Also in this issue:
The Communicator
Staff
Editors:
Anita Harmeyer
Miranda Emmert
Eunice Kwon
Contributors:
Nicole Arias
Chantal Breedlove
Laura Moon
Thinking Outside the Box
By Nicole Arias
During one meeting, an on-campus group tried to brainstorm ways of making a laptop computer that they had constructed more attractive and
appealing to girls and women.
For a time, the group could not think of ways to enhance the appearance of the portable computer. Then, one of the students remembered a suggestion from a 9-year-old girl scout at a recent workshop, said Patrice Buzzanell, an associate professor in the Department of Communication. The girl had said the screen on the laptop could be a triangle instead of the standard square shape.
From that first venturous idea came many more; now, the model of the laptop includes a fake fur exterior that is heat-sensitive, like a mood ring.
“We need people who think differently,” said Buzzanell.
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Photo Courtesy of EPICS
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“We” refers to the Engineering Projects in Community Service. EPICS was started in 1995 by co-founders Edward Coyle and Leah Jamieson, both professors in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Since then, it has spread to eight other campuses, including Iowa State, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame, with Purdue being the lead campus. The program serves nonprofit organizations that have technically challenging projects. The EPICS program has won various honors and awards for its community service efforts, including earning Purdue a listing in “The Templeton Guide: Colleges That Encourage Character Development.”
The local EPICS chapter is hoping to recruit more Liberal Arts majors, said Buzzanell, an EPICS adviser, because “we need someone who challenges ideas.”
“You don't have to know a lot about technology, unlike what most people think. Communication skills are absolutely essential,” she said. Students in EPICS refine both interpersonal and group communication skills, and presentation skills, she said. Group members are needed who can write efficient reports and prepare compelling presentations to “clients.”
All services provided by the program are free to the organizations they serve. Some of the project partners locally are Habitat for Humanity, Homelessness Prevention Network, Lafayette Crisis Center, the Columbian Park Zoo and two local elementary schools, Klondike and Happy Hollow.
The laptop group is working with the Institute for Women in Technology. The team is looking at gender and developing ways of making technology more appealing to girls 9 to 13 years of age. The laptop that the group is remodeling has games and educational and interactive programs.
Buzzanell's role was to help ensure that the project was not designed based on gender stereotypes. She also monitors team dynamics within the groups she works with.
The EPICS teams are able to carry out their projects through funding from numerous organizations, including the National Science Foundation, the Corporation for National Service, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard. Last year, the EPICS program at Purdue received $4 million.
The program at Purdue consists of 20 teams with a total of 300 students and 23 advisers, all of whom are from various departments. These multidisciplinary teams are comprised of 12 to 15 students majoring in the various areas that are best suited for the specific project, including child development, education, nursing, sociology, visual design, and civil, computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering.
Ideally, an EPICS participant begins as a second semester freshman and continues through graduation, Coyle said. Students involved in EPICS can earn one credit per semester as a freshman or sophomore. As a junior or senior, they can earn up to two credits.