Linn-Benton Community College

Textbook Affordability Efforts Reach Over $2.1 million mark Faculty efforts around textbook affordability has reached an all-time high -saving our students up to $1,051,924 in 2017 and up to $2,106,405 since the Open Educational Resources initiative began in winter term 2015, providing greater access, opportunity and learning to our students. For more information on Open Educational Resources and textbook affordability efforts, contact OER Librarian Michaela Willi Hooper. New Veterans Farm on Campus Aims to Connect Veterans Lisa Akers Inclusiveness is one of LBCC’s core values, and one great example of inclusiveness is the new Veterans Farm on campus, made possible through the efforts of Navy veteran Lisa Akers and the Home Depot. Working with the Oregon Paralyzed Veterans of America, which secures grant funding for veteran-related projects, the Home Depot donated $14,500 in building materials and provided many hours of volunteer labor to help build eight raised beds, a green ...

The National Science Foundation has awarded Linn-Benton Community College $616,800 for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics student scholarships. LBCC’s award-winning project, entitled "Promoting Retention and Completion with STEM Research and Design Cohorts at Linn-Benton Community College," was submitted to the NSF by Greg Mulder and Marci Moling, LBCC physical sciences faculty, David Kidd, civil engineering faculty, Parker Swanson, computer sciences faculty, and Andrew Feldman, dean of LBCC Science, Engineering and Mathematics division. The S-STEM grant will provide approximately 20 students per year with $5,000 scholarships over a period of five years. Scholarships will be awarded to LBCC STEM majors with financial need. Students majoring in chemistry, physics, geology, engineering, math, computer science and biology are eligible. Scholarship applicant selection will be based upon high school or college GPA and unmet financial need as determined by th...

Summer is rocking for LBCC students participating in international competitions in robotics and music, and launching rockets at NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Oregon is the place to be for ocean engineering, says LBCC physics instructor and ROV team advisor Greg Mulder. That said, this is the 7th year LBCC’s Remote Operated Vehicle team, or ROV, has qualified for the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center’s annual international ROV competition, held this year at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Alpena, Michigan June 26-28. The event pits teams from college and universities around the globe. The team worked all year to design and build a submersible robot, which they tested at nearby Osborn Aquatic Center pool. Students on the team come from a variety of majors including math, physics, computer science, engineering, health and human performance, and drafting. The team also relies heavily on technical writers, as one-third of the competitions score is ...

Linn-Benton Community College announced the winners of the annual Pastega Awards at its fall in-service held Sept. 13. The awards are given to honor one faculty and one classified staff for their outstanding contributions to the LBCC community. The Pastega Faculty Excellence Award went to LBCC physical science faculty member Greg Mulder. A resident of Corvallis, Mulder has been employed at LBCC since 1997. The Pastega Classified Excellence Award went to Sandy Fichtner, an instructional assistant in the Developmental Studies department. Fichtner, a Corvallis resident, has been employed at LBCC since 1992. Each winner received a $1,000 honorarium and their names will be engraved on the Mario and Alma Pastega Faculty and Staff Excellence plaques in the LBCC College Center Distinguished Staff Gallery. Mario Pastega, owner of the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company in Corvallis, started the annual awards through the LBCC Foundation in 2000 as a way to recognize faculty and classified staff for e...

LBCC's Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) team took 3rd place in the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) 10th Annual International Underwater Robotics Competition held at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, June 16-18. The team competed against ROV's from around the world, placing 3rd behind Purdue University and a team from California. LBCC’s team was one of only two teams to successfully complete all of the missions twice. The final scores were based on a combination of the mission scores and scores for the team’s technical report, poster and oral examination. LBCC ROV team members attending the competition included Quinten Ballard, Grant Blake, Nicholas Cantrell, Benjamin Dean, Jody Eaton, Alexander Frisk, Kristoffer Hess, William Hine, Jeremy Louke, Ivan Merlin, Nathan Murrow, Rachael Nolan, Coquille Rex, Symone Stinson, Michael Tilse, Dillyn Winn and team advisor Greg Mulder. The LBCC team headed to the award platform three ad...

The Physics Students Club at Linn-Benton Community College will hold a multi-media event “The Life and Death of Suns” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, March 11 in the LBCC Forum building, room F-104, Albany campus, 6500 Pacific Blvd. SW. Designed for those who are interested in how the universe works, and those who like an occasional loud explosion, the event features LBCC physics students demonstrating how suns are born and die in our universe. Admission is free, but donations are welcome. All donations will go to support the LBCC Remotely Operated Vehicle Team in their competition at NASA this summer. For more information, contact Greg Mulder at 541-917-4744.

Linn-Benton Community College's Physical Science Department received a donation of two Vernier Software and Technology LabQuest measuring tools for use in its new physical science project room in Madrone Hall. The LabQuests were donated by second-year LBCC computer science physics student and Corvallis resident Nathan Murrow and LBCC physical science faculty member Greg Mulder, who won them through a competition on Facebook held by Vernier Software and Technology. The company awarded their 500th Facebook fan, Murrow, and the fan’s referrer, Mulder, the LabQuest Quick Start Package as part of the social media competition. The LabQuests will be part of the scientific equipment inventory kept in the project room for student use only. Acting a little bit like a "tricorder" from Star Trek, the LabQuests allow students to take measurements of anything from light to sound, magnetism to radioactivity, force, motion and much more, said Mulder. "The project room space was des...