Angel Price, senior manager of engineering services at Walt Disney World Resort, dreamed of a career in the entertainment industry working in special effects. She found her way into our Mechanical Engineering Technology major and then to an internship at Disney — leading to a full-time career after graduating in 2007. Today, Angel leads a team of over 90 people at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, including engineers, mechanics, ride show technicians, computer experts and others.

Markell Jones, a 2019 graduate from Purdue Polytechnic’s professional flight program, was named Mr. Football in Indiana as a high school senior and became number 6 in all-time rushing yards for the Purdue Boilermakers before becoming a pilot for Piedmont Airlines.

Mike O’Gara, director of operations for Chip Ganassi Racing and a 1994 Purdue mechanical engineering technology graduate, helped coach race car driver Marcus Ericsson to victory in the 2022 Indianapolis 500.

Bill Pappas, a 1983 mechanical engineering technology graduate, has been part of two Indianapolis 500 victories — including serving as chief engineer during Juan Pablo Montoya’s win in 2000. Today, Pappas is vice president of competition and race engineering for the IndyCar series.

Dawit Lemma, founder and CEO of Krimson Aviation and a 2002 graduate from Purdue’s aeronautical engineering technology and flight technology programs, launched the $100,000 Krimson Aviation Scholarship and the Krimson Business Opportunity Program Scholarship for students from minority groups under-represented in aviation.

Matt Hamilton, a 2008 graduate from #PurduePolytechnic's organizational leadership program, works as a laboratory manager in Purdue's College of Agriculture. His ambitions to delve into natural resources research were sidelined by the pandemic — temporarily.

While sidelined by an automobile accident for a few months, Danielle Render, a Purdue graduate who double-majored in organizational leadership and multidisciplinary engineering, transformed her “side hustle,” a clothing design hobby, into a growing full-time business.

Wayne Ripberger (BS mechanical engineering technology ’73) had an exemplary career in the manufacturing industry. Ripberger’s Purdue degree sparked a 50-year career as a manufacturing engineer, working around the world for companies including Cummins, Toyota and John Deere.

A new companion manual for PlaneEnglish, an aviation radio simulator app created by a Purdue Polytechnic alumnus and other Purdue graduates, is now available to help pilots become proficient in cockpit communication.

With a little guidance from Purdue Polytechnic’s Lindsay Haugland, a senior academic advisor, Monica Bryant-Chapman earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering technology … 36 years after her Purdue studies began. She's mom to Purdue Football’s Will Chapman.