At Purdue, there are many ways to give back to the community. One of these is the EPICS program. EPICS stands for Engineering Projects in Community Service; however, anyone is allowed to join an EPICS team, even if they aren’t in engineering! Within the EPICS program there are over 40 teams with over 700 students across all disciplines. Therefore, everyone is able to find their place with the EPICS program. Everyone has a different experience of how they joined the EPICS program.
As a freshman, I was a part of the EPICS first year learning community. This meant I was enrolled in the EPICS First Year Engineering (FYE) course instead of the traditional FYE course. After being placed on an EPICS team with students of all different skill levels, a team breaks up into subteams. On a subteam, the design lead helps to narrow the focus to a smaller component of the overall project. Taking EPICS is much different than taking other engineering classes; this is attributed to the strong focus of engineering design and hands-on learning experiences that don’t exist in the standard FYE course.
Personally, I have been given many opportunities within EPICS. Through my EPICS team, Global Air Quality Trekkers, I was able to be published in the Purdue Journal of Undergraduate Research just after my first semester on campus! Then second semester, I had the opportunity to be a design lead on my team. I was able to lead three other freshmen through a design and implementation process. Our project required us to build a full-scale model of a Kenyan kitchen, and our subteam was required to design and build the stove to go inside. From this experience, I truly understood what it took to be an engineer and how to identify a problem and implement a solution.
Sophomore, Amanda Lefebvre, has been able to find her place in the EPICS program as President of the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) club. EWB is a unique team as they have a club component as well as the EPICS team. Amanda found out about this program through her friends that were involved in EPICS freshman year. She believes the best part about EPICS is the ability to work on a real project to develop her leadership skills and help communities in Bolivia and Uganda.
As previously stated, students in EPICS do not have to be engineers. Meriem Bounab, a sophomore in computer science, has loved her experience in EPICS. She discovered the EPICS program through her freshman CS orientation class. Through her team, Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, she has found out that she can use her skills as a program developer to make a true impact on a person’s life. This is what really makes the EPICS program special.
EPICS may require more time than a typical one or two credit hour class, but the experiences and memories are completely worth it!
Written by CeCe Maginot, WE Link Recruitment Project Committee Blog Group
Civil Engineering
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