Purdue student organizations in Indianapolis tread new paths
As the semester winds down, the Purdue University chapters and sections of national student organizations in Indianapolis are gearing up. The National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE), the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) work to connect Purdue students in Indianapolis with the wealth of companies available in the city and, most importantly, to each other.
National Society of Black Engineers nurtures connections between Indy and West Lafayette chapters
NSBE president Pearl-Marie Andoh has found rebuilding a chapter to be “a learning experience, but a good experience.”
The biomedical engineering senior has acted as a bridge between Purdue and the NSBE chapter in Indianapolis, relaying information and making plans based on what she learns about the benefits to being a Purdue organization. She has also worked with her own team to manage the chapter’s finances and public connections.
“Being able to lead our events has made me more confident," she said. "I’ve had to learn to come up with a solution as quickly as possible.”
Andoh joined NSBE in 2022 and became vice president in 2023. Now serving as president, Andoh prioritizes creating foundational connections for future members and leaders.
For regular on-campus connections, NSBE plans to introduce academic study tables and mentorship of new students by current juniors and seniors. The chapter seeks to not only support its student members academically, but professionally.
“(We are) relying on upperclassmen who have gone through internships and research to share those opportunities with the first and second years as mentors and support,” Andoh said. “I think students in those first two years of engineering are harder to keep, but that support from seniors may keep them in engineering. We want to offer a community to help you get through engineering.
“We try to hold events as frequently as possible so that the invested students can become familiar with us. The first thing we want them to know that during college, this is the group of people they can turn to when they need help. The second thing is that we act. We have opportunities to work with local partners where we can volunteer and expose our students to life outside of campus.”
The rebuilding NSBE chapter also seeks to introduce alumni panel events for an intimate connection with current students. But the chapter has not limited itself to on-campus involvement only; NSBE frequently hosts conferences close to Indianapolis and the Purdue chapter in Indianapolis seeks to regularly introduce students to companies by sending them to these conferences.
“We average about 20-30 students for each NSBE conference,” Andoh said. “We sent 24 to the most recent conference and hope to send more to the event in March.”
Prior to the development of a new Purdue chapter in Indianapolis, NSBE enjoyed regularly orchestrated visits from companies like Eli Lilly and Company, in which alumni would share wisdom about resumes, networking and building flexible careers. Andoh and NSBE’s administrative team are working to reestablish those connections to alumni. Not only will such connections allow NSBE to retain current engineers with support for their futures, but NSBE seeks to help these students find careers, both as interns and as new graduates looking for full-time work.
“One of our goals is that NSBE students will be well immersed in their communities in terms of academics,” Andoh said. “My hope is that they’ll be able to get all the resources they need to succeed academically and professionally while also building connections with NSBE members (now), and in the future make new connections to more industrial and community partners.”
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers expands horizons to new universities, thanks to Purdue chapter
Kevin Coronel, a Purdue motorsports engineering student in Indianapolis, has gained an appreciation for how well-connected SHPE has allowed him to become. In fact, SHPE’s connections helped him find others who shared his Ecuadorian background and culture.
“It’s fantastic to see people from my country,” Coronel said. “Being connected through faculty, staff and friends that have been in SHPE has been great.”
Coronel, now a senior, started attending SHPE events in 2021 when he saw an advertisement for a resume workshop through SHPE. The chapter’s meetings included elevator pitches, networking tips and how to make the best resume. Coronel decided to run for treasurer in the spring of 2022. Not long after, Coronel was elected vice president of the chapter, which he found both new and challenging.
“This role had never been done before, and luckily I had the president at the time, Jacob Gee, to get support from,” Coronel said.
Gee and Coronel attended a regional SHPE conference in Indianapolis in 2023, representing the local Purdue chapter, and found out just how expansive — and helpful — the SHPE community is.
“Everybody is willing to help you, even though you are not in the same university,” Coronel said. “I wanted to stay in SHPE and be a leader is to work to make a change.”
Making a change came promptly after, when Coronel was elected president in 2023 and with the creation of Purdue’s campus in Indianapolis. He admitted it was “honestly very challenging” but was once again amazed at the community he could work with to create a connected space on campus.
“All those connections people from other Purdue alumni, from SHPE at Purdue and SHPE national ... if you ask them, they’re likely to help you.”
SHPE’s connections extend outside of central downtown Indianapolis, as Coronel learned at the conference in the Indiana capital. The Purdue chapter in Indianapolis has helped SHPE find roots in other colleges, like Marian University in Indianapolis, and has gained a connection to Allison Transmission through that partnership.
“We are helping (Marian), and they’re also helping us,” Coronel said.
While Coronel is anticipating his upcoming graduation in May, he is hopeful for SHPE’s future with employers and university connections, from guest speakers and workshops to alumni connections and community events, both on and off campus.
“We opened the door for all of us, and we hope to make more in the future. I want to help people in the future with SHPE is to allow them opportunities to go network, go try things that you might be afraid of.”
Society of Women Engineers embraces sudden growth in new Indy section
Just as SHPE works to build up its community, SWE looks to pave a similar path for incoming students and current ones alike. Similarly to SHPE, SWE also offers professional networking and prep events, like resume feedback sessions and company panels to give its students plenty of opportunities to connect with women in industry. With the central location in a city, SWE is ideal for Purdue alumni to drop by and share their wisdom.
“This past semester we had a panel with a bunch of alumni who work in the area talk about what it’s like being a woman and an engineer in industry,” SWE president Alexis Whittinger said. “In Indianapolis, a lot of alumni are around. It’s not like they have to Zoom in or they have to drive a really long commute. A lot of them just swing by after work, say hey, we give them pizza and that’s that. It’s a win-win for everyone.
“We’re working with the section up in West Lafayette to get an established section here in Indianapolis that Purdue women in engineering have the opportunity to join.”
Whittinger, a biomedical engineering senior, has been pleasantly surprised by how quickly the first-year students flocked to SWE. A faithful member of SWE since her sophomore year, Whittinger became president of the Purdue section in Indianapolis just in time to lead it through the transition into an independent college experience. “It’s been a little bit chaotic trying to get it all done, but (in November) we officially got registered.”
After a year full of paperwork and redefining the SWE section in Indianapolis into a Purdue entity, Whittinger was worried that SWE would suffer from a period of inactivity. Moreover, there are fewer women in engineering than men, making the community that much smaller.
But Whittinger has seen that small communities still have some substantial participation on campus.
After a “Warm Wishes” event, where students customized winter wear with patches, Whittinger saw the future of SWE coming to life.
“In all my time, I hadn’t seen that many people come to an event, and it was 90 percent first-years,” she said. “It was great to see them coming out and getting involved.
“I had a lot of them reach out to me asking, ‘We want to be involved. What can we do to be more involved?’ I have no doubt that in the next coming years SWE is going to become strong and have a great presence in Indianapolis ... It’s exciting to think that one day, five years down the line, that we will be really established.”
In the future, the Purdue SWE section in Indianapolis will continue its outreach efforts in local companies, especially with partners like the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis which hosts regular engineering and STEM events to introduce young students to the possibilities. But the SWE section also hopes to do more regular outreach events, especially with younger students.
“I think we’re hoping to expand and be able to do outreach in some local school systems,” Whittinger said.
SWE also looks to use their connections to the West Lafayette section, which has supported the Indianapolis group.
“We’re all Boilermakers, we’re all women in engineering,” Whittinger said. “We might as well embrace all of us because this is the future of both campuses. At the end of the day, I was able to help bridge this gap for people, and they start to build this rich community (in Indy).”