It was a match made in start-up heaven. Doug Anderson, MBA '11, and Paul Clark, MBA '11, were looking for a real-life project to apply the skills they'd honed in the business school's venture launch pathway. UO architecture professor Ihab Elzeyadi was looking for a way to commercialize the SolarStream Awning, an innovative three-in-one green building product he had recently developed.

Can solving social and environmental problems be part and parcel of a competitive investment strategy? The answer is yes, according to advocates of impact investing, a strategy that's recently gained attention even from mainstream financial institutions. For five Fridays this spring, MBA candidates explored this question in depth, in a new class led by industry expert Dave Chen, a principal at the Equilibrium Capital Group.

Business students from the Center for Sustainable Business Practices worked with with master's candidates from the architecture and landscape architecture programs to compete in the ULI/Gerald D. Hines Urban Design Competition. "The MBAs wanted to really crunch the numbers before putting pencil to paper," said MBA candidate Andy Fenstermacher.

Ever wondered how much carbon you're saving when you pedal your bicycle instead of taking your car? Soon you'll know, thanks to the Ride Your Bike There smartphone app. Created by a team of MBA candidates from the Center for Sustainable Business Practices working with students from disciplines across the university, the app was powered by a grant from the Student Sustainability Fund. What sets this carbon calculator apart?

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.