Oregon Center for Advanced Technology Education (OCATE) was a school in

Hillsboro, Oregon Hillsboro ( ) is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Situated in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city hosts many high-technology companies, ...

, created by the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

to improve technology education. Established in 1985, the program was a collaboration of most of Oregon’s public universities. OCATE later was absorbed by

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

and discontinued in 2006.

History

OCATE was created by the Oregon Board of Higher Education in 1985 in an effort to encourage state engineering schools to collaborate in an effort to increase high-tech education in the state. It was established with $1 million in funding provided by the

Oregon Lottery The Oregon Lottery is run by the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). History The Oregon Lottery was authorized by Oregon Ballot Measure 5 which was passed by voters in the 1984 ...

and first held classes at

Tektronix Tektronix, Inc., historically widely known as Tek, is an American company best known for manufacturing test and measurement devices such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and video and mobile test protocol equipment. Originally an independent ...

. Politician and businessman Tom Bruggere was one of the people credited with founding the center, and served as chairman of the group in the early 2000s. Along with the Oregon Joint Graduate Schools of Engineering, OCATE was designed to coordinate Oregon public universities’ technology education. In 1988, the state recruited the private

Oregon Graduate Center The Oregon Graduate Center was a unique, private, postgraduate-only research university in Washington County, Oregon, on the west side of Portland, from 1963 to 2001. The center was renamed the Oregon Graduate Institute in 1989. The Institute me ...

to teach some of the OCATE courses. Intel scientist

Justin Rattner Justin R. Rattner is a retired Intel Senior Fellow, Corporate Vice President and former director of Intel Labs. Previously, he served as the corporation's Chief Technology Officer, where he was responsible for leading Intel's microprocessor, com ...

was given OCATE’s Globe Award in 1989. OCATE merged with the Lintner Center in 1991. The center was forced to cut 22 positions in 1992 due to statewide budget cuts. OCATE was part of a pilot project started in 1994 with a

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding th ...

grant to create a high-speed network linking it to Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU), the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology) since merged with OHSU, the University of Oregon, Portland State University, and Oregon State University. The $4.5 million Nero Project would provide speeds of 155 MPS. The school moved to the Capital Center in 1995, which was a former Tektronix's facility. It began a lecture series in 1996, and converted to mostly a

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

program in 2003. The program was discontinued in 2006 and absorbed by Portland State University's School of Extended Studies. The School of Extended Studies at PSU was eliminated in 2012 and the programs under the School moved into Colleges and Schools at PSU. At that time OCATE was moved to the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Currently the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science
MCECS
offers Graduate level courses in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Engineering and Technology Management (ETM) at PCC-Willow Creek. The courses are taught in the evening and are mainly for working professionals on th
Westside
Courses are offered in technical areas that are relevant to engineers working at neighboring technology companies. Most of the courses are project-based and provide an opportunity to meet other engineers with similar interests working in related areas. Sufficient courses are offered to meet the degree requirements for our masters program without having to take time off from work during the day or having to travel to downtown Portland. Courses are offered to support both students who are and are not seeking a graduate degree.

Details

OCATE’s mission statement was to “act as a facilitator, coordinator, and promoter of cooperative, world-class, graduate-level, advanced technology education. OCATE will bring together the best faculty from Oregon's public and private higher education institutions, leading industrial researchers, and out-of-state experts to provide state-of-the-art technological and business education to the advanced technology industries in Oregon.” The center was located at the Capitol Center in Hillsboro, though it had a Beaverton address.

References

{{Portland State University 1985 establishments in Oregon Portland State University Schools in Hillsboro, Oregon 2006 disestablishments in Oregon Educational institutions established in 1985