"Many, many IE alumni are interested in being more involved and giving back something to the school – and this mentoring program is a great opportunity for them to do just that," said the former managing director of Purdue IE, Steve Duket, in 2018. "It also delivered to the alumni what they consider to be extremely valuable insights into the future generation of IEs." 

Duket explained that Purdue IE started this program when it realized that "most students were yearning for the type of wisdom, insight, and perspective that alumni could provide, and alumni were looking for alternate ways to give back and reconnect with the School and with Purdue."

"The program exceeded my expectations," said Tom Benes (BSIE 1975, MSIE 1976), President & CEO of Forum Purchasing LLC. He volunteered to be an alum mentor to be able to learn from and about today's students, to give back to the School of Industrial Engineering, and to help students prepare for life after Purdue.

Steven Dumbauld, MD (and BSIE 1972), had similar reasons for volunteering to be a mentor, and benefitted in similar ways. "I have learned more about the education and business culture of the millennial student," he said. "She has helped me look at problems and human interaction from a different perspective. She has energized my desire to look for new resources in the fields of engineering and medicine."

The 2018 IE Student-Alumni Mentoring Initiative team won a Staff Excellence Award from the College of Engineering for its initiative.

Although the program was on hiatus, spring 2021 serves as a good time to pilot its renewal. "Students and industry professionals alike are eager to re-engage with each other and feel the mutual benefits of mentoring," says Barrett Caldwell, Interim Head of Industrial Engineering. "This semester feels right to pilot the re-energizing of this program."

Writer: DeEtte Starr, starrd@purdue.edu

Editor: Julia Sibley, jmsibley@purdue.edu

Sources: Barrett Caldwell, bcaldwell@purdue.edu