EPICS model helps visiting students from India 'grow in ways no textbook ever could'
Students toured three production plants in Lafayette, Indiana to learn about the many applications of engineering in practical settings.
Rote memorization is a crucial skill for engineering students. But when students learn to connect those facts, concepts and equations to real-world settings, they become unstoppable in innovation, determination and creativity.
Founded in 1995 at Purdue University, Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) offers the chance to apply classroom concepts to solve community problems.
That was exactly what brought five students from three universities across India to Purdue University for the Design Thinking in Community Engaged Projects Summer Workshop Program. An EPICS certification course would give them all the hands-on experience that was unique and even rare in India. Not only that, but the students attending would pioneer the experience as the first class.
The program was exciting time for all involved, confirmed William (Bill) Oakes.
“The cross-institutional collaborations (between EPICS partners) are providing more ways for students to develop the kinds of professional and global skills needed in today’s world economy,” said Oakes, the associate dean for undergraduate education in the College of Engineering. “The students get to experience EPICS on the originating campus, make connections at Purdue and take those experiences back to their own institution to help shape what EPICS looks like on their campuses.”
The students ranged from sophomores to seniors and represented EPICS partner universities B. V. Raju Institute of Technology College of Engineering for Women (BVRITH) in Hyderabad, India, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) in Mumbai, India and the Shri Vishnu Engineering College for Women in Bhimavaram, India.
“In India, we majorly focus on doing things theoretically,” said Vedansh Bairagi, a sophomore studying civil engineering at NMIMS. “Here, we can do everything, and it's the best thing I can do for myself later.”
For four students, this trip was their first to Indiana.
Four students hadn’t visited Indiana before.
“When my college told me about this program, I knew I had to go,” said Praneeta Pericherla, a rising senior studying computer science and engineering at BVRITH. “I want to go to Purdue, and I wanted to get exposed to industries I don’t get to see on campus in India. At Purdue, we get to see people our age doing things we never thought we could even look at, let alone do ourselves.”
From May 24-June 14, the students contributed to their own EPICS project.
The daily schedule included a two-hour design workshop, a professional experience and a few hours of skill development. It left plenty of time for teamwork on a project with Wabash Center, which offers a wide variety of programs to help individuals with disabilities and their families engage in the Tippecanoe County community.
“Visiting Wabash Center was especially meaningful,” Pericherla said. “Seeing the daily realities of individuals with disabilities made our design work feel deeply personal and purposeful.”
Wabash Center identified a need for program participants of all ages to have a confidence-boosting way to express themselves and stimulate their minds with easy-to-use music therapy. The team decided to propose and create a musical instrument that people of any ability or musical talent can use.
That led the EPICS team to their first challenge as a group: deciding what was feasible and impactful in just three weeks.
“We balanced ambitious ideas with practical limitations by narrowing our scope and focusing on what would be most meaningful for the user,” said Kashvi Chinta, a junior studying information technology at BVRITH. “Working hands-on helped me see that good design focuses on who it's for.”
The team tossed around the idea of a keyboard, a cube, a floor-based sensor and a microphone before ultimately deciding that a cube-shaped device would be the most inviting and inclusive structure possible. Depending on which side was facing up when the cube was rotated, the circuits inside would cause a particular musical sound to play. No buttons or levers required. The cube could be operated on top of a surface, like a table or a mat, or by being held in a user’s lap.
After the initial design was complete, the students had the chance to apply their skills in Arduino circuitry, computer-aided design through the Autodesk Fusion 360 program and simulation work before printing and soldering parts together.
Students already had knowledge of each modeling and simulation software. The application, conducted through trial and error in the morning skill sessions, gave each student a newfound confidence in what they could accomplish. So when the final recorded presentation to EPICS mentors finally arrived in the program’s third week, the team was ready to answer any and all questions about the Wabash Center project — even about challenges encountered and lessons learned. The excitement of the experience and the final presentation was “extremely rewarding” for the students, according to Aastha Kate, a rising junior studying civil engineering at NMIMS.
“The feedback made the weeks of hard work feel meaningful,” Kate said. “Working directly with a community partner made me appreciate the importance of empathy, cultural awareness and iterative design in engineering. I now see engineering as a tool for social impact, not just technical innovation.”
The team's high spirits of a well-received project motivated them to continue perfecting the music therapy device. It didn’t matter that they were all flying back home, where they lived hundreds of miles apart.
“EPICS pushed me to think outside the box and exposed me to ways of problem-solving and collaboration that I wouldn’t have experienced if I were back in India,” Pericherla said. “EPICS helped me grow in ways no textbook ever could.”
Students worked to design, model, print and perfect an EPICS project for their partner, Wabash Center in Lafayette, Indiana.