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Discipline-Specific Organizations at Purdue Looking for a way to gain crucial leadership, networking, and communication skills? Want to boost your professional development expertise and connect with others in your major? If so, discipline-specific organizations in the engineering school here at Purdue are the perfect place to do so! These organizations include the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and more. Almost every engineering discipline at Purdue has a chapter for national engineering organizations such as those provided above. Also, once admitted to your discipline of choice, in most disciplines you will automatically become a member of the organization correlating with your major. There are tons of opportunities to get more involved, however, and build connections with those in your discipline. Many of the organizations participate in...

Agricultural and Biological Engineering Written by Madalyn Alm I have always been fascinated by life and the potential for growth. During high school, I became especially intrigued by the chemical processes that sustain biology. I choose to apply to First Year Engineering instead of the College of Science because I was attracted to the problem-solution orientation of engineering. I had planned on entering Biomedical Engineering when I started at Purdue, but speaking with upperclassmen in different majors helped me realize that Biological Engineering was a better fit for me. Majoring in Biological Engineering allows me to learn the fundamental principles that drive biological processes and gives me the skill set to improve our world through the application of engineering design. For more information about Purdue’s Agricultural and Biological Engineering program, visit https://engineering.purdue.edu/ABE Civil Engineering Written by Joanna McCormack I knew from the moment I chose to stud...

  First-Year Engineering Classes             Looking ahead to classes next fall may seem overwhelming and even scary; but I am here to give you a sneak peek into what your freshmen year classes may look like. Since you come into Purdue as an undeclared engineering major, your first semester classes are going to be a lot about figuring out what major is right for you. So here is a little bit about the main classes you’ll take during your freshmen year: LT Megan and Allison in front of their favorite engineering building :) Engineering 131/132: Unless you are in EPICS or the honors college, this will be the first engineering class all Purdue Engineers take. This class operates with a flipped classroom approach, meaning you watch lectures and take notes outside of class, so that class time can be spent working in teams. From the start of the semester, you will be placed in a 4-person engineering team, whom you will sit with and complete the majority of y...

My everyday routine begins with waking up and going to all of my classes in the mornings.  My last class ends at 12:30, which is awesome!  I have one professor who shouts and runs around the room, which makes the class entertaining and definitely keeps our attention.  After classes, I head to the CoRec for a workout before lunch.  Then I usually head back to campus to work on my homework so that I have time later in the evenings to hang out and relax with friends and attend organization meetings. I decided to go into Industrial Engineering because I really like thinking about problems from a systems perspective.  I enjoy thinking about how everything is interconnected and trying to improve existing processes.  I love how many opportunities it gives me, since Industrial Engineering is a very broad field. There are so many different career paths that I have the opportunity to explore and choose from! I’m not involved with IISE (the Institute of Industrial and...

The reason I chose AAE as my major is because of my fascination with our universe. I want to make an impact through space exploration and the development of space programs. Also, as a student in the school of Aeronautics and Astronautics, there are a lot of interesting topics to learn about, such as aircraft design, or propulsion systems in spacecraft. One of the really interesting classes is AAE 251- Introduction to Aerospace Design, since that is the first course you take that really deals with aerospace instead of general math or physics. In general, my daily routine consists of attending all my classes during the day and taking a quick break around noon to have lunch in one of the dining courts. After classes are over, depending on the day and my workload, I attend organization meetings, do my homework, or study in Starbucks with a hot cup of coffee. On days with more free time, I hang out with friends or go watch a movie.   Despite the workload that comes with being a...

Day-to-Day Life of a First Year Engineering Student: Katherine Franko Being in First Year Engineering (FYE), you have the freedom to explore what you love most about engineering.  I am in FYE and planning on going into Chemical Engineering, so a lot of my classes are pre-requisites and typical freshman classes, some of which are chemistry, physics, calculus, english, and first year engineering.  My favorite class so far has been ENGR 132 (the second semester first year engineering class) because my professor is an Environmental and Ecological Engineering professor, so he assigned projects about environmental sustainability, something I care a lot about!  I chose to go into Chemical Engineering because I want to be involved with renewable energy and other environmental aspects of Chemical Engineering. My classes, and the projects assigned in them, helped me explore what I love most about engineering.   My daily routine is to wake up and go get some coffee.  From ...

Now that you have finished applying to colleges, it is about time that you will start hearing back from some of them!  It is always so exciting to hear you got into a college.  As you start getting accepted to schools, here are some things to think about when deciding where to go to college.  1.     1.    Academics : We are all going to college to get an education, so an important thing to think about when considering schools is the academics.       When getting into schools, you should be looking at the programs that each school offers and see how their academics stack up.         For example, Purdue is an excellent school of engineering and our engineering program is ranked 9 th in the nation; we also have the number one program for agricultural and biological engineering!  Check out the link below to see how the rest of Purdue Engineering ranks! https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/AboutUs/FactsFigure...

Electrical Engineering (ECE) “If you like math and physics, especially physics that we cannot physically observe like particle physics, electricity, and magnetism, then EE may be perfect for you. EE is very versatile as it applies to almost everything we use nowadays. Even though EE as a major is very broad, you are able to choose an area you’d like to focus on. Personally, since electricity is so crucial in our daily lives, I’d like to choose an area that focuses on developing more efficient ways to conserve, transport, and produce electricity.” –Carol Lo (freshman) https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE Chemical Engineering (ChE) “In high school, I was a three sport athlete. Being an athlete means you have to have good nutrition to get you through games and practices. As my sports intensified, I found myself going in depth on what types of nutrients and chemicals make up food. That is when I realized I wanted to become a chemical engineer. I wanted to use my passion of nutrition an...

As a first year engineering student, choosing your engineering discipline can be daunting. Students enter First Year Engineering form a variety of positions in terms of their certainty of major choice. I have been interested in Biomedical Engineering since high school. The summer before my first year of college, I spent a lot of time researching the work that Biomedical Engineers do and the education process at Purdue. This research allowed me to confirm my desire to choose BME as my number one choice when the survey in spring came around. (The first week of February, all of the first year engineering students receive a survey email that they fill out with their top two choices of disciplines for the following years.) A friend of mine, Allison, had a different experience with her decision making process. She explains she was cautious to choose engineering in the first place but she always enjoyed math and science. For students still exploring, it is beneficial that Purdue has the gener...

Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) ‘What is the Institute of Industrial Engineers?‘ is a question I get a lot.  To professionals, I answer it by saying we are the Professional Organization for Undergraduate Industrial Engineering students that work to develop our members throughout their college career.  It sounds pretty nerdy and quite honestly, it is. But to colleagues, I answer that question with saying it was the best decision I made in college.  I began in this organization as the Alumni Relations Chair under the Programs board as a first-semester IE Student.  I helped plan a Homecoming Tailgate for Alumni and a Senior Banquet for graduating seniors (both great networking opportunities).  The following semester, I was elected into the Programs Director position which put me on IIE’s Executive Board and in a leadership role as a sophomore.   I was in the Programs Director position for one year (I served two consecutive terms) and the...