Corporate Engagement

The School of Engineering Education is recognized globally as the leading academic unit of its type — the first engineering department in the world whose research is centered on an evidence-based approach to improve the education of engineers.

Our mission is to “transform engineering education based on scholarship and research” about how people learn by rethinking the boundaries of engineering and the purpose of engineering education. Formed in 2004, the School takes the proud tradition of innovation in education pioneered by Freshman Engineering and what was the Division of Interdisciplinary Engineering Program to the next level.

Three Programs, One Vision

For our undergraduate students, that means a transformed educational experience in the First-Year Engineering Program, future-focused academic programs in Interdisciplinary Engineering, and opportunities for conducting research on engineering education. Having implemented a “flipped classroom” environment on an unprecedented scale in our Ideas to Innovation Learning Laboratory, we engage 2,400 First-Year Engineering students each semester in hands-on problem-solving, design, and teamwork that will ably prepare them for their chosen engineering disciplines.

Our unique Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies and Multidisciplinary Engineering (IDES/MDE) offers two degrees: the BSE in Multidisciplinary Engineering and the BS in Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies. These offer a variety of plans of study at the cutting edge of new and emerging areas of engineering including acoustical, engineering management, nano-engineering, lighting, humanitarian, theatre, and visual design. Students also have the option of creating a customized plan. Thus this program opens engineering to students from more diverse backgrounds, enabling them to pursue their individual intellectual interests.

At the graduate level, our first-to-the-world PhD Program in Engineering Education is producing agents of change who are transforming engineering education in the many universities across the nation where they now work. And INSPIRE, the Research Institute for Pre-College Engineering, founded with generous start-up funding from the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, continues to  pioneer new, research-backed approaches to introducing more elementary schoolchildren to engineering and understanding how young minds best learn engineering concepts.

Through industry partnerships and giving opportunities, we will extend these pioneering efforts — and thus address the national call for educating the next generation’s engineers.

How You Can Help

All our degree programs — First-Year Engineering, Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies and Multidisciplinary Engineering, and the PhD in Engineering Education — are designed to place students, and student learning, first. The specific giving opportunities offer you a range of ways to join in this effort. We invite you to partner with us to ensure the preeminence of Purdue Engineering to prepare future engineers to meet the global grand challenges ahead.

Opportunities for Corporate Sponsorship

The Corporate Partners Program offers companies brand recognition, access, and support of the students in our programs by an annual contribution.

Sponsorship Examples

• Engage students by partnering in a design project in the introductory engineering  courses, ENGR 131 or ENGR 132 ($15K)
• Video series – Introduction to engineering disciplines at Purdue ($25k per video)
• Video series – Introduction to various industry sectors for engineering ($25k per video)
• Sponsor of the IDES/MDE “Nest” – Provide support of students’ community life ($5k/year)
• Named IDES/MDE Scholarship for Excellence in Professional Engineering Practice ($2500 >)
• Professional development Sponsorship for Multidisciplinary Engineering Student Society ($5k >)
• Term limit named professorships – $50k/year for minimum 5 years ($250k total)
• Full professorships ($1.5M named endowment)
• Replace outdated chairs for First-Year Engineering Ideas to Innovation (i2i) laboratory ($50k)
• Graduate student fellowships ($50k/year)
• Sponsor research with students and faculty to further the development of a diverse, talented, ethical engineering workforce ($25k >)

First-Year Engineering (FYE) Corporate Sponsorship	Silver Level $2,500	Gold Level $7,500	Platinum Level $15,000
Logo placement on the FYE website with hyperlink to corporate website	X	X	X
Advertising on LCD screens located in ARMS basement facilities	X	X	X
Advertisement on Program promotional material during First-Year Engineering orientation activities	X	X	X
Career exploration sponsored event for FYE students		X	X
Career exploration corporate video for FYE students (provided by partner)		X	X
Priority invitation to First-Year engineering classes for an interview		X	X
Sponsor a Company Day during STAR or during the academic year			X
Sponsor a day during exam week for snacks and encouragement to students			X
Sponsor a farewell activity or gift to students transitioning into their engineering discipline

Fundraising Priorities for FY19 and Beyond

Innovations for First-Year Engineering or IDES/MDE Programs

Purdue’s curricula and pedagogy in First Year Engineering and in IDES/MDE are continuously improved through the research findings of ENE faculty. The application and implementation of promising practices is typically not considered part of externally funded research. An internal endowment focused on innovations would enable ENE to more swiftly and effectively move research into classroom practice and directly improve student learning experience.

Endowing the First-Year Engineering Program

Every incoming engineering student enrolls in the First Year Engineering (FYE) Program and completes a common first year curriculum before moving to their major (Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, etc.).  Historically FYE serves about 2,500 but has significantly increased in recent years and will only continue to grow. Our mission is to advise students regarding their courses of study, prepare them for academic work in engineering and college life at Purdue, and retain them by matching their interests with career pathways into engineering.   In FYE, students from a wide range of backgrounds develop a common knowledge base and skill set they will need as they move through their engineering degree program.  ENE employs twelve advisors who help the first-year students plan their course of study and provide many of the resources students need as they make the transition to college life. 

Named Multidisciplinary Engineering (MDE) Capstone Design Project
$15,000 per year

All seniors in the MDE program will demonstrate acquired skills and make use of their acquired knowledge through a major culminating design experience, which ultimately provides evidence that they are prepared for work in engineering practice.  The Design challenge is complex, open-ended, and inherently multidisciplinary.  Capstone Design challenges might include local or global contexts; they may include specific industry partners/clients, or draw upon local government and not-for-profit communities of need; they may be tied to some theme or current event or could be far reaching and imagine a future need.

INSPIRE UPRISE Scholars Program
$10,000 annually (or $250,000 named endowment)

The Undergraduate Participation in Research In STEM Education (UPRISE) was created in the spirit of INSPIRE’s mission to promote access to engineering for all students.  UPRISE provides the opportunity for a diverse (gender, ethnicity and majors) population of undergraduate students to fill integral roles in INSPIRE and ENE’s research projects in engineering education as well as to be given the necessary training, tools and mentorship to conduct their own research in an area that most interests them and to become leaders within the academy. The training rendered by the UPRISE Program culminates in the interns presenting their research findings at undergraduate research symposiums and publishing in journals and proceedings, thus rounding out their academic experience. 

Contact Us

Jeffrey S. Anderson
Director of Development, College of Engineering
(765) 494-0023
JSAnderson@PRF.org

John Langenkamp
Director of Corporate Relations, College of Engineering
(765) 494-9860
JRLangenkamp@prf.org

Dr. Donna Riley
Kamyar Haghighi Head of the School of Engineering Education
(765) 494-3884
riley@purdue.edu