highly collaborative research that solves global problems, spins out new companies, and produces opportunity for students through hands-on learning. To learn more about it and Oregon State University, go to: oregonstate.edu.

Tektronix is a registered trademark of Tektronix, Inc. All other trade names referenced are the service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

SOURCE Tektronix, Inc