Purdue's Polytechnic college, known before 2015 as the College of Technology, was well known for “learning by doing,” where students learn a discipline’s theory and apply it via practical, hands-on projects in each technology-driven discipline. When Gary Bertoline decided to increase the Polytechnic’s presence in the realm of research at Purdue University, he argued that the college’s strength would be to take the output of fundamental research and make it practical — that is, to apply theoretical research to real-world situations. It’s called use-inspired research. How did Bertoline, distinguished professor and former dean, convince faculty, many of whom have won awards for teaching, to engage in research? And what distinguishes the Polytechnic’s use-inspired research among the colleges at Purdue?
In discussing the college’s transformation and strategic focus on research, Bertoline mentioned several professors who were instrumental in their support — including Richard Voyles, Carrie Berger, Alejandra Magana, Nathan Mentzer, Marcus Rogers and Ken Burbank — while also regretting that that it wasn’t possible to mention numerous others.
This is the second of a two-part interview with Bertoline. In part 1, we discussed the 2015 transformation from the College of Technology into Purdue’s Polytechnic college.
Episode 020 hotlinks
- Video, part 1: Gary Bertoline, Maximizing Our College's Value (YouTube)
- Video, part 2: Gary Bertoline, Use-Inspired Research (YouTube)
- Techies Today Episode 019: Gary Bertoline (part 1), Maximizing Our College's Value
- Teaching awards received by Polytechnic faculty
- Research awards received by Polytechnic faculty
- Purdue Polytechnic Office of Research
- Purdue Polytechnic Research Newsletter
- CrowdStrike blames test software for taking down 8.5 million Windows machines (The Verge)
- American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
- National Academy of Engineering
- Engineering the Inclusive Mindset for the Future: A Blueprint for Systemic Change in Engineering Education (National Science Foundation)
- Purdue Polytechnic surpasses enrollment record eighth consecutive year (2024)
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