The Cayuse community is thrilled to shine its Champion Spotlight on @Zach Gill, Director of Sponsored Programs, Award Contracting at Oregon State University. Keep reading below to get to know Zach better.
How do you interact with Cayuse products on a daily basis?
I am in Cayuse Sponsored Projects every day seeing who is doing what. I use it to track progress of large proposals and to see the history of certain sponsors and faculty. We recently started the Modernization upgrade to Sponsored Projects 4.0 so that will be an exciting project this summer.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I love the outdoor activities in Oregon. I trail run and mountain bike. I am running my first 50km trail run in May! OSU has a research forest right next to Corvallis that is filled with great trails that are just a beautiful in the winter fog as the summer sun.
What do you see as the hottest trends in research today?
Wave Energy! OSU is building the county’s first grid-connected wave energy test facility off the Oregon coast. Its an amazing project that will enable a whole new generation of inventors to create devices that will generate renewable energy when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing.
What do you consider most promising in the era of big data?
I hope we can get better at using the data. Some of the top tech companies are using the data they collect on all of us to take actions but I think a lot of us are creating troves of data that are not really used to their potential.
How can an organization stay relevant five years from now?
Listen to your employees and customers. Employee expectations and needs are changing. We need to continue to attract and retain great talent into research administration. Sponsor expectations and needs are changing. We need to pivot our offerings to match their needs.
What app would be hard for you to live without?
Spotify. Especially when working from home over the past couple years, my lineup of podcasts were my officemates.
If you could meet any historical figure, who would you choose and why?
I think an evening with Teddy Roosevelt would be a wild ride. I have no idea what we would talk about but I’m sure it would be entertaining. I used to run around Teddy Roosevelt Island in DC (a little hidden gem in the Potomac River) and I would think about what the White House was like back in his day. He had a pony, bear, lizards, and all sorts of crazy animals in the White House.
Thank you, Zach, for being a Cayuse Champion and sharing your thoughts!