News

Hands-on in Circle City: Purdue’s EPICS and VIP experiences in Indianapolis

Purdue University in Indianapolis gives students a slew of opportunities to interact with local or large-scale organizations through a variety of means, including EPICS.

EPICS LEAP team completes 10-year project with Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Nov. 21, 2024, marked the completion of the EPICS team Learning Equations Across Platforms (LEAP) project's deliverable given to the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ISBVI) for student use.

Oakes appointed associate dean undergraduate education

Announcement of new promotion and a quick trajectory of Oakes' career at Purdue University.

EPICS and Imagination Station

The team at Imagination Station is playing a vital role in enhancing STEM literacy among children through hands-on learning experiences. The collaboration with EPICS at Purdue University makes a significant impact on the community.

Consortium in the news: ASU student Yavary in the spotlight

ASU grad Bryan Yavari shares his experience in EPICS at ASU where he led a team focused on air quality improvements in Mongolia.

Local news: Bringing accessibility to campus

Purdue EPICS team urges professors to use live captioning; feature may make classes more accessible to students with different abilities.

Purdue IBE student Yonkers in the spotlight

Learn about the IBE and EPICS experiences of Alyssa Yonkers, project manager of the EPICS Imagination Station team.

Consortium in the news: JSPM University working to adopt EPICS model

JSPM University Pune and JSPM’s Rajarshi Shahu College of Engineering (RSCOE) have embarked on collaborations with EPICS to enhance community engagement and experiential learning opportunities for engineering students in India.

From EPICS in IEEE: Q&A with Leah Jamieson

IEEE Past President, John A. Edwardson Dean Emerita of Engineering, and current Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University looks back on EPICS and EPICS in IEEE’s growth, impact, and future ahead.

Consortium in the news: EPICS at ASU helps launching programs in Indonesia

Through an effort supported by the United States Agency for International Development Higher Education Partnership Initiative (HEPI), EPICS at ASU helped setting up EPICS programs at three Indonesian universities: Universitas Hasanuddin (UNHAS), Bina Nusantara University (BINUS), and Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB).

Purdue Engineering names 11 Dean's Leadership Scholars

Three EPICS students among 11 engineering undergrads selected as Dean's Leadership Scholars. The scholars serve as a high-level sounding board, offering critical insights and feedback on various college initiatives, including the dean’s Vision 2030, Purdue Engineering’s strategic plan to make Purdue the most consequential engineering college in the nation.

Martinez awarded professional achievement excellence award

The 2023 recipients of the Staff Awards of Excellence for engineering staff, including EPICS' Jorge Martinez, were recognized at the annual College of Engineering Staff Awards Banquet on Dec. 8, 2023.

Oakes chosen as president-elect of Engineers Without Borders USA

William (Bill) Oakes, Purdue’s assistant dean for experiential education and director of EPICS, was recently elected president of Engineering Without Borders USA. He will begin his three-year term on the EWB-USA executive committee as president-elect Jan. 1, 2024.

Consortium in the news: KLH Hyderabad Campus Hosts EPICS Project Expo

KLH Hyderabad campus of KL Deemed to be University recently hosted the EPICS Project Expo and Ideathon supported by AIM, NITI Aayog, Government of India. The projects, with participation of around 800 students, presented tangible engineering solutions addressing real-world societal challenges and were part of their social immersive internship under EPICS.

Purdue Engineering offering guaranteed internships to Indy students

Purdue in Indianapolis aims to offer experiential learning opportunities, including co-op, internships, EPICS and VIP. Purdue’s goal is to see more students participate in internships related to their field in Indianapolis, which will provide them with hands-on experience, improve retention rates and increase the likelihood of launching their professional careers in Indiana. The internship program will start with its inaugural class in 2024.

EPICS K12 in the news: High school students gain practical STEM skills through EPICS at ASU

ASU Prep emphasizes the importance of practical STEM education through the EPICS program at Arizona State University, which is now a science elective at ASU Prep Downtown and Polytechnic campuses. EPICS allows students to participate in STEM activities, improving their skills in areas such as knowledge, design process, teamwork, communication, and ethics.

