Diversity program strives to deliver recruitment and retention outcomes

by Toni Munguia, director of diversity

Purdue values diversity of all kinds. A diverse community creates a vibrant atmosphere for innovation and discovering new ideas. We are making great progress thanks to the efforts of the University and our college. In addition to outreach and recruitment, the college’s Technology Diversity program plays an essential role in mentoring and retention activities for multicultural and female students who are pursuing a degree within the college. All of these recruitment and retention programs are not possible without the help and assistance of our faculty, staff, and students.

Retention is very important to what we do. As part of our retention initiatives, we offer a program entitled BEST-(Building Excellence for Students in Technology). BEST is a study tables/tutoring program in collaboration with the Minority Technology Association and other upper class students. It is open to all CoT students and meets Mondays (Knoy B035) and Wednesdays (Knoy B29) from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. this spring. We also mentor and assist students that have experienced academic difficulties with time management, study skills, and tips to make changes. Please encourage your students to take advantage of the BEST program and other services available to them.

Another important program involving retention is Academic Boot Camp (ABC) for incoming multicultural freshman students in STEM majors. We collaborate with the colleges of Engineering and Science for this five-week program to introduce students to college level mathematics, English, science, and technology courses that they will be taking their first semester. This summer, ABC will be take place from July 5 to August 7, 2009. We are hiring graduate students to assist with some departmental classes during ABC.

The College of Technology has approximately 15 percent multicultural students, and 12.5 percent are female students. Our freshman class has 16 percent multicultural and 10.8 percent female. We continue to have a series of outreach and recruitment programs to introduce multicultural and female students to the College of Technology. Spring and Summer 2009 events to underrepresented populations include:

Spring programs
• Feb.19-21 – Discovering Opportunities in Technology (DO iT) for eleventh-grade female students
• March 26 to 28 – High School Visions program for eleventh-grade multicultural students

These two programs are organized in collaboration with the Minority Technology Association and Women in Technology student groups. The guests come to campus for three days and are immersed in technology and college life. The students who will attend this spring are all juniors and eligible this fall to apply to Purdue for admission.

Summer Programs
• June 14 to 18, 2009 – Turned On to Technology And Leadership (TOTAL) Summer camp for seventh- and eighth-grade multicultural students
• June 28 to July 2, 2009 – Technology Expanding All Minds (TEAM) summer camp for eighth- and ninth-grade females
• July 13 to 16, 2009 – Technology Advances Girl Scouts (TAGS I) in collaboration with the Girls Scouts of America: sixth- to eighth-grade students for TAGS I and ninth- to twelfth-grade students for TAGS II.
• July 19 to July 23- Cheerleading in the Classroom (CITC) summer camp for 7th – 12th graders with a cheerleading platform, to introduce female students to the college.

Letters and sign-up sheets have been sent to all the departments requesting your assistance with the upcoming programs. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Student Organizations
As the advisor to the Minority Technology Association and the Women in Technology student organizations, I have seen increased growth, collaboration, and unity. Members genuinely want to see more students like themselves succeed and are willing to work hard to make it happen. They have been instrumental in ensuring that the programs are staffed and run smoothly.

Both University initiatives and your support of our diversity programs have made an impact and enhanced our diversity programs. High school students that once attended our recruitment programs are now attending classes as Purdue students.

We appreciate your assistance in our diversity efforts and thank you.

In the News

Goal of electric tricycle to capture, efficiently utilize energy

Athula Kulatunga, associate professor of EET, has taken an average tricycle and made it into an electrically powered, energy-testing machine that could help develop new technologies for greener vehicles.

Kulatunga, who directs research in the International Rectifier Power Electronics Development and Applications Laboratory (IR-PEDAL), received a $10,000 grant from General Motors to build a plug-in electric bicycle as a learning platform for power electronics and applied research on controllers, charging devices, battery configurations, and motor drives.

The bicycle is powered by electric charge and can be ridden on its own or connected to a data-collection test stand, where researchers can analyze power usage and efficiency.

