Inside Look - Multi/Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies

Purdue’s Purple Squirrels 

So, what’s a purple squirrel?

Well, as one might expect, purple squirrels are extremely rare. Sometimes, there are tasks that only this specific animal can do—for example, finding purple acorns or blending into purple bushes. Multidisciplinary Engineering (MDE) and Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies (IDES) students consider the purple squirrel to be our unofficial mascot because like our furry friend, we are trained to occupy niches that no one else would be able to fill as fully.

While on a winter break service-learning trip to Haiti, the group
hiked up to Citadelle Laferriere, a UNESCO World Heritage
site, to take in the view. Here I am, repping the Boilermakers!

While there are various pre-defined tracks (concentrations) within MDE, I chose to self-design a plan of study in Veterinary Health Engineering. Ultimately, I plan to attend veterinary school and then work in international development policy limiting the transmission of zoonotic disease. Pursuing my MDE degree has allowed me to combine classes in core engineering competencies like mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering with pre-veterinary courses while also getting a minor in Global Engineering Studies that has taken me around the world. The limits to this degree are defined only by your creativity and determination.

As a senior reflecting on the many opportunities Purdue has offered me, one of the highlights has been my involvement in a College of Agriculture service-learning program, in which I was able to be a part of because of the flexible MDE curriculum. I worked with interdisciplinary teams to coordinate a food security and water quality symposium with students in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti. Over winter break last year, we traveled to Haiti for two weeks to host the event. We gave lectures and hands-on demonstrations on topics ranging from seed preservation to water sanitation in exchange for the opportunity to listen to Haitian students share traditional farming techniques and information on developing technologies. Before the symposium, we soaked in Haitian culture through a series of day trips and worked on our presentations in the evenings, trying to incorporate all we were seeing and experiencing to make our talks as informative and applicable as possible. I shared my engineering expertise with my team as we discussed the functionality of a two-bucket water sanitation system. We also talked about some up-and-coming Purdue technology called PathVis that may one day revolutionize how we test water for potentially harmful diseases. This program was the first opportunity I had to see my engineering training come to life in a setting other than something explicitly engineering-focused; it was eye-opening and motivating as I continued my studies.

I spoke with a staff member of Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly's
office regarding the importance of continuing to find
undergraduate research opportunities during the Council
on Undergraduate Research's 2017 Posters on the Hill.

Much of my time on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus has also been spent in laboratories. Most uniquely, I worked with a group called iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine), an undergraduate-led competitive synthetic biology team, to engineer a strain of bacteria to clean water. iGEM took me to Boston, where I presented my team’s research before international peers and synthetic biology experts. It also took me to Washington, D.C., where I shared the importance of my research experience in my scholarly development with Indiana Senators Donnelly and Young and other congressional representatives. As a high school student, I never could have imagined these experiences or the technical knowledge and soft skills I have gained from them. Within MDE, I’ve found support to dive head-first into challenges like iGEM that have taught me above and beyond anything I could have learned in a classroom.

I spent last spring studying abroad at Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, Spain taking engineering classes and exploring Spanish and European culture. When developing my MDE curriculum, I knew that spending a semester abroad was important to me and planned accordingly, saving classes I knew could be taken abroad for that semester. I’m also part of a program in the Office of Professional Practice called the Global Engineering Alliance for Research and Education (GEARE), a

I walked through the historic center of Madrid, Plaza Mayor on
my commute to class each day. My roommates and I lived just
a block south of the plaza and my balcony had a view of it
through one of the arches. 

comprehensive curriculum to strengthen engineers’ intercultural skills and abilities, which encouraged me to seek an international internship experience for this past summer. With support from a Boren Scholarship, I lived and worked with veterinarians in Romania, learning more about the language and culture. The time I spent with my gracious veterinary hosts and their families was stuffed full of unexpected moments of insight into daily life in a young capitalist society.  Sometimes, I think this past year might have happened to someone else (I mean, really, who gets to do all of that?), but I see the ways in which I’ve changed and grown tremendously and know it wasn’t a dream.

Now, I’m trying to squeeze every last drop out of my final year at Purdue. To future engineers, I am excited for you as you start a new adventure that you get to make your own. The world’s definition of what it means to be an “engineer” is something that you get to push and flex and break, and I hope you boldly pursue those experiences that will uniquely equip you and exceptionally prepare you, those that will make you a purple squirrel, no matter your major. 

-Paige Rudin