October 10, 2007

Purdue EPICS sets semester record for student participation

The program, known as EPICS, creates teams of undergraduates who earn academic credit for multiyear, multidisciplinary projects that solve engineering and technology-based problems for community service and educational organizations.

The College of Engineering reported that 357 students enrolled in EPICS this semester. That total edged out the previous record of 334 students in 2001 and the 307 students who signed up for the program last year, said EPICS national coordinator Natalie Kubat.

"One of the goals of the EPICS program is to bring affordable engineering expertise to bear in finding solutions to community issues," said Leah H. Jamieson, Purdue's John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering and EPICS co-founder. "It's a testament to see such talented students wanting to give back to the community while sharpening their skills as future engineers."

This semester 30 teams of students are working on 50 projects for non-profit groups and educational agencies, ranging from electronic informational kiosks to technology to assist the disabled with various tasks.

Jamieson and Edward J. Coyle, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue, co-founded EPICS in 1995. The engineering-centered program involves 20 departments at Purdue and 29 local and Purdue partnerships. EPICS programs also now operate at 17 universities in the United States and one in New Zealand.

In addition to its university partnerships, several high schools also started implementing the EPICS model with the help of the EPICS national office housed at Purdue. High schools in Indiana, Massachusetts, California and New York have begun EPICS partnerships, and high schools in Michigan and Ohio may join in the future, Kubat said. The Indiana high schools include Lafayette Jefferson, Columbus Area Career Connection, Bedford North Lawrence, Indianapolis Public Schools Career & Technology Center and Perry Meridian in Indianapolis, and McCutcheon in Tippecanoe County.

"The interest EPICS has created at other universities and high schools means more students will experience designing real systems from start to finish and the community will get engineering expertise that serves their specific needs," said William Oakes, an associate professor of engineering education and director of EPICS. "This program is a win-win situation for our students, the institutions and the communities."

Oakes was named director of EPICS in May, was co-director from 1999 to 2006 and had been interim director since April 2006.

The College of Engineering is made up of 11 schools and departments: aeronautics and astronautics, agricultural and biological, biomedical, chemical, civil, electrical and computer, engineering education, industrial, materials, mechanical, and nuclear. The college also includes the divisions of construction engineering and management, engineering professional practice, ecological and environmental engineering, and programs such as the Minority Engineering Program and Women in Engineering Program along with EPICS.

In addition to the more than 6,215 undergraduate students, the college enrolls 2,277 graduate students.

Writer: Clyde Hughes, (765) 494-2073, jchughes@purdue.edu

Sources: Leah Jamieson, (765) 494-5346, lhj@purdue.edu

William Oakes (765) 494-3892, oakes@purdue.edu

Natalie Kubat (765) 494-3750, nkubat@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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