The Engineering Experience

Posted March 31, 2014 by Emma Mann Sometimes, as hard as you try, the schedule of classes you create just isn’t what you want. You get all of the classes you need, but they just might not be the most convenient schedule for you. Spring of my freshman year, I had one of those schedules. I got all of my classes: Math, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, and even a general education course. The main problem I had was that all but one of the office hours for my math professor was during either my chemistry lab or my physics lab. Most weeks, this wasn’t an issue. I could go into the office hour I was free for and get my questions about the concepts answered. Other weeks though, there just wasn’t enough time. That’s when I found Supplemental Instruction sessions (SI sessions). SI sessions are free weekly study sessions led by a fellow student who has taken the class before. They allow students to collaborate with other students on course concepts and study together. SI sessions al...

Posted March 27, 2014 by Kat Frangos During my time at Purdue, one of my favorite organizations that I have participated in is the Purdue Mechanical Engineering Ambassadors (PMEA).  Comprised of roughly 30 ME sophomore, junior and senior undergraduate students, PMEA is responsible for giving tours to alumni and prospective students, coordinating student activities for current students, organizing outreach events for the local community, teaching the How Stuff Works class (ME 297, hands-on class highlighting the practical applications of ME) and acting as student representatives for the ME student body at official ME school events. Spring 2014 PMEA Flyer advertising the Spring 2014 How Stuff Works Class PMEA is split into several committees that help accomplish all of these goals - Executive, Public Relations, Outreach, Student Activities, How Stuff Works and a new ad-hoc committee this semester, Relations and Improvement.  Through the years that I've been invo...

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Jessica Callinan Check out our Director of Women in Engineering, Beth Holloway, at her TEDxPurdueU talk! 

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Jess Callinan The summer after my freshman year, I got to have the amazing experience of studying abroad. I came to college knowing I wanted to study abroad, but I didn’t want to miss out on any of my time at Purdue. By winter break, I had decided to go that summer and picked Toledo, Spain as my destination. Toledo (a little different than the city in Ohio) was built in the time of the Romans, was the capital city of the Muslim rule in Spain, and is inhabited to this day. It is thousands of years old (we’re talking built in BC here) and completely unlike anything I had ever experienced. And I got to live there for 6 weeks. The Toledo Skyline My experience taught me so much more than I could ever imagined. I spent my six weeks living with a family, growing more confident in my Spanish as I talked with my “parents” over traditional Spanish meals and customs. I traveled by bus and foot to my classes Monday through Thursday, where I made greet frien...

Posted March 14, 2014 by Beata Strubel  “Welcome to Round 52!” bellows a deep voice over lively music. I shuffle in place, enjoying this familiar opening to Turbo Kick which always gets me excited for the class to come. I love kicking and jabbing along to the upbeat music and connecting with the other participants in a way unlike anything else. You develop a special connection with people who have jumped and squatted and done burpee after burpee after burpee right beside you (“Give me one more!” You never realized you were capable of this much, but the instructor’s still smiling, by golly, so you keep going). Turbo Kick is one of over 70 group fitness classes (also called Group X ) offered at the CoRec, one of my favorite breaks from studying. I look forward to this hour of sweat and fun after a long day of classes. When I was in high school, a friend at Purdue told me about Group X. After hearing about this great program and learning that the classes were taught by Purdue s...

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Jess Callinan This semester I decided to study abroad in Singapore. It was a decision I made very last minute, at the start of last semester, but I'm very happy with the choice I made to pick up and go. When you hear people talk about their study abroad experience, they'll often use phrases like "It's the best thing I've ever done," and "I learned so much about yourself," and while I agree with these statements, I think the phrase that I would use to encapsulate my experience is, "I felt the entire range of human emotion." And that in itself is the reason I would encourage others to go. What I mean by this, is when you leave the country completely on your own, you will have things thrown at you that you've never experienced, good and bad. Since you left alone, the only person to really share those experiences  with is yourself. You'll feel excited, awed, lonely, confused, proud, and so much more.  Y...

Posted March 11, 2014 by Kat Frangos I spent this past summer in Covington, Lousiana working as a Facilities Engineering Intern with Chevron.  The "facilities" in this case, are the off-shore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and the pipelines that connect them back to shore.  This internship was a fantastic adventure for so many reasons and I've accepted a full-time Facilities Engineering position in Covington after I graduate from Purdue. While I spent the majority of my internship at the Chevron office in Covington (just 45 minutes north of New Orleans), I made 5-6 trips to the offshore platforms as my projects required - several day trips and then a few overnights too.  Offshore assets in GOM are divided up into two categories, "shelf" (resources are located < 1000 ft deep) and "deepwater" (> 1000 ft deep).  My project this summer were for several "shelf" platforms which were between 5 - 10 minutes offshore by helicopter or...

Posted March 10, 2014 by Emma Mann One of my favorite things about going to Purdue is the pride students take in going here. I think a large part of this pride is the traditions Purdue has instilled in its students to maintain the enthusiastic school spirit. These traditions remain near and dear to both students’ and alumni hearts. Fountain Runs students running through Loeb fountain Purdue has two main fountains on campus, the Purdue Mall Fountain (Engineering Fountain) and Loeb Fountain. These fountains are main features of Purdue’s campus. Between April and October, these fountains are turned on. While they are on, students like to go on fountain runs. Students run through one of the fountains and then run to and the through the other. Students often being their time at Purdue by participating in a fountain run during Boiler Gold Rush (BGR) and then finishing their time at Purdue by doing a fountain run after graduation. Purdue Grand Prix st...