Keenan McKibben experienced some huge life changes when his time at Purdue came to a close. He had to pack up his car, move to Houston, Texas, and start a career as a data scientist for Dow Chemical, where he supports the largest chemical manufacturing site in the country.
But when Keenan looks back at how he got to this point, he sees a long series of deliberate steps.
"I made my giant leap to go to Texas at the end of my college experience," McKibben said. "But it wasn't just a choice I made after I went through my program. It was a series of dozens of small steps that I made a day at a time... that all accumulated to where I'm at today. And it never felt overwhelming. It felt like a natural progression."
That progression began in the eighth grade, listening to the radio in his father's SUV. He heard an advertisement for a brand-new, innovative high school in Indianapolis designed to rethink education and create new pathways to Purdue University: Purdue Polytechnic High School (PPHS).
"I thought to myself, 'Purdue University. That's where I want to go,'" McKibben said. He filled out the application online-five minutes of McKibben's time that, unbeknownst to him, became the first crucial step in his journey.
As a member of the inaugural class at PPHS, McKibben quickly learned to be comfortable with the unfamiliar. Without upperclassmen to follow, he and his peers had to build the school's culture from the ground up. He helped found the school's FIRST Robotics Competition team, leading them to the world championships in their rookie year, and eventually became the engineering captain.
"I was a timid guy when I came into high school," McKibben said. But through those leadership roles and the school's unique curriculum, which emphasized interviewing clients and solving real-world problems in the Indianapolis community, he grew. "Purdue has kind of asked me to be a pioneer all four years that I've been here. And I've really grown into it."
The deal PPHS offered was clear: succeed there, and earn direct admission into Purdue University. With the help of a full-tuition scholarship from the Schweitzer family, McKibben transitioned to the West Lafayette campus to study Robotics Engineering Technology.
His defining moment at Purdue came during a blizzard, when representatives from Dow Chemical visited his classroom looking to hire engineering technology students.
"I just thought to myself, I was like, 'OK, I'm going to go talk to them,'" McKibben said. "So I went up after class and shook some hands. And I said 'hi.' And I got an interview."
That handshake turned into an offer for a three-term co-op with the company. At Dow, McKibben's experience was unlike that of many interns. Dow trusts its intern cohorts, and as a result McKibben was given autonomy to design and build things that were form-fit to Dow's real-world needs. He created a machine vision platform, designed a pellet chute using 3D printing and Arduino programming, and eventually moved to Louisiana to work on the front lines of operations, integrating sensors into plant procedures.
"Dow Chemical trusted me to make the projects that I wanted to do. And they trusted me to design things," McKibben said. "I wasn't the intern[where it's like,] 'OK, he just got out of calculus. Don't let him touch the machinery.' No. I was the one saying, 'This is the type of machinery we want here. And let me work on it, please.'"
He credits the hands-on nature of the Purdue Polytechnic curriculum for that confidence. In his senior capstone, he managed a team that designed and manufactured a nine-foot animatronic bull shark from scratch.
"Purdue gave me the tools to be industry-ready day one, especially the Polytechnic Institute's engineering technology, hands-on degree," he said. "Every single one of my major-specific classes, I had a lab section for it. I was always doing something, always learning an actual skill."
Now, having graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Robotics Engineering Technology, McKibben is preparing for his new role at Dow. He will be using machine learning and AI to analyze sensor data, improving plant efficiency and driving decision-making.
"What they're going to have me doing down there-it's really my dream job," he said.
It is a role that requires navigating the cutting edge of technology-a position McKibben is more than ready for.
"Purdue Polytechnic taught me how to make giant leaps one step at a time," he said. "And I love where I landed."
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