The Engineering Experience

I believe that one aspect that makes the Purdue Women in Engineering (WiE) program so unique is how it goes beyond just serving the current students at Purdue. WiE fosters a community of support and passion in the engineering field for students in elementary school through college and definitely makes a point to stay connected to alumnae. Purdue alumnae always claim to love coming back to campus and supporting the WiE community. And current students benefit greatly from opportunities to hear about experiences in the industry, ask any questions on their minds or for advice, and building our network! Here are some of the many ways the Women in Engineering program and Purdue help current students stay connected with its massive alumni network: Jessica Traver Ingram (ME'14) speaks at an Access Alum event Access Alum Events Access Alum events, organized by the Women in Engineering program, is a great opportunity to have informal chats, face to face with Purdue alumnae. The alumnae tha...

Kat Kerr is a Purdue Alumna who graduated from the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering in December 2021. She was an active member of the Women in Engineering program and has been incredibly passionate about research since she started at Purdue. She is currently living in Frankfurt, Germany doing research through the Fulbright Scholarship program. She did an interview with us all the way from Germany to share her life from across the world and reflect on her experiences at Purdue! What have you been up to since leaving Purdue? “I can’t believe it has only been a year since I graduated because my life has changed so much since. After I graduated, I moved to Philadelphia and worked in a research lab at the University of Pennsylvania for about 7 months. In April 2022, I heard that I had been accepted to the Fulbright Scholarship and that I was moving to Frankfurt, Germany! I am currently doing computational vascular biomechanics research here in Frankfurt. There is also another program...

Transitioning from high school to college leads to many new and exciting opportunities. We have the freedom to work on our homework, spend time with our friends and eat our meals wherever and whenever we want to. Naturally, all of that freedom is followed by many new responsibilities too. We must organize our work and classes to meet various deadlines, maintain a great support system of friends, and stay healthy and nourished. Many college students take on the responsibility of a job alongside their education to support themselves financially, gain work experience and meet more people. Purdue offers many employment opportunities across campus which cater towards diverse skill sets and interests. Here are some examples of and resources for employment opportunities offered at Purdue:  We are the WE Link leadership team and are student employees of WIEP focused on recruitment! Work for the Women in Engineering Program (WIEP)! The moment you step on to campus, you are a part of the Wom...

The sun is shining! Campus is booming with happy, refreshed, excited faces! Chatter fills the air as old friends reunite and new friendships are formed in busy lecture halls. Yup, a new semester has started and with that comes so much opportunity. For upperclassmen, the opportunity is to reflect on the wins and failures of past semesters and start fresh with the awareness of how to be even better, more successful and balanced versions of ourselves. So, I asked a few upperclassmen what they wish they could do differently this semester to start off the school year right and compiled their answers. Hopefully other students and even prospective students about to start college can learn from our experiences! Following a 9-to-5 lifestyle This summer I had an amazing internship experience working in industry. It was an incredibly different environment and lifestyle compared to college, and it taught me so much about work-life balance. I worked 9 hour days (with breaks for lunch and plenty o...

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...

About Christy Lane Dr. Christy Lane graduated in 1996 from Purdue University with a BS in IDE. She completed her medical school education at the University of Louisville in 2000 and her pediatric residency training at the Ohio State University in 2003. She is board certified in Pediatrics and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Lane opened her own practice, Growing Kids Pediatrics, in January of 2011 after several years of working for other practices in the Southern Indiana Area. It continues to be Dr. Lane’s desire to have a small, child and family-oriented practice that provides excellent pediatric care with a personal touch. Dr. Lane has special interest in Adoption medicine and has worked closely with families during their adoptions both internationally and locally since 2004. Dr. Lane also has special interest in education and public health and serves as the Consulting Medical Director for NAFC schools as well as Floyd County Head Start. She also serves on the F...