The Engineering Experience

How do you find a college that provides the “perfect fit”? The college search can be daunting, stressful, overwhelming.. It can also be exciting, inspiring, and engaging. The element of the new and unknown can be both thrilling and terrifying. In less than a year you will be living in a new place with new people and limitless opportunities ahead of you. But how do you choose? Countless sites provide rankings in various areas, but it’s often hard to understand what they mean. How do you get a feel for a campus in a one day tour? "Our survey clearly indicated that it wasn't so much where you go to college as much as it is how you go to college — what you extract from the campus experience. Students and their families are making a significant investment in college, and it should be done with eyes wide open." Mitch Daniels, President   Purdue University After surveying more than 30,000 U.S. graduates, Gallup released findings this past year about key element

This summer, I interned at General Motors in Lockport, NY.  As an environmental and ecological engineer, I never thought I would end up working for a car company; cars emit carbon dioxide which kind of goes against the goals of environmental engineers.  But, as I learned more about General Motors as a company, I found that they are actually very conscious of their environmental footprint and the impact their actions have on the environment.  The plant I worked at this summer is so environmentally friendly, that they have met the requirements to be classified as a land-fill-free facility!   What is an environmental engineering intern? As an environmental engineering intern, I worked on a number of projects.   I assisted with meeting compliance measures, such as doing tests to make sure the plant was meeting certain air requirements, and making sure the used-oil containers had the proper labels.  Compliance is important to sustainability because in order to do great and amazing

At the end of this past May, I stuffed my car full of my belongings and drove up to southern Minnesota for the 11 week program as an Industrial Engineering Intern. I knew what the internship program entailed and the basic job description but my summer turned out to be so much more than that. My job took place in a massive plant that felt on par with a small city. I could hardly keep from getting lost and seemed to discover something new every day. As the plant IE intern, I had typical Industrial Engineering duties but was also included on a variety of high dollar projects. I was able to help work on new, old and ongoing projects with people from all different departments. They treated me as one of their own and it made a world of difference. I learned a lot about myself; what I can do, what I excel at and what I need to improve upon as an upcoming Industrial Engineer. Things were excitingly dynamic which made going to work an adventure each day. I felt as if I learned something new

My final activity in Colombia was perhaps the most surreal and exciting of all.  During my last weekend in Colombia I had the privilege of working with the Purdue All-American Marching Band as a translator and organizer during their visit to the Feria de las Flores, a large flower festival in Medellín.  Through the hard work of many Purdue staff members and students, the city government of Medellín, RutaN, and the organizers of the festival, over 200 members of the marching band performed in city plazas, at a local flower farm, and at the start of a bike race.  A small part of the band and I were even able to attend a luncheon with some of the most powerful industry and academic leaders of Colombia and Purdue.  However, the most impactful performance for me was in the amazing flower parade that marks the end of the festival.  The band selected to perform two of the theme songs of the festival, and they could not have made a better selection.  The spectators of the parade wer