International news: 5 minutes with the Executive Dean of Engineering at the University of Canterbury

Saurabh Sinha, Professor and Executive Dean of Engineering at the University of Canterbury, talks about his current role, his time in IEEE, co-founding EPICS in IEEE, and the need of embedding programs like EPICS within curricula.

EPICS to expand at Purdue in Indianapolis

The EPICS program will expand at Purdue University in Indianapolis and partner with more community organizations and businesses to demonstrate the power of experiential learning and community engagement in the professional development of students.

EPICS student selected as one of seven 2023-2024 Purdue Engineering Fellows

Griffin Laihinen, a senior student in Environmental and Ecological Engineering and three-year student in EPICS, is among those announced as the fifth group of awardees.

Consortium in the news: EPICS students at ASU develop air filtration system to reduce indoor smoke

Students develop an air filtration system to handle smoke generated by coal burning within small dwellings in Mongolia.

Consortium in the news: KLH Hyderabad EPICS program encourages engineering solutions for community service

KLH University organized an orientation workshop aimed to equip new students with a thorough understanding of EPICS, encompassing field surveys, problem identification, and the development of working prototypes for identified challenges. Over 340 students participated in the workshop, reflecting a growing interest for community service and engineering-based solutions among the student community.

EPICS selected as SEE's Outstanding Experiential Education Program Award winner

Purdue’s EPICS has been named one of the most influential experiential learning programs in the country. The program was selected as the 2023 Outstanding Experiential Education Program Award winner by the Society for Experiential Education (SEE).

New milestone for Purdue's 2023 EPICS workshop at Morgan State University

Following a successful pilot EPICS program last fall with Purdue and Morgan State University students, a strong partnership continued between both institutions this summer with the 2023 EPICS workshop hosted at Morgan State on June 22-23.

Harnessing the power of AI: using technology to slash food waste

EPICS Food team's advisor, Alex Psomas, works with the Indy Hunger Network to leverage artificial intelligence and reduce food waste by automating parts of the decision-making process during food donations.

Consortium in the news: ONU spring ’23 engineering projects focus on helping differently abled

Ohio Northern University’s engineering design capstone, completed by first-year engineering students, focused in creating tools to assist people with different abilities. The broader disability service projects provide continuity of project ideas feeding into EPICS and generating a pipeline of refined, customized products to help serve those in the community.

EPICS project improves durability of baseball for vision impaired

EPICS students worked with a beep baseball team in Indianapolis to redesign the ball the league uses and tested it with the Purdue softball team.

EPICS team fabricates and donates historical marker to honor local Civil War veteran

Thanks to a group of Purdue Engineering students, Lafayette’s Greenbush Cemetery has a new historical marker that pays tribute to Colonel William Carroll, commander of the 10th Indiana Infantry and highest-ranked Tippecanoe County officer killed in battle during the Civil War.

Purdue University helps repurpose plexiglass used during COVID-19 global pandemic

As part of the steps Purdue took to help keep the campus community safe during the COVID-19 global pandemic, the university acquired a large amount of plexiglass to use as protective shields in classrooms, labs and other shared spaces. Purdue has since repurposed all the plexiglass. The EPICS program, with help from Auxiliary Services, played a key role in the initiative to repurpose plexiglass.

Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award: Laura Bowling

A thank you to those who led the way for Purdue teaching award recipient

For this engineering student, service-learning means walking alongside the communities she has engaged with

Chelsea describes how she didn’t know she wanted to come to Purdue until she met Purdue Engineering’s largest service-learning community, EPICS.

Consortium in the news: ASU EPICS team takes 2nd place in Change the World Event

Change the World event celebrates the imagination, efforts and achievements of ASU students. In March 2023, Lake Litter Solutions, an EPICS team, won 2nd place with a project addressing the litter that has accumulated in the water of Tempe Town Lake, a man-made lake used for recreation.

