Solar energy has been around for decades. Why isn't it more widely used? PhD candidates Matthew Metzger and Jesse King looked for answers by examining influences on new product development in the solar industry. Recently, they were invited by the Green Product Design Network to present their investigations at a poster session associated with the second annual UO Graduate Student Research Forum. (Do you work in the solar energy industry? Matthew and Jesse want to hear from you.

Excitement ran high for the twenty-five students in the CEO Network when Dean Kees de Kluyver came to their Friday morning leadership seminar to facilitate the analysis of a case from the Harvard Business Review. "The students impressed me with their critical thinking and willingness to take on even the most complex issues," said de Kluyver. Launched this past fall, the network provides leadership coaching, mentoring, and networking opportunities to a culturally diverse group of pre-business undergraduates.

What inspired CEO and founder of Mazama Capital Management Ron Sauer to travel from his company's Portland headquarters to Eugene to teach the five session portfolio management analysis course this winter term? The students. "They're like wet sponges," said Sauer. "They're very knowledgeable and very passionate about what we're talking about." For his students, the excitement is all about seeing the concepts they've learned at school used in the real world by an expert practitioner.

Bright smiles, tables draped in vivid primary colors, and the hum of excited talk among the fifty female undergraduates matched with fifty professional women--all pointed to the success of the sixth annual student-run event. This year's theme was "Paint Your Own Picture," and the keynote speaker was business school alum Erin Tyburski, who recently served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya. Catch the energy in this video.