2008 — A Leap Year for Sponsored Research

by Melissa Dark, assistant dean and professor of CIT

It is a fact that 2008 was a leap year, because it included February 29. But it has also been a leap year for the College of Technology. The college has set record highs in sponsored research proposals and awards – we truly leaped ahead of where we were and I would like to take this opportunity to share the progress with you.

The first chart shows the growth in proposals for the college over the past six years. The college has achieved a 300% increase in proposal activity from the 2002-03 fiscal year to this year and a 64% increase in the last year alone. I look closely at proposal growth because it is a bellwether for award growth. After all, you can’t get awards if you don’t have proposals.

Speaking of awards, even more impressive than proposal growth is the increase in sponsored research awards. The college has achieved a 485% increase since the 2002-03 fiscal year and an 88% increase since last fiscal year. As you can see by the second chart, 2007-08 awards surpassed $5,000,000. The award goal for the college this year was $5,000,000, which means that we surpassed our goal by almost 10%. We have much to celebrate; it truly has been a leap year.

When we started the journey into sponsored research, there was much skepticism as to whether we could succeed in this venue of the academy. This skepticism was present both within the college, as well as across the University. We are at a tipping point – a point where we can reflect on our progress and understand that not only is it possible to succeed in this venue, but in fact we are succeeding. The faculty in the College of Technology have worked hard and it shows. Our efforts have been noted within the college as well as across the University. As a college, we have much of which to be proud. As the Assistant Dean for Research in the college for the past five years, I am exceptionally proud and honored to be associated with such a fine group of colleagues with a “can do” attitude.

In the News

Purdue develops disaster restoration specialty

In a few years if a hurricane hits the Gulf of Mexico or an earthquake devastates an area on the West Coast, it could be Purdue University students leading recovery teams.

Purdue announced recently that it is creating a specialization in restoration and reconstruction of buildings after disasters. The program will be in the Department of Building and Construction Management.

"There's not a textbook out there that specializes in this," said Randy Rapp, associate professor ofbuilding construction management, who will run the program. "We're seeking to pull this together into a coherent area of instruction."

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Purdue to host collaboration and innovation conference

Purdue will hold a conference focusing on how to work most effectively and creatively in teams. The Conference for Collaboration and Innovation is set for September. It will cover subjects such as building trust in employees, managing conflict and responding to globalization. The head of Purdue's Department of Organizational Leadership and Supervision, Michael Beyerlein, says the goal is to reach out to those in industry so they can learn new ways of organizing and managing people.

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Space Camp for teens blasts off at Columbus airport

A free Space Camp will help students ages 13 through college age explore space-related careers from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 5 through 8 at Space Port Indiana at Columbus Municipal Airport, 4770 Ray Boll Boulevard.

The camp will feature presentations from engineers and scientists on the near-space environment, tracking launches, a launch to near space and much more.

The camp is sponsored by Purdue University College of Technology at Columbus, IMAX Theater at White River State Park, The Indiana State Museum and Indiana Space Grant Consortium.

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Purdue Technology Center of Southeast Indiana dedication on Oct. 1

Purdue officials announced July 30 that James Marshall has been named the director for the Purdue Technology Center of Southeast Indiana and that the Purdue College of Technology at New Albany will offer courses at the new center beginning in August.

The Purdue Technology Center, which will be dedicated Oct. 1, is one of four Purdue Research Park centers around the state that serve as incubators for startup or expanding companies. Two other centers in operation are in West Lafayette, Ind., and Merrillville, Ind. A fourth center is under construction at the Purdue Research Park at Ameriplex-Indianapolis.

The Purdue University College of Technology has offered degree programs in New Albany since 1968. Andy Schaffer is the director of the College of Technology at New Albany.

"The center gives us the space we need to expand our academic programs in southeast Indiana and provides our students with the most current technology in our classrooms," said Duane Dunlap, associate dean for statewide technology.

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Anderson location honors company for Purdue support

Purdue University College of Technology at Anderson recently honored Comfort Motion Technologies with a plaque in recognition of the company's ongoing relationship with Purdue.

Company president Paul Phipps accepted the award from Jody Pierce, assistant director of the College of Technology location, during an all-client meeting at the Flagship Enterprise Center, which serves as Anderson's business incubator and is the home to Purdue College of Technology at Anderson.

Pierce cited Comfort Motion Technologies' multiple-year pledge of $1,000 a year to the college to support scholarship and engagement as an example of how industries can make an impact on education.

Phipps said his company's relationship with Purdue has had a significant impact on their success and they have been able to utilize their relationship to develop their products to get them ready for market.

This spring, Comfort Motion Technologies was selected to serve on the industrial advisory board for the College of Technology at Anderson.

Company officials visit IR-PEDAL lab

Two International Rectifier Corp. officials, Rick Sivan, vice president for research and development, and Eric Persson, executive director of global field applications engineering, visited the International Rectifier Power Electronics Development and Application Lab (IR-PEDAL) located in Michael Golden Labs on July 29.

