Three Purdue Polytechnic faculty members based in Indianapolis have been selected for the inaugural cohort of John Martinson Honors College Faculty Fellows.
Shu Hu, assistant professor and director of the Purdue Machine Learning and Media Forensics Lab in the School of Applied and Creative Computing; Kwonsik Song, assistant professor of practice in the Bowen School of Construction; and Esra Tepeli, clinical assistant professor in the Bowen School of Construction's Construction Management Technology program, are among the new Faculty Fellows.
The three-year program brings together faculty members who teach Honors College courses, mentor students and help lead programming. Their selection creates opportunities for Indianapolis-based faculty expertise to reach Honors College students across Purdue.
“It is great to see Purdue Polytechnic and Indianapolis so well represented in this inaugural cohort,” said Daniel Castro, dean of Purdue Polytechnic.
Shu Hu
Hu became interested in the fellowship after receiving the John Martinson Honors College Breakthrough Research Award in 2024, which gave him opportunities to work with Honors College students on research that resulted in published papers.
“That rewarding experience motivated me to become a Faculty Fellow and continue engaging with JMHC students through research and education,” Hu said.
Hu is teaching HONR 46400: Building and Improving AI Models. He hopes students gain experience throughout the research process, from identifying meaningful questions and designing experiments to analyzing results and publishing their work.
Kwonsik Song
Song looks forward to working with Honors College students from a range of disciplines and backgrounds as they consider challenges facing Purdue and the surrounding community. He is interested in contributing to HONR 46400: Scholarly Project, engaging students in campus sustainability challenges and innovative, evidence-based solutions.
“Many of today's challenges cannot be solved by a single discipline alone,” Song said. “Through collaborative projects and discussions, students can learn how to integrate diverse viewpoints into practical solutions.”
Esra Tepeli
Tepeli sees the fellowship as an opportunity to create interdisciplinary learning experiences that connect academic knowledge with complex, real-world challenges. She also hopes to strengthen connections among students and faculty in Indianapolis and West Lafayette.
She is planning a course, Leading in Uncertainty: Risk, Resilience, and Decision-Making in Complex Systems, which will explore how individuals and organizations assess risks and opportunities, build resilience and make decisions in complex environments.
“I hope students develop greater confidence in navigating uncertainty, evaluating risk and making decisions when there is no single clear answer,” Tepeli said. “Most importantly, I hope students leave these experiences better prepared to lead, collaborate and make informed decisions in complex environments.”
