The Engineering Experience

Deciding on a college to attend can be a tough decision, especially when there are so many diverse options. When settling on a college, there are a lot of things to consider, and concerns students may have. I had some of these concerns when looking at Purdue, but now I can confirm that a lot of these fears are just myths. Here are a few of these Purdue fears debunked: Finances: “Purdue is too expensive!” Even without receiving a scholarship from Purdue, there are plenty of scholarship opportunities out there! As an incoming freshman, I suggest looking into local scholarships through your community foundation or looking into scholarships online, as there are thousands of various scholarships out there. Once you start at Purdue, there are plenty of places to work here on campus. After freshman year, there are scholarships available in each engineering discipline here at Purdue and offered through various programs on campus (including WIEP). (More scholarship opportunities can be foun...

If you are like me, you probably would’ve never imagined yourself joining a sorority in college. Based on all the movies I’ve watched about sorority life and rumors I’ve heard about hazing, I was always fearful of being a part of Greek life, until Phi Sigma Rho.   Phi Sigma Rho is a STEM sorority on campus located in the acres near Slater hill. Phi Rho is one of the newest sororities on campus, as it was founded back in 1984 at Purdue. All Greek life on campus has a strong no hazing rule, and Phi Rho has stayed true to that time and time again. Like all sororities, you need to go through a rushing process to be given a bid to become a candidate for that specific semester. Currently, I am in my candidacy process for this spring semester and will be an activated member in April! If you are interested in the rushing process, more can be found on the Purdue Panhellenic website . Here are a few reasons why I fell in love with Phi Rho and the main reasons why I was so eager to join th...

At a volunteer night, current students were asked to list what words came to mind when provided with the following topics. "Word Art" or "Word Clouds" are a fun illustration of those words that allow us to share their responses and give you a peek into the engineering experience here at Purdue! Campus Activities Students often enjoy watching the various Purdue sports teams represent our school in the Big 10.  Students also enjoy other aspects of Purdue's campus such as the ChillZone, with Adirondack chairs and fire pits, as well as extracurricular activities such as intramural sports, Greek life, and the 1000+ student organizations and clubs. Additionally, the nearby Chauncey area has many shops and restaurants for students to enjoy! Engineering When it comes to academics, engineering students get exposure to problem-solving, coding, teamwork, and other opportunities. The words below also share some of the soft skills that come along with gaining an engineering ...

It is almost summer, and you want to gain some professional experience. So how do you start looking for an internship? Where do you begin from? Here all those questions will be answered. Even if you are just a freshman, there is so much you can do. Hopefully, you have an idea of how to go about it after reading this. Build Your Resume Having all your achievements and details on a single piece of paper and getting an interview based on that can seem a little daunting. There are so many formats, so ways to present your experience. To get you started, look through the handbook that the CCO provides. It is a detailed book that helps you build a resume from scratch. Once you are done doing that, you can also get advice on it by submitting it on Vmock. All this is free! As a Purdue student, you are allowed to submit your resume ten times each semester. Make Connections Precisely that. How to do that in a college setting? Talk to your professors. Ask them about their experiences and what indu...

Anna at the Formula 1 Track in Abu Dhabi this past December About Anna Anna Giesler graduated from Purdue in 2020 with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering. During her time at Purdue, she was on the Purdue Swimming and Diving team and balanced her life as an engineer and a student-athlete. During one of the swim meets her freshman year, Anna encountered Dr. Jan-Anders Mansson, a professor in Materials Engineering at Purdue, who introduced her to the world of sports engineering. Under Mansson, Anna worked on a research project on the permeability of swimsuits for the Fédération Internationale De Natation (FINA), the governing body of international aquatics. She was able to present her work to the federation in Switzerland where a new regulation on swimsuit materials was made (“FINA Approved” Swimwear). Since this project, Anna has worked alongside Mansson to build the Ray Ewry Sports Engineering Center (RESEC) which was founded in 2019 to help grow the intersection between sports...

Early Start at Purdue can be a great opportunity to get used to Purdue and the college environment before the rest of your peers. Here are some things to know about early start to see if it would be the right fit for you: The Basics Early Start is from mid July to mid August, and the move-in date for those on-campus is a couple days before classes start. The five weeks of classes is equal to a full regular semester of class. Those who live on-campus will be living in a standard double room with air-conditioning. For those who did not originally submit that they want to attend Early Start, admission to Early Start comes on a first-come-first-serve basis so it is recommended to apply as soon as possible if you are interested. Early Start Options: On-Campus, Off-Campus, Online With Early Start, students have the option to live on-campus in the dorms, to live off-campus and commute, or to participate online. Housing is heavily discounted and it can be a great opportunity to get used to liv...

Purdue has an amazing, top-ranked engineering program which can absolutely be linked to the hard-working professors, challenging but enriching curriculum and multitude of supportive resources available on campus. However, a Purdue engineer will be successful out of college not only because they were able to take advantage of those great learning opportunities, but also because they were able to apply all of their knowledge through hands-on projects. Both inside and outside the classroom, Purdue offers countless opportunities to work in team projects on real world applications to help an engineering student transform into a professional engineer ready to take on the world!  So, we wanted to share a compilation of Women in Engineering describing our favorite engineering projects:  Working on my operational amplifier circuit for my circuit analysis class Emily Helmuth, FYE'25 (intending to go into CE): "My personal favorite project that I’ve worked on here at Purdue so far was du...