Oregon is one of the top ten states in the nation for scientific innovation, according to a new report. KLCC’s Brian Bull has more.
The Beaver State overall ranks tenth, according to personal finance website WalletHub. Researchers used several metrics, including projected growth of jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math – or STEM for short.
WalletHub researcher Jill Gonzalez says in some cases, Oregon rated better than tenth…such as ranking sixth for its share of science and engineering graduates.
“About 10 percent of all graduates are in the STEM field. That means there’s a little bit of a drop between those that actually go into the STEM profession.
"So obviously we want to make sure that there is no drop, maybe try to lessen that as the years go on, but since there is so many STEM jobs projected and in demand by 2020, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem in Oregon.”
Oregon also ranked tenth for research and development spending per capita. The University of Oregon’s Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, and $8 million in funding for Agility Robotics, a company launched at Oregon State University, are apt to help the state’s innovation ranking.
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