Engineering Projects In Community Service

Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) was founded in 1995 at Purdue University by Professors Edward Coyle and Leah Jamieson as a solution to two problems [ [http://epicsnational.ecn.purdue.edu/ EPICS ] ] . First, many engineering graduates lacked real world skills need for project management, such as budgeting and scheduling. Second, many non-profit organizations did not have funding for needed professional engineering services to design displays and exhibits or keep relevant databases. The solution was to use the skills of undergraduate students through the curriculum to provide services to local non-profit organizations.

The program originally started as an educational program, and finds its roots in the concept of "service learning" [ [http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/abrams/2006-04-07-better-entrepreneur_x.htm USATODAY.com - Program combines service, engineering to build a better entrepreneur ] ] .

In liberal arts colleges, EPICS courses manage to encourage enrollment from students from outside the engineering program [ [http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2008/04/08/20786/ Keller ’63 donates $25 million - The Daily Princetonian ] ] .

History

EPICS was founded in the Fall of 1995 at Purdue University starting with five project teams. At Purdue, the program has grown to 25 project teams which include over 400 students. In 2000, the program was expanded and implemented at other universities. Today EPICS is operating at 15 universities across the United States, including Princeton University [ [http://www.princeton.edu/~epics/ You are being transfered ] ] , University of Notre Dame [ [http://epics.cse.nd.edu/ University of Notre Dame EPICS Center ] ] , Dartmouth College [ [http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~epics/ Dartmouth EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) ] ] , Penn State University [ [http://labs.ee.psu.edu/courses/epics/ EPICS at Penn State University ] ] , University of Wisconsin [ [http://studentservices.engr.wisc.edu/research/teamprojects.html Engineering Team Projects ] ] , and Ohio State University [ [http://www.ecos.osu.edu/?q=node/71 Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) | ECOS: Engineers for Community Service ] ] .

The University of Auckland [ [http://www.epics.auckland.ac.nz/ EPICS - EPICS - The University of Auckland ] ] in Auckland, New Zealand is the only university that runs the EPICS programme internationally.

References

External links

* [http://epicsnational.ecn.purdue.edu EPICS National Website]
* [http://epics.ecn.purdue.edu EPICS at Purdue University]
* [http://www.purdue.edu Purdue University]