From the Dean: October 2021

Dear Purdue Engineering Community,

Having listened to suggestions from students, faculty and staff, the College this month provided additional resources to support undergraduate teaching beyond what has been allocated by the University in the summer, in order to serve our students with as much individualized attention as possible. We also continue to strongly support student well-being. We have partnered with Purdue Engineering Student Council (PESC) and Steps to Leaps to conduct a student well-being survey to guide us further, now open through November 29th.

Among the many experiential learning activities for our students are the sports technology events held this month. For example, Purdue student teams participating in the AT&T 5G Sports Hackathon received several awards, including First Place in the Internet of Things category. Boilermakers also led a multi-university team that competed at the final round of Indianapolis Autonomous Challenge, the world’s first autonomous racecar competition, for which our College hosted the visiting visas for all the international student teams.

Over the same week, we also celebrated nine students and alumnae receiving awards at the annual Society of Women Engineers conference, held this year in Indianapolis with participation by close to 100 Purdue Engineering students. And we hosted this year’s Trailblazers Conference, a career development workshop series we started two years ago, for African American and Black, Hispanic and Latinx, and first-generation graduate students in engineering from around the country.

We appreciate opportunities to talk with students during the Fall semester virtual town hall, as well as during my office hours. On November 19, 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Faculty Lounge of Purdue Memorial Union, we will celebrate the 2021 Faculty External Awards. This festive event also reminds us to continue the ongoing effort to renew our support not only for tenured/tenure-track faculty, but also for research faculty, professors of practice, lecturers, and visiting faculty. Then on December 3, 6-9 p.m. in Shively at Ross Ade Stadium, we will recognize staff at the 2021 Staff Awards Dinner. I hope you will be able to join us in thanking some of the outstanding staff colleagues at our College.

Mung

Mung Chiang
John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering
Roscoe H. George Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University