Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Richard and Gretchen Evans Professor in Humanitarian Engineering

Senior Advisor to the Provost for International Affairs

Office: 
318 Rogers Hall
Phone: 
541.737.5246
Fax: 
541.737.2600
Email: 
kendra.sharp@oregonstate.edu

Thermal–Fluid Sciences
Humanitarian Engineering

Education

  • Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001
  • MEng, University of California at Berkeley, 1996
  • MPhil, University of Cambridge, 1994
  • BS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1993

Research Interests

Dr. Sharp's current research and teaching interests include design for international development, applications of technology in humanitarian engineering, sustainable water and energy systems (including small hydropower), and the ethics of university-community engagement.

Biography

Dr. Kendra Sharp is the Senior Adviser to the Provost for International Affairs at Oregon State University (OSU), the Richard and Gretchen Evans Professor of Humanitarian Engineering, and a Professor of Mechanical Engineering. In her administrative role, she provides leadership for the development and implementation of strategic initiatives in internationalization and global engagement at OSU. She also founded and directs OSU’s Humanitarian Engineering Program. She believes deeply in the value of interdisciplinary education and research, and using engineering and technology for positive social impact. Through both her research and humanitarian engineering educational offerings, she collaborates with faculty, students, NGOs, and social entrepreneurs to address global issues in poverty, energy, and water through engineering design and international education. She has extensive international research and teaching experience in the Netherlands, New Zealand, India, Pakistan and Thailand. Her earlier research focused on experimental fluid mechanics, including microfluidics and biological applications thereof. She received the Edwin F. Church Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Visiting Erskine Fellowships at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand; the OSU College of Engineering Faculty Mentoring Award; OSU’s International Service Award; and an NSF CAREER award. Dr. Sharp serves on the Board of Trustees for WorldOregon and the Alumni Board for the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Selected Publications

  • Burleson, G., Tilt, B., Sharp, K. and N. MacCarty, “Reinventing boiling: A rapid ethnographic and engineering evaluation of a high efficiency thermal water treatment technology in Uganda,” Energy Research in Social Science, 52:68-77, 2019. 
  • Warren, G., Mosier, T.M., Sharp, K.V. and Hill, D.F., "Small Hydropower Toolkit: Considerations for Improving Global Development and an Accompanying Case Study for Pakistan," Pittsburgh Law Review, 80, 2018, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3154085 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3154085
  • T.M., Hill, D.F., and Sharp, K.V., “Update to the Global Climate Data package: analysis of empirical bias correction methods in the context of producing very high resolution climate projections,” International Journal of Climatology, 38:825–840, 2018, doi: 10.1002/joc.5213.
  • Burleson, G., Butcher, B., Goodwin, B., Sharp, K. and Ruder, B., “Soap-Making Process Improvement: Including Social, Cultural and Resource Constraints in the Engineering Design Process,” International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering, Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship 12(2):81-102, 2017.
  • Mosier, T. M., Hill, D. F., and Sharp, K. V., “How Much Cryosphere Model Complexity Is Just Right? Exploration Using The Conceptual Cryosphere Hydrology Framework,” The Cryosphere, 10: 2147-2171, 2016. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2147-2016.
  • Mosier, T., Hill, D.F., and K.V. Sharp, "The Hydropower Potential Assessment Tool (HPAT): Evaluation of Run-of-River Resource Potential for Any Global Land Area and Application to Falls Creek, Oregon, USA,” Renewable Energy, 97:492-503, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2016.06.002.
  • Mohammadi, M. and K.V. Sharp, “The Role of Contact Line (Pinning) Forces on Bubble Blockage in Microchannels,” ASME Journal of Fluids Engineering, 137(3): 031208–031208-7, doi: 10.1115/1.4029033, 2015. 
  • Mosier, T., Hill, D.F., and K.V. Sharp, “30-Arcsecond Monthly Climate Surfaces With Global Land Coverage,” International Journal of Climatology, DOI: 10.1002/joc.3829, 34(7):2175-2188, 2014.  
  • Mohammadi, M. and K. Sharp, “Experimental Techniques for Bubble Dynamics Analysis in Microchannels: A Review,” Journal of Fluids Engineering – Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 135(2):021202-1-021202-10, 2013.
  • Cobb, B. and K. Sharp, “Impulse (Turgo and Pelton) Turbine Performance Characteristics and Their Impact on Pico-hydro Installations,” Renewable Energy,  50:959-964, doi10.1016/j.renene.2012.08.010, 2013. 
  • Hussong, J., Lindken, R., Faulhammer, P., Noreikat, K., Sharp, K.V., Kummer, W. and J. Westerweel, “Cilia-driven Particle and Fluid Transport over Mucus-free Mice Tracheae,” Journal of Biomechanics 46:593-598, 2013. 
  • Mohammadi, M., Jovanovic, G. and K.V. Sharp, “Numerical Study of Flow Uniformity and Pressure Characteristics within a Microchannel Array with Triangular Manifolds,” Computers & Chemical Engineering, 52:134-144, doi 10.1016/j.compchemeng.2012.12.010, 2013.