Kulatunga, along with two students — graduate student Sandun Kuruppu and undergraduate Fred Chou — first built the bike as a standard tricycle. But early this year, the team (which now includes undergraduate Ryan Pickens and graduate Jeremiah Dole) redesigned the bike with a new frame and a new riding posture.

The tricycle now features a reclining seat, pedals in the front, and handlebars on the side for steering. The bike, which in its former design could top only 20 mph, now can travel up to 35 mph due to its lower center of gravity.

"We decided to redesign the bike to give it more stability and better handling," Kulatunga said.

The tricycle is powered by brushless DC motors attached to the back wheels, along with lead-acid batteries, which are located underneath the bike. He said attaching the motors to the wheels is more efficient because it provides a direct transfer of power, preventing much of the energy loss that would take place if the motor was placed in the middle of the vehicle.

"When motors are placed in the middle, some mechanical link is necessary to transfer power to the wheel, which consumes additional energy from batteries, and all that energy is lost," Kulatunga said. "If you can generate force on the wheel, it is much more effective."

To improve the energy efficiency of the vehicle, it is equipped with ultracapacitors, which help to capture energy that would typically be lost during such actions as braking.

"An ultracapacitor works to smooth out and absorb much of the energy, which can then be transferred to power the vehicle," he said. "If perfected, ultracapacitors can extend the driving distance of batteries."

The group is also working on a touch-screen display that will be affixed to the front of the bike showing data on energy consumption and efficiency. He said the display will be similar to that of a Toyota Prius screen, in which the driver can monitor energy consumption from the engine, electric motor, and battery.

Kulatunga said modifications to the tricycle will be made periodically as he and his students conduct further research. He said he has no plans to commercialize the tricycle as a mode of transportation. The tricycle is also part of the power electronics course he teaches in spring semester.

He said the project is teaching his students much more than knowledge about power electronics, controller development, motor drives, and system integration.

"This teaches students to think out of the box and apply what they are learning in the classroom to the real world," said Kulatunga, who this year was named to Purdue's Kauffman Campuses Initiative Entrepreneurial Leadership Academy. "When students work on projects like this, they begin to open their minds to new ideas and innovations, and even the possibilities of entrepreneurship and one day launching a business from their inventions.

Study: Hands-on engineering helps students

Youngsters taught science in classes where the goal was to design and build a device to perform a specific task scored significantly higher on a final test than students who got traditional classroom instruction, a Purdue University study has found.

The findings suggest that hands-on, problem-solving learning may have advantages over traditional lecture- and textbook-based methods of teaching students about engineering and technology, said Melissa Dark, a Purdue professor of computer and information technology.

"It's not just the hands-on work -- it's exploring science through the application of technology and exploring technology through the application of scientific principles," said Dark, who worked on the study. "Those two things build on each other."

Chicago Tribune

GPS device could put Purdue unmanned aerial vehicle on autopilot

Thanks to global-positioning system technology, Purdue University's unmanned aerial vehicle may soon be running its agricultural data-collecting missions with almost no human intervention.

For several years Michael Leasure, an assistant professor of aviation technology, has been using the lightweight aircraft — essentially a model airplane equipped with electronics — to collect agricultural data for Calmar Labs in Remington, Ind. The vehicle is equipped with infrared and digital cameras to take photos to assess the effects of shadowing on corn growth or to monitor the effects of drought or floods on crops, for instance.

Up until now, the aircraft has been controlled by a conventional radio receiver, which required human intervention to begin and end the missions. But a guidance system purchased by Calmar called AttoPilot will allow the aircraft to be programmed to specific locations autonomously, resulting in more precise and efficient missions, Leasure said.

University News Service

Every IT woman needs a peer network: Here's why

Gail Farnsley, a visiting professor in the Department of Computer and Information Technology, writes in ComputerWorld magazine how finding a group you identify with can lead to immeasurable career and personal gain.

ComputerWorld