ISU News: College of Science and Engineering

Steve Chiu standing next to electrical engineering equipment.

ISU electrical engineering Director Steve Chiu receives Fulbright U.S. Scholar Grant to Iceland to participate in national exchange

February 28, 2019

POCATELLO – The U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board have announced that Steve Chiu, Idaho State University associate professor and director of electrical engineering, has received a Fulbright Scholar Grant to Iceland.

Photo of Leif Tapanila and Jesse Pruitt of the IVL holding a large vertebrae of a whale.

Idaho Museum of Natural History researchers receive grant to digitally scan bones of California blue whale

February 25, 2019

POCATELLO – The Idaho Museum of Natural History and Idaho State University received a $20,000 award from the National Science Foundation in January to scan the entire skeleton of a blue whale that washed ashore in California. The skeleton is at the Noyo Center for Marine Science in Fort Bragg, California.

Photo of two ON representatives and an ISU professor.

ON Semiconductor Increases Support for Idaho State University Department of Electrical Engineering

January 18, 2019

Donation of design workstations, funding for design software and curriculum development collaboration underline the company’s support for local students

Ernest Keeley, left, directing a student during a study on the lower Portneuf River.

Idaho State University professors identify some of last remaining populations of native cutthroat trout in the Portneuf River

January 17, 2019

POCATELLO – For the last 20 years, Idaho State University fish ecologists Ernest Keeley and Janet Loxterman in the Department of Biological Sciences have studied Cutthroat Trout populations in waters from Alaska to New Mexico. Among their other research endeavors, they have identified some of the last remaining native, genetically pure populations of Cutthroat Trout in the areas around Pocatello, including distinct subspecies variations, in some unlikely places.

Photo of IMNH director Tapanila with replicas of scissor-toothed shark jaws.

Idaho State University researchers help create skull of ancient scissor-toothed shark, Edestus

January 17, 2019

POCATELLO – The ancient scissor-toothed shark Edestus was a “weird, weird beastie,” according to Leif Tapanila, Idaho State University geosciences professor and Idaho Museum of Natural History director.

Jan. 26 Fishing Derby at Sportsman’s Park at American Falls Reservoir Features $500 First Prize for Trout, $250 for Perch

January 7, 2019

POCATELLO – A fishing derby running 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, at Sportsman’s Park on the west side of American Falls Reservoir near Aberdeen features a $500 first-place prize for the largest trout and a $250 first-place prize for the largest perch.

ISU Ph.D. student Omid Heidari poses with the type of robot that will be used in the IGEM project.

Idaho State University, industry partner House of Design receive $162K IGEM grant to develop application to connect robotics with augmented reality

December 11, 2018

POCATELLO – Idaho State University researchers will work with the robotic systems integration company House of Design in Nampa to enable programmers wearing augmented reality glasses to communicate directly with robots.

Idaho State University’s Colden Baxter receives Jean’ne M. Shreeve NSF EPSCoR Research Excellence Award

December 7, 2018

POCATELLO – Colden Baxter, Idaho State University biological sciences professor, is the recipient of the 2018 Jean’ne M. Shreeve NSF EPSCoR Research Excellence Award.

Photo of Ph.D. student Amy Commodore and her advisor Bruce Finney in the ISU Stable Isotopes Laboratory, pictured with some samples of owl pellets in small jars.

Old piles of bones deposited by owls assist ISU Ph.D. student Amy Commendador's research on past climates of the Snake River Plain

December 5, 2018

POCATELLO – To understand changes in the Snake River Plain’s climate and ecosystem over thousands of years, Idaho State University biological sciences doctoral student Amy Commendador has been analyzing the contents of owl pellets using a sophisticated instrument called an isotope ratio mass spectrometer.

Keith Weber sitting at his desk in front of computer screens.

Idaho State University is using its research and proven technologies to aid wildfire efforts in California, across the West

December 3, 2018

POCATELLO – It is early December and wildfire season for Idaho State University’s Keith Weber, Director of the Idaho State University GIS Training and Research Center, is just now winding down – or is it?