First-Year Engineering students Muyiwa Arowolo and Armand Destin are each taking a giant leap into the aerospace industry this summer through an opportunity that they each applied for, the prestigious Patti Grace Smith Fellowship.

Professor Matthew Ohland, the Dale and Suzi Gallagher Professor of Engineering Education, is Principal Investigator of a recent National Science Foundation (NSF) award for Sustaining and Scaling the impact of the MIDFIELD project at the American Society for Engineering Education. This award supports transferring the long-held MIDFIELD database to ASEE for archiving. ASEE will maintain and expand the dataset as an extension of their Profiles business model, and researchers at Purdue and elsewhere will be able to request NSF grant funds to study the dataset.

Dr. William Oakes, 150th Anniversary Professor in the School of Engineering Education and Director of EPICS, received the 2021 Duncan Fraser Award at IFEES’ annual conference in December 2021. Oakes was chosen for this award for his global impact in engineering education through his leadership of the EPICS Program and his persistent pursuit to engage underserved communities worldwide.

Dayoung Kim is taking a big step toward her career goals in engineering ethics literacy and education. She has been chosen as a 2022 Mirzayan Fellow, a full-time hands-on training and educational program at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

It is with great pleasure to present our 2021 recipient of the Engineering Education Outstanding Alumni Award, Umesh Patel, PhD, a graduate of the former Division of Interdisciplinary Engineering (now part of the School of Engineering Education).

Wrapped gifts, a cake topped with candles, singing, cards and messages of well wishes are all common traditions when celebrating birthdays. Ali Alhaddad, a First-Year Engineering student in Honors Engineering, added his own tradition on his birthday to gift others with thoughtful acts of kindness. For today, he has prepared an act of kindness for all First-Year Engineering students. But first, his story.

Last semester, students in Professor Inez Hua's section of First-Year Engineering ENGR 13100 participated in an engineering design challenge centered on voting technology and improving United States voter participation. Most students in the class were not old enough to vote in any previous election, so this unique assignment provided the opportunity to practice the engineering design process while also learning about the voting process.

Donna Riley, Kamyar Haghighi Head and leading expert in social justice in engineering and engineering education, discusses in a recent article for "Engineering at Maryland" what engineers can do to better position and empower governments and communities of stakeholders for the steps ahead on equitable infrastructure.

Congratulations to Dr. Chanel Beebe for successfully passing her dissertation defense, “But what does it Mean to the People who Matter? Community Partner Meaning Making in Engineering Engagement Programs.” Dr. Beebe investigated engineering engagement programs from the perspective of community partners who conduct the activities.

Like many of her peers, Rebecca Dever ('21 MDE) entered the First-Year Engineering Program not certain of which engineering discipline she would study. Through the program's career exploration opportunities, she quickly found her identity and pathway with a new concentration in the Multidisciplinary Engineering Undergraduate Degree Program. But before we talk about her specific pathway, this story must first take you back to the remarkable beginning of Rebecca's journey - in a potter's field.

When is seeing not believing? Host Dr. Ruth Streveler interviews Dr. Jason Morphew, visiting assistant professor at Purdue, who tells us about his research in embodied cognition and learning.

In their newest guide, the INSPIRE Research Institute for Pre-College Engineering's 2021 Engineering Gift Guide is once again filled with toys, games, and books to engage children and teens in engineering thinking and design.

Dr. Riley and her persistent pursuit facilitating the advancement of women in the School of Engineering Education and beyond is being recognized by Purdue University. We are proud to announce the 31st annual Violet Haas Award will be presented to Dr. Riley next month. Please join us in congratulating her and her next giant leap made for others!

Diallo Wallace is a naval aviator, aerospace engineer, middle and high school teacher, and PhD student in the School of Engineering Education. For ten days, he added “analog astronaut’ to that already impressive list while inspiring the next giant leaps of his students through remote learning.

What are the benefits and challenges of doing research in more than one cultural context? Host Dr. Ruth Streveler interviews Dr. Jiabin [Emily] Zhu of Shanghai Jiao Tong University who shares her experience researching Chinese engineers and sharing that work with an English-speaking audience.