Student testimonials and a round of new scholarship support indicate that the Purdue Polytechnic High School network will continue to forge ahead. Their efforts remain focused on shaping STEM education's future.

Purdue Polytechnic's "guitar lab" remains one of Purdue's most popular courses. Gryphon Mawhorter’s lifelong passion for building guitars caught the attention of Mark French, who teaches the course. French appointed Mawhorter, a junior in audio engineering technology, to lab supervisor — and Mawhorter is now charting his own unique path in the Polytechnic.

Purdue Polytechnic Anderson and Ninestar Connect, a cooperative offering electricity, water and fiber optic services in Hancock County, Ind., are working together to engage students and the local community in learning about new agricultural innovations.

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.

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.

Collaborate to solve problems

The Bechtel Innovation Design Center gets students working together on projects

The center provides workspace for student projects to advance conceptual designs, build prototypes, and conduct product testing in a hands-on environment. Available 24/7 for Purdue innovators, it promotes teamwork, problem-solving, and collaboration for students in Purdue Polytechnic and the College of Engineering as they design, plan, and build capstone and other projects.

Use high tech to create new solutions

Undergraduate researchers do high-tech design in the Collaborative Robotics Lab

Sangjun Eom, a senior in Purdue Polytechnic’s School of Engineering Technology, learned about the possibility of creating wirelessly connected food storage products when he attended Purdue’s Research Roundtable as a new student. With graduate school as his eventual goal, Eom recognized that having experience with research would benefit him.

Over 150 students from Purdue Polytechnic Institute are enrolled this spring in the Purdue Polytechnic Leadership Academy, which prepares students to develop leadership competencies needed for career success in the 21st century.

Rosemary Astheimer challenged her students to design a device to launch a pingpong ball from a table. They tested their designs to see which would send the ball farthest.

After 40 years of teaching, Wes Crawford is being honored for his commitment to education and the construction industry. He will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) at their annual meeting in April 2017 in Seattle.