Connecting with Wayuu indigenous communities in La Guajira Colombia

A cohort of College of Engineering students spent Spring Break 2023 on a study abroad in La Guajira, Colombia where they supported different local projects. La Guajira is located on the Caribbean coast, and is well-known for its natural beauty, sunny climate, and being home to indigenous Wayuu communities.

CE Undergrad Spotlight — Lauren Sparber

Throughout much of her time at Purdue, civil engineering undergrad Lauren Sparber has been involved with the university's Engineers Without Borders chapter where they have been working on a water distribution system in Rwanda.

Making friends by making a difference

When it’s time to make friends, a popular choice among students is to connect with a cause. Juniors Isha Reddy and Chelsea Schripsema share about their experiences in EPICS.

SCALE: a low-stress option for a high-achiever

Boilermaker Hana Wong talks about her experiences managing to participate in SCALE, internships, clubs, and EPICS.

Consortium in the news: KL Deemed to be University Students’ Serve Society through Community Engineering Projects

KL Deemed to be University, a leading private university in India, launched its community engagement program at its Hyderabad branch in partnership with EPICS at Purdue University.

Purdue helps bring pilot EPICS program to Morgan State University

Purdue and Morgan State University collaborate to introduce the service-learning program at the university in Baltimore.

Learning by doing

Boilermakers discuss hands-on learning opportunities at Purdue.

EPICS students among the 2022-2023 Purdue Engineering Fellows

Carl Russell III (EPICS BME) and Lauren Sparber (EPICS EWB) are two of the seven accomplished students to receive the exceptional award.

Krannert and the College of Engineering Partner to Offer Joint Degree

Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management is working together with the College of Engineering to create a new BS degree program, Integrated Business and Engineering (IBE).

College holds Design Expo to showcase student talent and creativity

More than 500 students representing 70-plus teams in senior design, Professional Master’s Program, EPICS, VIP, and student clubs shared their work and participated in design challenges.

CE Undergrad Spotlight — Jason Randall

Jason Randall talks about his affinity with Purdue, the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, and EPICS.

EPICS TA within 2022 Dean's Teaching Fellows

The four graduate students selected this year have shown a strong commitment to mentoring, service and outreach. They are interested in a range of academic careers, from faculty positions at teaching-focused and primarily undergraduate institutions to Research (R1) institutions.

EPICS students named in Third Class of Engineering Fellows

Three of the five newly elected fellows participated in the EPICS program. Congratulations to Cole Heald (CDS), Andrea Simone Gibson du Perry (GDAT and I2R), Angie Zhang, Matthew Boyle, and Marcus Lannie (WC).

CE Undergrad Spotlight — Amanda Lefebvre

Amanda Lefebvre said she wanted to get the most out of her experience while at Purdue. In her four years, she's led the university's Engineers Without Borders program, is a member of Chi Epsilon, Chi Omega, and the Purdue Center for Career Opportunities, served as an undergraduate researcher, and participated in three internships.

Second class of Purdue Engineering Fellows announced

Thanks to the generosity of benefactors Robert H. Buckman (BSChE ’59) and his wife, Joyce A. Mollerup, Purdue College of Engineering named its 2020-2021 Engineering Fellows during a recent virtual event. EPICS EWB alumnus, Matthew Vining, is among the five students selected for the award.

Boiler 'Maker' team begins producing medical supplies

The Purdue University community has such a reputation for being makers that the word is literally a part of the team name, the Boilermakers. Now a group at the university has organized to produce much-needed medical supplies for Indiana hospitals.

Hoosier health care workers to receive PPE and medical supplies manufactured at Purdue

A volunteer team of faculty and staff members at Purdue University has spent the past two weeks manufacturing, assembling and delivering medical supplies to hospitals, emergency management organizations, nursing homes, and hospice care organizations.

First-ever Purdue Engineering Fellows

Through the generosity of alumnus Robert Buckman and his wife Joyce Mollerup, five engineering seniors were nominated and chosen to receive $10,000 after they graduate from Purdue in 2020. Dylan Lurk, an EPICS VOSS alumnus, was among the five students selected.

