The Engineering Experience

Who are you? My name is Dina Abdulaal. I am from Saudi Arabia and I am a junior pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Purdue University.   What are your career goals? Whenever I tell people I Saudi Arabian, I usually get the question "Why Purdue?” The answer is simply the following: engineering. As an innovator and entrepreneur my ultimate goal is to leave a mark with a positive social impact. For example, purchasing a certain type of car can help paint someone’s personality. Even utilizing an iphone inherently creates exclusivity through iMessage chats. These types of social impacts by technology never seize to amaze me! I hope to leave a similar impact through product development and social entrepreneurship. How did you adjust to living so far away from home? Many people do not even realize that I am studying abroad because I have managed to assimilate well into the West Lafayette culture. I re...

Every Purdue engineer has to go through Purdue’s First-Year Engineering program (FYE). While there isn’t much enthusiasm associated with the thought of general engineering classes like Engineering 131, the skills we learn in these general classes are not only essential to our time here at Purdue, but a valuable asset for our future endeavors as well. Regardless of our future careers, the ability to collaborate, analyze and assess problems is crucial. It’s Professor Tamara Moore’s fifth year as an engineering education professor here at Purdue, where she teaches general engineering classes, including Engineering 131 and 132. After graduating from Purdue, her dream school, with a degree in Engineering Education, she jumped around from being a high school math teacher--teaching everything from algebra to calculus-- to being one of the engineers working on testing the camshafts that go into Dodge Rams at Cummins. After her time in industry, she decided to come back to Purdue for graduate...

My Disney Experience How Purdue Helped me Achieve my Dream                 I have always been fascinated with Walt Disney World, the most magical place on Earth. What makes it so magical? In high school, I met a family friend who worked in the Industrial Engineering Department at Walt Disney World. At the time, I was not familiar with Industrial Engineering and had yet to decide what I would be studying in college. My family friend explained to me the role that the Industrial Engineering Department plays at Disney: improving the process flow and efficiency of the parks, resorts, transportation, merchandise stores, and everything else that encompasses the large place that is Walt Disney World. She explained to me a common project the IE Department would work on. This project was regarding a ride at one of the parks. What if the wait time had become on average 20 minutes longer over the course of 6 months? W...

PROFESSORS OF PURDUE : Roshanak Nateghi Assistant Professor and Joint Appointment with Environmental & Ecological Engineering Advice: No matter what obstacles you may face, always persist.  The quote that has remained true in her life for years is simple, but powerful.  “She persisted”.    What she loves about engineering: With engineering, you are able to do real, tangible work that impacts people’s lives.  Prof. Nateghi has a strong passion for environmental research and loves to see the real world impacts she can make.  Favorite memory surrounding engineering: During Hurricane Sandy, she was able to test a model she made in real time.  What inspired her was that even though there was so much damage done, a structure to disasters was emerging from her data.  Through these structures, we can find solutions that will in the future save lives, showing how powerful engineering work really can be.  The best advice she ...

PROFESSORS OF PURDUE: Brie Lawson Graduate Teaching Assistant and Biomechanics research phD candidate at Purdue University Passions: Loving and having a relationship with the Lord and sharing Christ’s love with others Been riding horses since she was eight and has a close bond with her current horse       “I gave my life to the Lord when I was young. Knowing Him and experiencing His unconditional love has caused me to love other people, and that’s such a sweet aspect of my work here as a TA.”   "I’ve always loved horses, but my parents told me I couldn’t have a horse until I graduated college. When I was eight, and I still hadn’t outgrown the “I love horses” stage, my parents let me take riding lessons. Six years later, God changed their hearts and they decided to buy me my own horse. It has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. I’m 24 years old, and I still haven’t outgrown the “I love horses” phase. "  "Being at the b...