The Daily O’Collegian

OSU researchers will share their recent work with the OSU community and guests from around the world as Research Week 2008 begins today.

This week gives OSU a forum to display a selection of the research that is done at OSU.

“Research is one of the three central missions of a land-grant institution, and this is a wonderful opportunity to experience all kinds of research,” said Toni Shaklee, assistant vice president for sponsored research, in an e-mail.

Don Lucca, a Regents professor, starts the event with a lecture today at 10 a.m. in Case Study 1 of the Student Union.

Lucca, the Tom J. Cunningham Chair in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, will discuss a collaborative research center that involves OSU, the University of Bremen and the Technical University of Aachen in Germany. The center focuses on developing processes for the mass production of complex, precision optics, Lucca said in an e-mail.

A schedule of events is online at http://researchweek.okstate.edu.

Shaklee said Research Week presents an opportunity to share OSU’s research.

“Research Week is a celebration and showcase of the work of faculty and student scholars at OSU,” Shaklee said. “The research and scholarly activities conducted by faculty and students is often done quietly and without much fanfare. This is an opportunity to bring that work to the attention of the greater OSU family.”

Shaklee said she was confident of Research Week’s effectiveness in bringing awareness to OSU and allowing OSU researchers to learn from the guest researchers.

“We are pleased that we are able to showcase the wide range of activities that occur at Oklahoma State,” she said. “Not only do we put our world class research on display, but we also invite outstanding researchers from around the country to visit our campus and make presentations here.

“By attending Research Week, these invited researchers get a real impression of the high caliber of work we do here at OSU and take that impression back with them to their home institutions.”