Editor’s note: DAMchic and The Daily Barometer are both part of Orange Media Network. 

First place: DAMchic

DAMChic is Oregon State University’s fashion magazine that is produced wholly by students and it was voted the top club to be a part of on campus. 

The magazine was a class project that was started five years ago and became official in the summer of 2012. The organization has grown from a staff of eight to over 50 students who work as editors, writers, photographers, directors and models. 

DAMChic works to make an impact in the community by highlighting topics that the community considers relevant and important. By creating a diverse and inclusive platform, the magazine works to inspire and empower people through fashion. 

The magazine releases one edition each term, their most recent publication was themed Hyperreality. 

Olivia Harband, editor-in-chief, began her journey as a photographer for DAMChic at the end of her first year at OSU. 

She said she has enjoyed that the organization has provided a place where there is little restraints, meaning that team members can express themselves in many ways.

DAMChic aims to challenge the traditional stereotypes in fashion. 

“We circumvent them to prove that beauty comes in so many different forms, and sometimes traditional high fashion doesn’t recognize all forms,” Harband said.

Members do a variety of things, from launch parties, print magazines and online content. 

Jessica Thompson, a member of DAMChic, decided to join after she walked in the 2018 winter fashion show and realized how the organization was a place where students could express their creativity. 

“If anyone has any passion for creativity, whether it be art, fashion, photography, or writing, DAMChic is an amazing platform to serve as an outlet for those things,” Thompson said. 

According to Thompson, she has learned that opening up about her life story and expressing herself is not so scary, and there are always people who can relate. 

Contributing Director for DAMchic Roman Cohen’s favorite part of being a member of the magazine is being around people who are like-minded and are interested in fashion. 

After seeing the fall 2018 DAMchic magazine with the shoot “2 Cool 4 Skool” that was photographed by Andrea Mitev, he decided to join at the end of spring term during his first year at Oregon State. 

Cohen said he has since enjoyed being able to meet new people, collaborate with brands and create engaging and empowering content each term. Furthermore, he has learned a lot about teamwork, brand communication, creating content, photography, studio lighting, software and more. 

“Being in DAMChic has also given me the opportunity to speak and host at events, and through that, I’ve learned to be more confident,” Cohen said via email.  

DAMChic continues to focus on their values of presenting their readers with compelling content that places fashion in a context that is greater than the clothes.

Second place: Overclocking Club

The overclocking club was voted as one of the top two best clubs at Oregon State University. 

OSU’s Overclocking Club is the first American school to have an overclocking club and this club is one of the only college clubs to compete nationally and internationally. 

The club is a part of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers student and electronic packaging branch. Instead of going by IEEE, the club decided on the name overclocking to be more inclusive. 

Overclocking club started three years ago by the Enhanced Heat Transfer Laboratory at OSU, with the goal to get engineers interested in thermal management and to learn outside of the textbook. 

The club works on team-based projects focused on electronic packaging and competitions. Since starting in 2017, it has become one of the most active engineering clubs on campus. Alec Nordlund is the vice chair of overclocking club and a mechanical engineering major.

“It’s like taking esports and making it a more engineered-focused activity,” Nordlund said.

The goal is to look at thermal engineering to make computers operate better. The work of the club is split into research, competition and outreach. They research and work in labs in order to build the best computer, and then compete using the computer that they have built.

They also work on outreach through the use of things like virtual reality to show how technology has advanced and what it can do. 

Rachel McAfee is the chair of the club and a mechanical engineering major.

“Overclocking is essentially taking your standard PC and souping it up like a race car. When you run a computer like this, it gets very hot to the point that one of the best ways to cool it is liquid nitrogen,” said McAfee.

According to McAfee, the club is based around computers and approaching things in novel ways, like using liquid nitrogen.

The computers that the club builds compete against computers around the world. The club recently placed in the top 20 in the world. 

“I really like the competing aspect, we are the only college team that does this, so we are mostly competing against industry folk and experts,” Nordlund said.

The clubs next competition is in Orlando. 

Third place: Many-way tie