K12 Project: Dog Ball Launcher by Max B

The idea of a ball launcher came about to address the problem of elderly people needing to exercise their dogs daily. This ball launcher will be able to move easily and will be both compact and lightweight.

K12 project: QR Codes for the School Mapping System

Hereford High School, located in Baltimore County, is a very large school with many halls and places to get lost as a freshman or new student. In order to help with the ongoing chaos of the halls, I created an online mapping system for the school.

Local news: The cheapest and most nostalgic souvenir on Purdue's campus has arrived

Boilermakers can take home a little bit of history for just 51 cents. Purdue compacted 150-years into an 8-foot-6-inch penny press in celebration of the university's anniversary. The tower was a year-long project from EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) a service-learning design program within the College of Engineering.

EPICS in IEEE announces educational partnership with India to enhance STEM learning

IEEE announces an educational partnership with select colleges and universities in India designed to enhance the education of future engineers. The new collaboration with India is part of a pilot program spearheaded by EPICS in IEEE and Purdue University’s EPICS department.

Consortium in the news: Princeton EPICS Project Leads to Renewable Energy Startup

EPICS team creates a portable, renewable power source packed neatly into a shipping container — a cleaner alternative to the diesel generators that often power disaster-response centers.

Consortium in the news: ICC Engineering Hosts EPIC day of Community-Centered Project Learning

Two-hundred area high school students from 11 schools across Northern Minnesota converged on Itasca Community College (ICC) on Tuesday, Oct. 10 in an effort to “bring an enhanced pre-engineering curriculum to their classrooms focused on the EPICS design process” according to ICC engineering program co-coordinator Derek Fox.

K12 News from Amundsen

This year, Amundsen has doubled their Engineering course offering, and 46 students are currently enrolled in the two classes. Additionally, the Dyson Engineering Girls Club, which started last year with a group of girls meeting in a classroom during their lunch, has become a full-fledged after-school club with several new members.

Consortium in the news: ASU EPICS hacks the competition in Moscow hackathon

Though this story contains the words “Russia” and “hack," an Arizona State University student team's recent trip to Moscow had nothing to do with elections or cybersecurity. Rather, it was the students doing the hacking — bringing home first-place finishes in an international hackathon.

K12 News: Rebuilding with Bitspace

Disney II’s team – which has grown since the end of the previous school year – has launched the EPICS K12 curriculum with students. The students got creative with their reimagining the purpose of assorted household items in one activity – and had a lot of fun filming pitches for these new products.

EPICS K12 in Full Swing at Hancock

So far in EPICS, the students have gotten their feet wet by designing and building cardboard prototypes of the eight EPICS scenarios. They took to it very well. With very little instruction on how to build prototypes, they produced quite good final products. Lesson learned: always have more hot glue sticks on hand, they go fast!

In the news: Purdue EPICS Program Recognized

In recognition of its extraordinary community outreach initiatives, the Purdue EPICS program has been selected a regional winner of the 2017 W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Engagement Scholarship Award.

Consortium in the news: First Ever EPICS Program at South Dakota School of Mines

Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to pave the way for community service engineering projects on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

EPICS High Showcase: Projects with purpose are motivating young students

"Engineers from day one" is the identity new undergraduates are encouraged to adopt in Arizona State University's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. The idea is to motivate students not to wait until they finish their schooling to actually do some real engineering.

EPICS team event highlights project to translate code videos for deaf

DKC, an EPICS student team, launches a fundraising effort for its project helping deaf and hearing-impaired people with learning opportunities to find jobs in the technical industry.

Local news: Purdue students assess indoor air pollution in Kenya

A Purdue group that traveled to Nandi, Kenya, over winter break is assessing the air quality of indoor kitchens. This group is the Global Air Quality Trekkers (GAQT), a team in Purdue's EPICS. The EPICS team is working with AMPATH, a health group that works with Nandi women to design new kitchens improving ventilation. GAQT works with students from Moi University to test the changes in air quality that are a result of the kitchen modifications.

