Purdue Calumet engineering students join students from East Chicago’s Central High School prior to NASA’s Great Moonbuggy Race April 9-10 in Huntsville, Ala. at the U.S. Space & Rocket Centera. The race, featuring national and international student teams, challenges the students to design, build and race a human-powered “moonbuggy” in response to engineering challenges and obstacles similar to those experienced by U.S. astronauts during moon exploration during the late 1960s. Two Purdue Calumet teams placed 13th and 20th, respectively, in the 17th annual competition. East Chicago Central High School students also competed with assistance from Purdue Calumet.
White Family Foundations award $5 million for HTM program
Purdue University Calumet is poised to become a leader in hospitality and tourism management (HTM) education, thanks to a $5 million gift the Dean & Barbara White Family Foundation and the Bruce & Beth White Family Foundation are making to the university.
The gift is the largest in monetary value ever received by Purdue Calumet. It will be used to enhance the university’s HTM undergraduate program of study, renamed the Purdue University Calumet White Lodging Center for Hospitality and Tourism Management. In part, the gift will fund renovation and conversion of the current Purdue Calumet Conference Center at the south end of campus into a nearly 13,000 square feet, state of the art HTM instructional facility.
(12/7/09)
New program designed to help 1st year students succeed
Convinced that crossing higher education’s graduation finish line is contingent on a good start, Purdue University Calumet is developing a cutting edge success program for first-year students.
The program is intended to benefit freshmen and others by providing:
- a smoother, improved transition from high school to college;
- a more integrated academic support system;
- increased interaction with faculty and academic advisors through a learning community triage model;
- improved referral processes enabling students to better access campus resources;
- common and integrated first-year learning objectives across academic disciplines;
- better student-to-student mentoring; and
- more carefully developed activities and initiatives that address first-year student concerns.
(12/17/09)
Projected job growth prompts new graduate program in Computer Science
In response to a projected job growth rate of nearly 20 percent, Purdue Calumet is introducing a Master of Science degree program in Computer Science.
The program, approved recently by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, debuts next fall and becomes the only such graduate level offering in northwest Indiana.
(3/17/10)
2-year strategic plan update: focus on student success, regional development
Purdue Calumet is focusing on strategies to increase its number of graduates and to expand support for regional economic growth two years into its six-year strategic plan, Chancellor Howard Cohen reported to the Purdue Board of Trustees April 9.
Within the context of its five-goal plan—Foster Engaged Learning, Prepare an Educated Workforce & Citizenry for Northwest Indiana, Improve Student Success, Increase Support for Faculty & Staff Excellence, and Develop a Vibrant Campus Community—Purdue Calumet is advancing strategies to attract, retain and graduate more success-oriented, degree-persistent students.
(4/9/10)
PUC engineering professor delivered keynote at international Iron & Steel conference 5/3
In recognition of her achievements in process metallurgy and dedication to the steel industry, a Purdue University Calumet professor delivered the keynote address May 3 at the international Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) Conference and Exposition in Pittsburgh.
(4/29/10)
Purdue Calumet, Ivy Tech articulate on 2+2 program in Computer Information Systems
In response to a growing demand for information technology-educated graduates, Purdue University Calumet and Ivy Tech Community College have signed a 2 + 2 undergraduate articulation agreement in Computer Information Systems.
(4/30/10)
Chemistry professor is part of Indiana electric vehicle technology initiative
A Purdue Calumet professor is part of a state consortium intent on positioning Indiana as a global leader in electric vehicle technology.
Associate Professor of Chemistry Libbie Pelter of Schererville is a co-Principal Investigator of a $6.1 million U.S. Department of Energy research grant Purdue University received in support of the Indiana Advanced Electric Vehicle Training and Education Consortium (I-AEVTEC). The grant provides vital support and collaboration between Purdue and other state universities to advance education and training programs necessary for designing, manufacturing and maintaining advanced electric drive vehicles that are fuel-efficient and environmentally responsible.
(3/22/10)
Women’s b-ball player chosen for national Youth Leadership Program
Purdue Calumet student-athlete Alexandria Starr has been selected as one of 13 individuals to be inducted into the 2010-11 Red Cross/NAIA Youth Leadership Program. Starr becomes the first Peregrine to receive the honor, while helping the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference put at least one student-athlete in the program for the third straight year.
Starr, a 5-foot-8 freshman guard on the Peregrines’ women’s basketball team, was chosen from a nationwide search that included a record number of applicants from across the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The Plymouth, Ind. native is a biology major.
OBITS
Marketing Professor Hugh Daubek
In the words of faculty colleague Lori Feldman, Purdue Calumet Professor of Management Hugh Daubek “loved marketing, his students and Purdue Calumet.” Daubek, who taught marketing for 20+ years at the Hammond campus, died suddenly Feb. 26. He was 73.
Retired Civil Engineering Technology Professor Ralph Bennett III
Ralph Bennett III, retired professor of civil engineering technology and a 36-year faculty member, died March 2. He was 71.
Filed under News and Notes.
