Advancement Staff Introductions

by Shari Schrader, director of advancement

Purdue University has defined a challenging vision to achieve preeminence, and it has mapped out the steps necessary to make that vision a reality so that Purdue can compete and thrive in this century and beyond. Private support is essential to Purdue's success. Only half of the University's operating budget comes from state funding and student fees, a fact that explains the importance of private gifts.

The College of Technology’s Advancement office supports the mission of Purdue University, its faculty, and students through developing relationships with key constituencies. The Advancement office connects and reconnects alumni through multifaceted, meaningful experiences and works with donors to help them know and understand the college’s needs and the opportunities for partnership with the university.

You will find our staff hosting alumni at Purdue events like Homecoming and President’s Council annual weekend; organizing special events like our annual Tech Pride Golf Scramble, Distinguished Technology Alumni dinner and gift announcements; and writing funding proposals to our corporate partners, alumni, and friends.

Meet our staff:

Shari Schrader
Director of Advancement
Shari has been at Purdue for more than five years. The past three years she served as the director of development for the School of Chemical Engineering. She has 12 years of fundraising experience in higher education and K-12.

Kristen Ziese
Director of Development
Kristen just joined our staff in September. Her previous position was a major gifts officer at St. Joseph’s College, Rensselaer, where she finished implementing and directing a successful 36-month $12.5 million capital campaign.

Erin Pennington
Director of Alumni and Donor Relations
In October we will bid “farewell” to Erin as she takes the next step in her fundraising career. She has recently accepted a position as associate director of development at Washington University in St. Louis. We hope to have this position filled soon.

Beth Helton
Administrative Assistant
Beth grew up in Lafayette and has worked at Purdue for seven years. She joined the College of Technology in August 2007. Prior to that she worked in the College of Education.

In the News

Professor displays standard car that he convered to electric as part of Green Week 2008

Michael Kane, associate professor in the Department of Computer and Information Technology, converted a gasoline-powered 1973 Volkswagen Beetle to an electric-powered vehicle and put it on display Sept. 17 in recognition of the university's Green Week.

The bright green car, which Kane bought this summer for $1,500, was parked in front of Knoy Hall facing Grant Street and attracted a lot of curious onlookers.

"I built it to save money on the commute to work every day, as well as to inspire students to think about new technologies," he said.

Kane built the car with assistance from one of his students, David Graham, a student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology. The car runs at a top speed of 45 mph and can go for about 20 miles without a recharge.
"It's not a performance vehicle," he said. "It's just for fun."

Kane and Graham replaced the gasoline-powered engine and traditional car battery in the vehicle with four 12-volt deep-cycle batteries and a 12-horsepower DC motor. A controller connects all the components, including a throttle control, which connects to the accelerator pedal. They also added amp and volt meters on the dashboard to keep track of the battery's status.

The total cost of the conversion was $4,500, which includes $600 for the batteries and $2,400 for the electronics and motor.

Kane said he chose the vintage VW Beetle for the conversion project because it has a fairly simple mechanical system, including a manual transmission.

"Today's cars would be much harder to convert to electric," he said.

In addition to Kane's work in the College of Technology, where he specializes in bioinformatics, he also is a lead genomic scientist at Bindley Bioscience Center in Discovery Park.

Photo: Mike Kane with daughter, Shannon in their electric-powered vehicle in front of Knoy.

Journal and Courier

Purdue Exponent

CoT students to compete in Swiss automation design contest

How do you create a body — whether that of a human, animal or object — that has the ability to respond to commands and show emotions?

That's what seven Purdue University students taking part in a Swiss-led design contest are charged with figuring out.

The Purdue students, all majors in electrical and computer engineering technology, are teaming with four students from Lucerne University of Applied Science and Arts in Switzerland to form a team that will compete in the Darwin21 automation design competition in Lucerne in June. It will be one of 13 teams competing.

Jeff Richardson, an assistant professor of electrical engineering technology who is helping advise the students, said the Darwin21 contest was created by Swiss companies as a tool to attract students to careers in the automation industry, as well as to help teach students how to solve complex challenges.

University News Service

Purdue-Kokomo gets new director

Purdue University College of Technology at Kokomo has a new director, Christy Bozic.

Bozic said she is pleased to lead the college, which is based on the Indiana University Kokomo campus.

“I am a College of Technology graduate and really believe in STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics],” she said. “Part of that is leading the local work force here, so I want to be involved.”

Kokomo Tribune

Lab dedicated to creative, educational projects in science, technology, engineering and math

Purdue has opened a research and development laboratory focusing on creative thinking, interactive media and animation, especially as they relate to STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] disciplines.

The IDeaLaboratory in Knoy Hall was developed by La Verne Abe Harris and Nicoletta Adamo-Villani, both associate professors of computer graphics technology in the College of Technology.

"One of the main focuses of the research in the IDeaLaboratory will be using interactive media and animation for innovative delivery, usability assessment, and affective and cognitive learning," Abe Harris said. "We will develop projects and then have the ability to test them to see if they have an effect on learning."

University News Service

Purdue students create Web site to encourage kids to stay in school

A group of Purdue University students has created an interactive Web site they hope will help students see the benefits of continuing their education.

Ronald Glotzbach, an assistant professor of computer graphics technology, and several of his students have developed a Web site available at http://www.sticktoschool.com. The site is geared toward high school students who may be debating whether to earn their diplomas and pursue a college degree.

University News Service

Companies invited to tap into information technology

Purdue is reaching out to companies who could benefit from the university's information technology resources.

Company representatives are invited to the 2008 Information Technology Summit, which will take place from 8:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 20 in Stewart Center, Room 206. Sponsored by Purdue, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and TechPoint, the summit will showcase Purdue's information technology disciplines and students. Companies also can meet with students during a poster presentation.

Among those giving presentations at the summit are Lonnie Bentley, head of the Department of Computer and Information Technology, and Gay Barnett, head academic counselor for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology.

University News Service

Accentuate the positive for a better working environment

Appreciative inquiry can help inspire positive change within an organization, says Alexander Crispo, associate professor of organizational leadership and supervision.

Journal and Courier