The Knight Campus Story

Pioneering Oregon Spirit. Only Faster.

From the birthplace of Nike to pioneering zebrafish research, the University of Oregon has a long history of turning bold ideas into world-changing impact. The Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact represents the next chapter in that tradition — closing the gap between scientific discovery and the patients, communities, and industries that need it. Same Oregon spirit. Only faster. 

On Thursday, April 30, that ethos takes center stage at the tenth anniversary edition of Science Knight Out, "A Decade of Building Oregon's Future," a free public lecture at The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts in downtown Eugene. 

Paul Dalton

Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering
Bradshaw and Holzapfel Research Professor in Transformational Science and Mathematics
Co-founder of VivoTex 

Dalton has spent years perfecting melt electrowriting — a 3D printing technology capable of building microscopic scaffolds that support cells as they grow into tissues and organs. What makes his lab distinctive isn't just the science, it's the philosophy. The goal isn't only discovery, but the application. "I don't mind where it's applied," Dalton says, "as long as it's applied."  

Iman von Briesen

PhD Candidate, Bioengineering

A natural tinkerer with a propensity for hacking creative solutions, von Briesen helped bring melt electrowriting to labs around the world in an affordable and accessible way. This open-source mindset has encouraged the spread of this work right here at the Knight Campus, where it is being used to help regenerate muscle and beyond, and around the world, where it has even been applied to create a heart valve.

Keat Ghee Ong

Professor of Bioengineering 
Co-founder, Penderia

Ong’s lab specializes in implantable sensors — no batteries, no wires — that measure physical forces inside the human body and report real time measurements using RFID. Ong has moved this technology from the lab through his startup, Penderia, which is creating sensors for surgeons performing ACL reconstruction — giving experts instant, quantifiable data to complement their experienced hands.

Kylie Williams

First Knight Campus PhD Graduate, Bioengineering, 
Clinical Engineering Director, Penderia

Williams became the first graduate of the Knight Campus bioengineering PhD program, and is now Clinical Engineering Director at Penderia — a medical device startup co-founded by Knight Campus faculty member Keat Ghee Ong. Williams is shaping Oregon’s growing biotech sector.