The Vertically-Integrated Projects (VIP) program in ECE at Purdue: Fully integrating undergraduate education and graduate research

Abstract

The Vertically-Integrated Projects (VIP) Program is an engineering education program that operates in a research and development context. Undergraduate students that join VIP teams earn academic credit for their participation in design efforts that assist faculty and graduate students with research and development issues in their areas of technical expertise. The teams are: multidisciplinary - drawing students from across engineering; vertically-integrated maintaining a mix of sophomores through PhD students each semester; and long-term - each undergraduate student may participate in a project for up to seven semesters and each graduate student may participate for the duration of their graduate career. The continuity, technical depth, and disciplinary breadth of these teams enable the completion of projects of significant benefit to faculty members' research programs. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2006.