Purdue Solutions is a Purdue University Student Organization started after the founders, Maggie Stotzer (BSIE 2017) and Raghav Gandhi (BSIE 2017), spent a summer at PricewaterhouseCoopers. During their internship, they discovered that other universities had organizations focused on practical consulting experience and set out to create one of their own. 

In its fourth year of operation Purdue Solutions has expanded upon its original goals. With a membership spanning across all majors, Purdue Solutions now hosts private networking events, has developed a mentorship program, and invites guest speakers from a variety of industries. This past semester members even had the opportunity to visit offices in downtown Chicago to meet consultants in person.

Meeting with Harrison Reed Smith, Managing Director of Purdue Solutions, it was easy to see why he enjoys consulting. He was personable, easy to talk to and clearly impressive and humble. Despite the meeting being remote, it was clear he possessed the leadership qualities a recruiter would want, honed in his three years with the student organization. 

Harrison shared that his first Purdue Solutions project was to help Stanley Steamer stay competitive with a strategic pivot suggested by the student team as the 1990s housing boom houses were being renovated with hard flooring. He was the only freshman on the team and got to meet and then later present their solution to management. It was a unique experience and taught him valuable lessons for his future career. 

Recently a Purdue Solutions team worked with Legal Aid in Downtown Lafayette. Their project involved IT software design & implementation that directly improved organization & security of client information. Other teams have done work with Microsoft, BlueCrew, Ivy Tech, UL, Rolls Royce, and even a fuel savings project, presented to Purdue’s own Mitch Daniels. Their newsletter gives summaries of several of their recent projects.

This spring semester was a shock to many students, but Purdue Solutions knew they wanted to keep their organization, but most importantly, their communal bond, strong. They moved to remote meetings, socials, and even member remote workouts. Harrison shared, “Many members were losing their summer internships. We wanted to help them stand out, so we reached out to our corporate partners and Purdue to fund Microsoft Azure training courses and certifications.” 

They have managed to tune their remote organization and look forward to continuing to do so in the fall. “We plan to make all recruitment of new students, interviews, teaming activities, and meetings remote. We are very excited to accept students who are planning to study remotely this semester, our current virtual plan will make it easy to onboard new consultants. We have adapted well to provide excellent services to excellent clients.” 

Applications open this week, join today!

Website: Purduesolutions.com          LinkedIn: Purdue Solutions          Instagram: purdue_solutions