Engineering Technology professor becomes Fulbright Scholar

Phil Sanger

Eight Purdue University faculty members, including one from Purdue Polytechnic’s School of Engineering Technology (SoET), won Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards for 2019-20. Phillip Sanger, professor of electrical and computer engineering technology, will conduct research at the Kazan National Research Technological University in Russia. His project is titled “Project Management Innovation Curriculum and Multi-Cultural Team Dynamics.”

When it comes to achievement, Sanger believes a group’s successful performance is linked to the diversity in the composite of the team’s individual traits.

“Good team dynamics are essential for success in our multi-cultural, technical world,” said Sanger. “In the School of Engineering Technology’s industry-based, senior capstone team projects, we are studying those dynamics to better understand how to form effective, high-performance teams.”

Women currently comprise only a small percentage of students majoring in SoET programs, however, and Sanger points out that Purdue Polytechnic would benefit by achieving the gender balance that already exists in Kazan’s similar programs.

“In Kazan, the engineering demographic is dramatically different,” Sanger said. “More than 50% are women. They also come from both European and Tartar (Turkic-speaking) cultures, which are very different. I hope to implement a project management/innovation spline similar to the one in SoET, using the same survey instruments, so we can better understand how to form effective teams that capitalize on gender impact and cultural differences.”

Purdue won more Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards for 2019-20 than in any previous single year. See the full Purdue News article.

Additional information:

• Purdue breaks its record with faculty Fulbright Scholars
• Polytechnic students to present posters of capstone projects during Tech Expo business-to-business trade show