Organization:EPICS - Purdue

Overview

In order to respond to our Community Services needs and our undergraduate students future needs for solid expertise in their discipline, Purdue University has created EPICS: Engineering Projects In Community Service. EPICS is a unique program in which teams of undergraduates are designing, building, and deploying real systems to solve engineering-based problems for local community service and education organizations. EPICS was founded at Purdue University in Fall 1995.

The program begun in 1995 when their current Dean (Dr. Leah Jamieson) and Dr. Edward Coyle started EPICS. It has continued to expand to reach all majors on our campus.  It was project teams from the concept and has continued that way.  Each team has approximately 2-3 projects per team.  It has been replicated at approximately 21 other universities.  

Purpose

The Purpose of EPICS is to offer Community services at the same time that they improve their Undergraduate students skills.

EPICS students gain long-term define-design-build-test-deploy-support experience, communication skills, experience on multidisciplinary teams, and leadership and project management skills. They gain an awareness of professional ethics, the role of the customer in engineering design, and the role that engineering can play in the community. Community organizations gain access to technology and expertise that would normally be prohibitively expensive, giving them the potential to improve their quality of service or to provide new services. In partnership with Purdue’s Discovery Park, the EPICS Entrepreneurship Initiative helps students and community partners explore entrepreneurship opportunities growing out of EPICS projects.

Distinct Differences From Other Offerings

• Gain design experience of real systems
• Develop teamwork & communication skills
• Gain project planning & leadership experience
• Develop customer-awareness
• Gain understanding of ethical, economic, & legal issues
• Get involved in the community
• Have something to talk about in interviews!
• Make a difference!
• Students Receive (1-2) Academic Credits for Participation
• Well-funded
• Polish Entrepeneurial Ideas
• Tool for students

Awards and Recognition

EPICS has received major awards from the Carnegie Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the American Society for Engineering Education, the IEEE Education Society, Campus Compact, the Corporate and Foundation Alliance, Purdue University, and the Governor and Legislature of Indiana. It was featured in the PBS series Communities Building Community. EPICS has been supported by over $5.1M in federal grants and over $5.5M in corporate and alumni gifts.

Impact Achieved For Students and Campus

The impact achieved for students and campus seems to be huge. They range from a wide variety of subjects to size and scope of these. As described above, the program has received major awards and plenty of funding in order to proceed with their initiative.

Steps Required To Bring Resource to Campus

TBPosted - I have currently contacted the program to gain more infomation in how was their program developed.

Contact Information

For information or general questions, please contact:

The EPICS Program at Purdue
Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering Room 1200
701 West Stadium Avenue
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2045
Phone: 765-496-1068
Fax: 765-494-0052
Email: epics@purdue.edu