As Purdue University’s College of Engineering concluded a yearlong celebration of its 150th anniversary, a new milestone was literally set in stone — the burial of a commemorative time capsule on the front lawn of Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering.

Marking a century and a half of bold innovation, engineering excellence and global impact, the capsule stands as a tribute to the Boilermaker spirit of 2025. Sealed with the intention of being opened in 2074, it offers a snapshot of a community shaped by its storied past and driven by a shared vision for an even more consequential future.

Reflecting on the last 150 years — and looking ahead to the next 50 — Arvind Raman, the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering, described the event as both a moment of reflection and a signal of Purdue Engineering’s accelerating momentum toward Vision 2030: to be the nation’s most consequential engineering college.

That vision is already coming into focus. In its sesquicentennial year, Purdue Engineering became the largest top 5-ranked engineering college in the U.S. and the No. 1 producer of bachelor’s degrees in engineering annually — including for women engineers.

“We now lead the nation in total engineering degrees conferred at the bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD levels, while also topping the charts in market demand: no other U.S. engineering college received more applications in 2024–25 than Purdue,” said Raman.

The year was also marked by groundbreaking academic advancements, including the launch of the nation’s first comprehensive Space Engineering Degrees Program, the first ABET-accredited undergraduate Motorsports Engineering program, and the new School of Sustainability and Environmental Engineering. These programs are designed to prepare the next generation of Boilermakers to lead in rapidly evolving fields critical to our world’s future.

Purdue also expanded its land-grant mission with new online offerings and a growing presence at Purdue University in Indianapolis, increasing access to top-tier engineering education across the state and beyond.

Further reinforcing its leadership in space and aerospace, Purdue introduced the Neil Armstrong Space Prize — an international award honoring excellence in space discovery, innovation and human achievement. And in a defining symbol of Boilermaker ingenuity and ambition, an all-Purdue alumni crew will soon launch aboard Virgin Galactic’s Purdue 1 suborbital mission.

In closing the time capsule ceremony, Raman offered a message to future Boilermakers who will open the capsule in 2074.