Purdue University Fact Sheet: bicentennial torch

Purdue University was step-for-step with the Indiana Bicentennial Torch relay runners as they carried the torch designed and created by College of Engineering students. The torch was the culmination of more than a year of work by Purdue students and faculty.

Wabash Center honored with Purdue's community partner award

The Wabash Center has received Purdue's Dr. JoAnn L. Miller Exemplary Community Partner Award for 2015.

Learning communities' instructors, resident assistants receive awards

Faculty, staff and resident assistants who are involved in the Learning Communities program were honored at a Jan. 27 luncheon for their outstanding work during the Fall 2015 semester.

Four honored for efforts promoting inclusion and accessibility for those with disabilities

Four pioneers of inclusion and accessibility of those with disabilities were honored at a reception Tuesday (March 1) as winners of the 2016 Focus Awards.

Murphy Award: Eric Nauman

Five teachers have received Purdue's 2016 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in Memory of Charles B. Murphy.

Office of Engagement honors faculty and staff with annual awards

Purdue University's Office of Engagement has named winners of four faculty and staff engagement awards for 2016.

Local news: EPICS Technology SPEAKall! Assists Children with Autism

An iPad app created by an assistant professor of speech, language and hearing sciences and a team of Purdue students has made the lives of non-verbal children affected by autism much easier.

EPICS in IEEE Fosters STEM Learning Through Practical Application of Engineering Principles

IEEE announces recent milestone projects of EPICS in IEEE. EPICS in IEEE enables university and high school students to design and implement meaningful service-learning engineering projects, and to improve the lives of citizens in their own communities through funding and local partners.

EPICS article in the NSTA April 2016 Report

The EPICS program has been featured in an article in the April issue of the NSTA Report examining programs throughout the country that are impacting schools throughout the nation. This article interviews two of our EPICS schools, Foxcroft in Virginia and Desert Vista High School in Arizona and the projects they are conducting that are using Engineering Design combined with Service-Learning to engage their students and impact their communities.

Nazareth Academy promotes EPICS Invents February 20, 2016

Nazareth's Science Department invites 7th grade students to participate in a NEW science competition aimed at developing skills in engineering, creativity, problem-solving, and marketing.

Dedication Planned for Student Led VOSS Interactive Solar System Project in Discovery Park

A dedication ceremony is planned April 18 for Visiting Our Solar System, a $1.5 million student-led interactive exhibit that puts the size of space in perspective and celebrates the contributions of alumna and NASA astronaut Janice Voss.

Purdue EPICS projects help blind, visually impaired students

Blind and visually impaired students are partnering with Purdue University students working on projects through the EPICS program to improve education technology for others.

Local news: Purdue sees increase in women engineers

A higher number of female engineering students are taking advantage of Purdue University's EPICS Learning Community program this fall.

Consortium news: It takes an engineer to change the world

As part of ASU’s EPICS program, a student is leading a team to design a village for Malawi, Africa, using retired but durable shipping containers lying idle in ports all over the world. Her team is using engineering technology to create shelter, clean water and healthcare facilities.

Consortium news: Finding real-world solutions: EPICS at ASU

ASU entered its second year as part of the group of universities that make up the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) consortium.

EPICS, Habitat to show off 'green' home being built in BioTown

Purdue 's EPICS and Habitat for Humanity of Lafayette host a two-day seminar focused on building affordable, energy efficient and environmentally friendly homes.

National Academy calls engineering program a national model

The National Academy of Engineering has honored the Purdue EPICS program and its leaders with the 2005 Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education.

Purdue to help 5 more universities engineer community service

Five more universities have joined a Purdue nationwide engineering service-learning program designed to teach students to put their education to work in their communities. They join 10 other universities in the EPICS program, which began at Purdue in 1995.

Purdue announces funding nearly complete for Millennium Building

The building will house the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the School of Materials Engineering, the Department of Freshman Engineering, the Division of Interdisciplinary Engineering and Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS).

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