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Spreading
their wings
By Barney Haney and Steve Tally
Spreading their
wings
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| Purdue professor of agricultural
and biological engineering Gary Krutz (left) and graduate
student Louis Cassens demonstrate a pneumatic boat lift
developed in the agricultural equipment design course.
The airlift is powerful enough to raise and lower a 21-foot
boat and could be manufactured for about the same cost
as an electrically powered lift. |
Purdue Agriculture students didn't expect to
find themselves in the company of celebrities such as Ben
Afleck and Jennifer Lopez, but that's exactly what happened
in August when Purdue students Michelle Kelly and Luke Meyers
were featured in the pages of People magazine.
Earlier in the spring, the students had developed
a new spice or flavoring by freeze-drying beer. The product
was surprisingly tasty, and, because students developed the
spice, it captured national and even international attention.
Martin Okos, professor of agricultural
and biological engineering and advisor for the two
students, says that news of the student' work appeared
in the Washington Post and the Chronicle of Higher Education,
on CBS News, CNN, and Fox News, and on numerous radio programs
across the nation, from Paul Harvey to National Public
Radio and, it seemed, everything in between. "The
only thing we didn't get on was the ‘Tonight Show,'" Okos
laughs.
Although the experience of the two students
was unusual, it did put the spotlight on undergraduate research
in Purdue Agriculture, which Okos says has been quietly thriving
for many years. Undergraduate research is an important part
of what happens in Purdue Agriculture. Many students conduct
original research through classes such as Oko', while others
become involved with the research of a mentoring professor.
Purdue Agriculture faculty know that undergraduate
research is an early indicator of success later in a professional
career. "When we bring distinguished alumni back to
campus, they talk about their undergraduate experience with
a faculty member here," says Randy Woodson, associate
dean of Purdue Agriculture and director of the Office
of Agricultural Research. "There are very few university
faculty or industry researchers who weren't involved in undergraduate
research. Almost every student who decides to pursue an advanced
degree was exposed to it as an undergraduate."
And nearly everyone who has participated in
research as an undergraduate has been a success, Okos says.
Many get experiences that remain with them for the rest of
their lives. Over the past five years, more than 100 undergraduates
in Purdue Agriculture have been co-authors on research papers;
a handful have even had patents filed on their research.
"It really separates them from the other
students. The companies like to hire them because they know
what it's like to think through the discovery process," Okos
says. "There's no question that there's value in student
research. In going from concept to some sort of completion,
they gain a sense of responsibility and discipline needed
for work beyond the classroom. I wish that all students could
go through a student research project while they are here."
Spreading their
wings
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