The Engineering Experience

Starting my journey as a freshman from South Florida, and not having any true connections, I wondered how I would be able to meet people on campus. However, within days of being on campus, Purdue provided me plenty of opportunities to get involved and connected with other students. One avenue that I took advantage of was through the various living learning communities, including EPICS, Data Mine, and Women in Engineering. These communities promote students to take classes with other students that reside in the same residence hall. Choosing more than one learning community allowed me to not only expand my knowledge and skills within my major, but created a sense of belonging and empowerment within me. My experience in each of these communities has been a game-changer, shaping my college adventure in ways I couldn’t have imagined. WiE Leadership Team E ngineering Projects in Community Service ISBVI EPICS Team (Magnifier Project) EPICS, short for Engineering Projects in Community Service,...

The bulk of the engineering curriculum is focused heavily on math, science, and design principles. However, having a course in your schedule outside of your major can help break up the grind of deep academic work in your engineering major. From flower arranging and stargazing to movies and rock and roll, there are a wide variety of recreational courses that students from all majors enjoy. Whether you’re a senior looking for a light second semester or a freshman with a credit hour to fill, a fun class (or several!) lets you cultivate new hobbies, revisit preexisting passions, and flourish as a well-rounded student. AMST 32500 - Sports, Technology, and Innovation Sports, Technology, and Innovation explores the scientific reshaping of sports and is a great way to expand your technology and data analytics knowledge to basketball, fantasy football, e-sports, and more. This three credit-hour course focuses on the transformation of the sports world on and off the field through engineering and...

Over Spring Break, I was lucky enough to go on the Women in Engineering Study Abroad trip.  Throughout this trip, I took the class Gender in the World, which was an amazing and eye-opening experience.  Photo of my class and I in Bruges Belgium Our first stop on this incredible journey was flying abroad to Belgium.  We stayed in Brussels for three nights.  During our first day in Belgium, we took a walking tour and saw the sites and streets of the city.  Throughout this tour, we visited areas such as the Grand Place of Brussels, the statue Manneken Pis, and even tasted Belgian waffles and fries!  In addition to the walking tour, we also visited one of the largest structures in Belgium, the Atomium.  Originally built for Belgium’s World Exposition in 1958, the Atomium stands at over 330 feet tall and promotes the idea of peaceful atomic research.   The second day consisted of a day trip to the historic city of Bruges.  We first went on a t...

    Happy Women’s History Month! This month, our team wanted to highlight some of the ways Purdue supports her women students and the women in Purdue's history who have paved the way for others to follow in their own educational and professional pursuits. In this blog, we are focusing on some of the important women to Purdue’s history, both engineers and non-engineers. France A. Córdova      France is an astrophysicist who worked in astrophysics research and professing at various universities for nearly 23 years. She became Purdue’s eleventh president in 2007 and was also Purdue’s first woman president. She was a professor of physics and astronomy and advanced Purdue’s commitment to research. Her important contributions to the University include raising the levels of research funding, reputation, and student retention. Following her career as Purdue’s president, France became the director of the National Science Foundation. The “CoRec”, as it is popularly k...

I am the only girl and the youngest of my parents’ three kids. As a result, my parents have always been very protective of me, but I know it just because they love me. They want what is best for me and to be in an environment where I could thrive, having peace of mind that I would be taken care of wherever I was. With recent tragic events calling into question the safety of college campuses, it has really made me appreciate the fact that Purdue was recently named the safest campus in the United States . Of course, it’s always best practice to practice safety habits such as walking in groups, carrying pepper spray, and my dad’s favorite “keeping your head on a swivel”. However, between the campus culture, resources, and policies in place surrounding matters of safety, it comes to no surprise to me that Purdue comes in on top in this category. Why Safety is Important When our basic safety is threatened, it becomes very difficult to focus on anything else. If you are constantly looking ov...

     As an incoming freshman, I was excited for all the new college experiences I would have that year. I was also a bit worried about the college transition as I am an out-of-state student who didn’t know many other people attending Purdue. Those fears were quickly relieved after getting to campus, as the Meredith South Women in Engineering Living Learning Community, where I am living my freshman year, quickly provided me with a community at Purdue. The Meredith South Residence Hall sign in front of the building      In the Meredith South Residence Hall, two floors of the building are dedicated to the WiE Living Community, meaning nearly 200 freshmen women in engineering live in the same residence hall. Because everyone on your floor shares the same major with everyone in the living community, I immediately had something in common with all of the other girls on my floor. I have made some of my closest friends through people I met in my living community. Ev...