From the Dean: January 2022

Dear Purdue Engineering Community,

As we start the new year, I hope 2022 will be a very happy and healthy year for our students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Thanks to the College's communications team, there is again a "Year in Review" with two highlighted news reviews for each month of 2021. We thank many colleagues as these, and many more additional news stories, reflect the impact of Purdue Engineers throughout the year: https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/AboutUs/News/YearInReview/2021

As you return to campus, you will probably see continued construction of many buildings. We are excited to report that the new construction and major renovation of our College's physical facilities have been moving forward rapidly, just as the team led by Senior Associate Dean Robert Frosch planned in 2018. Here are some highlights from the last year and outlook into the near future:

* North campus: Construction of the Gateway Complex (Dudley Hall and Lambertus Hall), as the largest and the first post-pandemic academic building, will be completed at the end of this year and provide teaching space, directly or indirectly, to seven schools in the College. It will also create a continuous flow of our facilities from the PMU area all the way to the northeast arch entrance to campus. MSEE and the initial phase of EE renovation (now Brown Family Hall) are wrapping up, while ME's new wing project is starting. In the coming years, we will explore an update to Hampton Hall and a major renovation of Potter Hall (and connect it to Dudley Hall to complete the trio of Gateway Complex halls as the new core teaching space for the College).

* South campus: ABE's new building is now in use, and so is BME's new wing. In the coming years, we will explore additional research buildings around FlexLab and Herrick Labs, which will also create a cluster of facilities on both sides of Jischke Drive.

* Discovery Park District and Aerospace District: Steps away from FlexLab and Birck Center, the connected residential-commercial community in DP District is enabling "Lab to Life” deployment of innovative technologies, from 5G and autonomy to 3D mobility and AR/VR. In parallel, the Zucrow Lab neighborhood, including the new hypersonic building and a new facility for materials and combustion, is substantially growing. Next to Purdue airport and Hanger 4 that has been converted into the nation’s largest indoor drone university testbed, we also opened the door for the Saab Aerospace Facility. Filling the stretch of land in between, we welcomed the large footprint of Rolls-Royce’s announced expansion that connects the Rt 231/State intersection all the way down to Zucrow.

* Satellite locations: Both the Kepner building in Lafayette and the IMI building in West Lafayette have also been updated and expanded as planned.

Every major initiative at a university needs talent, funding and space, and some say the most tricky component is space. While that may not always be the case, we do recognize the effort it takes to ensure continued growth of Purdue Engineering’s physical facilities and the impact such growth makes to scale-up learning, discovery and engagement at the pinnacle of excellence.

Boiler up!

Mung

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