Electrical and computer engineering technology department head Robert Herrick led off with an introduction, and Athula Kulatunga, associate professor, gave the officials a tour of the lab and summarized current research and projects, which includes work in motion controls, power conversions and audio amplifiers.

Other faculty involved with the visit were Raji Sundararajan, Jeffrey Evans and Helen McNally, and students Fred Chou and Vinodh Natham.

The IR-PEDAL lab opened in spring 2007 thanks to a $100,000 gift from International Rectifier.

Photo: International Rectifier representatives Eric Persson, executive director of global field applications engineering, and Rick Sivan, vice president of design platform group, are given a tour of the IR-PEDAL laboratory by EET Profs. Athula Kulatunga and Raji Sundararajan.

Columbus location hosts Space Port Indiana meeting

The College of Technology at Columbus was the site of the first Space Port Indiana advisory board meeting in June. Space Port Indiana, located at the Columbus Municipal Airport, provides military, commercial customers and educational institutions with low-cost access to airspace up to and including the near-space environment. It also offers educational outreach programs to students in K-12 and college with an opportunity to explore engineering and aerospace sciences as a career choice. Jack Head, assistant director of the Columbus location, is a member of the Space Port Indiana advisory board.

Tech jobs rise, but graduates are on decline

At a time when central Indiana is adding high-tech jobs faster than any other area in the Midwest, the overall health of the industry could be threatened by a lack of interest from college students.

The Washington, D.C.-based Computing Research Association's annual survey of universities with doctorate-granting programs found an 18 percent drop this year in students completing bachelor's degrees in professional information technology fields. The latest statistics are particularly alarming given they continue a trend seen for several years.

As a professor and assistant department head of computer and information technology at Purdue University, Alka Harriger has witnessed the falloff of tech students firsthand.

Indianapolis Business Journal

Boot camp helps incoming students adjust

Purdue University recently opened its residence hall doors to more than 40 incoming freshmen who attended a program aimed at easing the transition to college.

The program, called Science Technology Engineering and Math Academic Boot Camp, exposes the freshmen to the campus, course work and likely classmates before other students.

Antonia Munguia, the College of Technology diversity director, said the program started about three years ago as a way to introduce students to the university.

"It gets them tasting a little bit of what college is going to be like," Munguia said. "It gets them familiar with the campus, familiar with the buildings."

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Journal and Courier, article #2

Girls, computers make spirited combination at Purdue camp

Working in information technology doesn't seem all that glamorous.
Television and movies portray the company's computer guy as nerdy, devoid of social skills and sometimes a bit arrogant about his abundance of technical knowledge. But Alka Harriger, director of the Purdue University Surprising Possibilities Imagined and Realized Through Information Technology (SPIRIT) computer camp, hopes to dispel those myths, and another: only men are interested in computer jobs.

Journal and Courier
SPIRIT camp video

Girl Scouts go high-tech when looking at careers

Not surprisingly, 12-year-old Jean Krueskamp doesn't know what she wants to be when she gets older.

But her experiences at a Technology Advances Girl Scouts (TAGS) summer camp made an impression on her.
"I liked the graphic design - that was cool," she said. "I also liked the mechanical engineering technology; that was fun. We made a Ping-Pong ball gun that shot completely through a soda can and a cardboard box."

The camp, conducted July 7 through 10, is a collaborative effort between Purdue University's College of Technology and the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana to help introduce young girls to careers in technology that they may not have thought of pursuing.

Journal and Courier

Professors help transform air transportation

Two Purdue professors have the chance to transform the future of air transportation.
Timothy Ropp, assistant professor of aviation technology, and Brian Dillman, associate professor of aviation technology, have been selected to serve as members for the Next Generation Air Transportation System, also known as NextGen.

"The concept (of NextGen) of taking national air transportation system and modernizing it has always been under construction," Ropp said.

Purdue Exponent

Guitar workshop gives sentimental values to students

Last week, amid the smells of varnish and sawdust in a humid manufacturing lab, a group of guitar enthusiasts from across the country worked diligently in the hopes of making mechanical music.
The 2008 Purdue Guitar Manufacturing Workshop took place last week, with 27 participants turning blocks of wood into quality electric guitars over a five-day period. The workshop attracts all kinds of people, from high school students to professionals to retirees. What unites the group is its interest in guitars.
"By building on that natural enthusiasm, you get a lot of learning opportunities," said Mark French, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering technology and a staff member in the workshop.

Purdue Exponent

Photo: Class of 2008, Purdue Guitar Manufacturing Workshop

Alumni play in Super Mario marathon for charity

With the help of a small Italian plumber, three Purdue alumni raised more than $11,000 for a children's charity during a three-day video game marathon. And thousands of people got to see them do it on a live Webcast.
"We never thought it'd be so hard to play video games," said John Groth, a network administrator in the College of Technology who participated in the marathon.
The Mario Marathon followed the trials of the three gamers as they played seven Super Mario games from the afternoon of June 27 to early June 30. As they played, fascinated viewers watched, chatted, made fan art and donated money to the Child's Play charity, which buys toys and video games for children in hospitals.

Purdue Exponent