On Thursday, September 21, 2023, Purdue Polytechnic dedicated a new obstacle course for use by its ROTC programs. This course, donated by veteran and 1958 Purdue alumnus James Kasmark, mimics the demanding physical tests required for the Armed Forces' newcomers during basic training.

In addition to a vast array of improved lab facilities, Purdue Polytechnic will be adding over a dozen entirely new ones for the coming academic year. All are designed to help students keep pace with "technology's rapid evolution."

Purdue Polytechnic and the College of Engineering celebrated the dedication of Dudley and Lambertus Halls, the Engineering & Polytechnic Gateway Complex. The state-of-the-art $140 million complex, built during the last three years, opened in January 2023. It is now home to new laboratories for the Polytechnic’s School of Construction Management Technology, School of Engineering Technology, Department of Computer and Information Technology and Department of Computer Graphics Technology, plus faculty offices and numerous labs and offices for the College of Engineering.

Knowing the types of machines available at Bechtel Innovation Design Center and being familiar with how they work is fundamental to Purdue students’ projects; however, becoming an expert in a machine’s use in order to create only one piece for a class project seemed a bit excessive. Matthew Swabey, Bechtel’s director, needed a happy medium, so he enlisted Bechtel’s student employees, led by Anirudh Pal, to devise a solution.

Purdue Polytechnic’s Kokomo location has a new, larger home at Inventrek Technology Park.

Students Matthew Fitzgerald and Shiv Patel used the laser engraver at Bechtel Innovation Design Center to inscribe railroad tracks once buried under State Street with Purdue emblems.

Gateway ComplexPurdue University announced that Lilly Endowment Inc. has given a $40 million grant to help create Purdue’s Engineering and Polytechnic Gateway Complex, an interdisciplinary hub with project-based instructional labs, design studios and other collaborative spaces. The complex will replace the Nuclear Engineering Building and Michael Golden Labs facilities.

The Bechtel Innovation Design Center is a makerspace on the Purdue campus that provides students with training and access to high-end equipment with which to build prototypes of their design ideas. Students from any Purdue major can use the waterjet, computer-aided design software, 3D printers or laser engravers.

The Purdue University Board of Trustees approved construction of the $140 million “Engineering and Polytechnic Gateway” project for project-based instructional laboratories, design studios and collaborative spaces.

Students, faculty and staff have been settling in to the Bechtel Innovation Design Center (BIDC), a state-of-the-art collaborative learning facility which opened in September 2017.