Ideas & Innovations 2017

From Tech to Sustainability to Business, 11 Big Ideas from Portland Innovators

Activist giving, gaming while black, and the rise of the “zebra”—our brightest thinkers change the conversation.

06/12/2017 Edited by Zach Dundas

Ideas & Innovations 2017: Tech for Good

3 Portland Projects Using Tech for Good

Activist giving, gaming while black, and bots with 'tude: these projects put the soul back in tech.

06/12/2017 By Zach Dundas

Ideas & Innovations 2017: Zebras, Ride!

Step Aside, Unicorn. A Portlander Sets Out to Breed a Saner Start-Up.

Switchboard cofounder Mara Zepeda advocates for the "zebra," a kinder, more responsible species of start-up.

06/12/2017 By Zach Dundas

Dispatch

This Portlander Could Become Canada's Next Astronaut

Ground control to Major Thomas.

05/17/2017 By Lauren Kershner

Earthshakers

Two Types of Quakes Bigger Than the Big One

In the Pacific Northwest, your world is far more likely to be rocked by these bad boys.

05/15/2017 By Meagan Nolan

Best Offices 2017: Space Odyssey

How One Portland Software Company Scaled Up

Video streaming company Elemental went from two rooms in 2006 to 100,000 square feet today. How'd they do it?

05/15/2017 By Marty Patail

Gaming

A New Gamer Bar Is About to Hit Portland. Will the City Embrace eSports?

Part bar, part gaming battle arena: welcome to Outrage.

05/15/2017 By Meagan Nolan

Transportation

Portland to Seattle in 17 Minutes? The Hyperloop Could Make It Happen.

It just means shooting through a pneumatic tube at 760 miles per hour.

05/15/2017 By Caleb Diehl

Gaming

The Creators of Acclaimed Video Game Gone Home Head for Deep Space

Portland studio Fullbright goes intergalactic with Tacoma.

04/17/2017 By Jason Buehrer

Marijuana

The Future of Weed May Sprout in Portland’s Suburbs

The heir to a major beer distributor turns his attention to developing new strains of cannabis for a growing industry.

03/20/2017 By Lauren Kershner

Storytelling

What's It Like to Be a Woman in Tech in 2017?

Six women—from computer animators to software engineers—give an insider peek into the tech industry.

01/24/2017 By Rebecca Jacobson

Ventures

Versi Carves Out a Bigotry-Free Space for Latino Digital Commerce

Founded by a trio of Mexican-born entrepreneurs, the Portland start-up is a Spanish-language digital Yellow Pages.

11/14/2016 By Marty Patail

Tao of Meow

Meet the Man Using Data Sets to Map Portland’s Feline Friends

Want to see the city’s finest cats? Follow computer programmer Max Ogden on Instagram.

11/14/2016 By Amy Martin

Dispatch

Columbia Sportswear Takes on Gore-Tex

Can a Portland company topple the industry juggernaut?

10/10/2016 By Benjamin Tepler

Meet Your Maker

Portlander Kurt Mottweiler Crafts Crazy-Cool Analog Cameras

Gizmodo likens his work to “mysterious nautical equipment.”

09/21/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson

SCIENCE

The Big One Just Got a Little More Likely

Major Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes occur more often than we thought.

08/05/2016 By Marty Patail

PDX INDEX

Are Portlanders Doomed to Be Vitamin D-Deficient?

Climate change notwithstanding.

07/12/2016 By Kailla Coomes

Q&A

How OHSU’s Research Spins Off into Tech Start-Ups

Dan Dorsa, OHSU senior VP of research, explains the “MedTech Alliance.”

06/24/2016 By Marty Patail

MEDICAL RESEARCH

Meet the Portland Father-Daughter Team Chasing Unconventional Cures to MS

Dan Wieden, cofounder of Wieden & Kennedy, and daughter Laura work to speed up the sluggish research clock.

06/24/2016 By Zach Dundas

DISEASES

Have These Portland State Researchers Found a Cure to Malaria?

“We know that the compound has worked, but we don’t actually know how it works.”

06/24/2016 By Jack Rushall

Science & Technology