The Engineering Experience

Thanksgiving is a great time of the year to sit back and reflect on all that we are thankful for in our lives. When it comes to Purdue, there are plenty of things to be thankful for. Here are a few! I’m thankful for Starships! If you’ve ever been on campus at Purdue, you’ve undoubtedly seen the petite, sleek little robots roaming the campus at will. They’re almost as frequent as the squirrels! Not only are these little devices adorable, they’re also important to the Purdue ecosystem. They have an essential duty: keeping college students fed. With the Starship app, students can order from a multitude of places on campus, whether it’s nationally known such as Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, or Panera, or campus favorites like Au Bon Pain, Cosi, or Harrison Grill. While they do serve a noble purpose, their presence also adds to the overall aesthetic of campus. They can be seen navigating the topsy-turvy routes of West Lafayette or patiently waiting at a crosswalk to avoid an unfortunate collisi...

The transition from high school to college can be intimidating and scary to think about, but it can be made easier by preparing for the differences. By noting and being ready for these differences, you can set yourself up better for success and not be as taken aback by these changes, some of which you may not even realize are changes. New Environment The most obvious difference between college and high school is the environment, and I do not just mean the physical environment but the social one as well. For most students, this is the first time they have ever lived outside of their home for an extended period of time, and on top of that you’re potentially living with someone you do not know that well. Also, unlike high school, you are surrounded by people you don’t know from all corners of the country and world instead of your friends and classmates you have known all of your life. My advice on adjusting to this new environment is to explore. Personally, on my second day on campus as ...

Transitioning from high school to college leads to many new and exciting opportunities. We have the freedom to work on our homework, spend time with our friends and eat our meals wherever and whenever we want to. Naturally, all of that freedom is followed by many new responsibilities too. We must organize our work and classes to meet various deadlines, maintain a great support system of friends, and stay healthy and nourished. Many college students take on the responsibility of a job alongside their education to support themselves financially, gain work experience and meet more people. Purdue offers many employment opportunities across campus which cater towards diverse skill sets and interests. Here are some examples of and resources for employment opportunities offered at Purdue:  We are the WE Link leadership team and are student employees of WIEP focused on recruitment! Work for the Women in Engineering Program (WIEP)! The moment you step on to campus, you are a part of the Wom...

Engineering has become extremely globalized– you may find yourself working with a very diverse team on a project, or designing technology that will impact a faraway part of the world. Being informed about different cultures and regions of the world, having strong soft skills and emotional intelligence, and being capable of communicating with people from various backgrounds can go a long way in your career as an engineer. Working on your global and cultural competency in this way can also balance out and provide a nice contrast to the technical classes and skills we engineering students are used to. Here are some ways in which you can become a global engineer at Purdue. Studying Abroad Studying abroad is a great, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. There are so many benefits, including familiarizing yourself with a different country and culture, studying course material in a different context than you’re used to, and challenging yourself by stepping outside your comfort zone. You can also i...

There are many options of how to use your summers while you are in college. Many engineers will opt to look for an internship and gain work experience in industry. However, the path that is sometimes less traveled but equally as valuable is pursuing undergraduate research experiences either at a different institution or right on your home campus. This summer I participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program at Purdue where I conducted research under my current advisor in the School of Materials Engineering. A typical day: there isn’t one Under the SURF program, you work on your research project for 40 hours per week like you would a full-time job. However, it’s hard to describe a “typical day” when doing work that doesn’t have a predictable and definite answer–which is why we even do cutting-edge research in the first place. Some days things might be going really well and you knock out tests for 5 different experiments. Other days, you spend all your time ov...