As the first signs of the spring season start to hit our lovely campus here at Purdue, I find myself looking forward to what is to come and I am filled with a great sense of pride.

With spring comes the reminder that the semester — and the college careers for many of our students — is just a handful of weeks away from coming to a close. Fitting, as both the season and graduation mark the start of great new beginnings.

At the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, our primary focus has always been educating and preparing our students to be leaders and innovators — and a good number of these graduating students I have personally taught, advised and conducted research alongside. To see their growth over the years has been such a pleasure. I have every confidence they will continue the Boilermaker tradition of becoming future influential leaders.

This semester has also been extra special for me as I find myself in the midst of my six-month term serving as the acting school head while Rao Govindaraju is on sabbatical. It has been an eye-opening experience for me to see just how many breakthrough technologies are developed by Purdue faculty, students and staff. The impact they continue to make in our nation or around the worldwide is tremendous.

In this edition of IMPACT magazine, we share just a few of our latest educational and research efforts involving our undergraduate students. Stories this season include research into infant dust inhalation, roadway electrification and indoor air quality. We also provide highlights of experiential learning opportunities through the lens of undergraduate research programs, study abroad opportunities and a capstone course.

These, of course, are just a few examples of the outstanding work conducted at the Lyles School of Civil Engineering. Whether it is reinventing the roads we drive across or researching how we can establish habitats in space, our faculty, students and staff continually find themselves at the forefront of their fields, and I look forward to seeing — and sharing — their future successes.

Boiler Up!

Luna Lu
Acting Head and Reilly Professor
Lyles School of Civil Engineering