2024 Student Engagement Showcase
First-place poster winners Viviana Piceno, Tugce Karatas, and Yiheng Zhou. (David Mason)
Students from across Purdue’s campuses showcased community engagement projects as part of service-learning courses or engagement with organizations at the 2024 Purdue Engagement and Service-Learning Summit.
On February 29, 2024, hundreds of faculty, staff, students, and community partners from across the state gathered at the Discovery Learning Research Center in West Lafayette to celebrate giant leaps in community engagement and local impact at the 2024 Engagement and Service-Learning Summit. Student involvement is a cornerstone of the annual summit, with Student Engagement Showcase submissions reflecting the creativity and dedication of Purdue’s engaged students. From empowering youth researchers to designing sustainable community centers, engaged students demonstrated their commitment to making a tangible difference in the world around them.
“It’s important to provide our students with learning opportunities not only in traditional academic settings but also beyond the classroom where they can begin to address today’s societal challenges in collaboration with community members,” said director of service-learning and summit lead Lindsey Payne.
This year’s student showcase was the largest in the summit’s history, with 31 teams of 130 undergraduate and graduate students showcasing engagement scholarship and partnership with community-based organizations. First-, second-, and third-place prizes were awarded across the poster and creative display categories.
Projects ranged from local community collaborations to cross-continental partnerships.
Image credit: Ryan Maluchnik
“It’s great to see such diversity of partners and projects,” said Payne. “Even the relatively smaller partnerships can have meaningful impact.”
Click to view all the 2024 student engagement and service-learning posters.
2024 Showcase Winners
Poster Winners
First Place – $150
Title: Empowering Youth as Researchers through Engaged Scholarship
Authors: Tugce Karatas, Yiheng Zhou, Viviana Piceno, Amanda Case, & Nielsen Pereira
Affiliation: College of Education, Purdue West Lafayette
Community partner: Downtown Boxing Gym (Detroit, MI)
Second Place – $100
Title: Purdue Utility Platform Vehicle Project Webuye, Kenya: Agricultural Support
Authors: Samuel Siwy, Yasmin Siwy, Ellen Schellhase, Monica Miller, Sonak Pastakia, & Rakhi Karwa
Affiliation: PHRM 880: Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience, College of Pharmacy, Purdue West Lafayette
Community partner: The Tumaini Innovation Center (Eldoret, Kenya)
Third Place – $50
Title: Going with the Flow in Neonatal Peritoneal Dialysis: Low-Cost, Clot Resistant PD Drainage Catheter Development
Authors: Sergio Ruiz, Carl Russell III, Siting Zhang, Mignon McCulloch, Hyowon Lee, Aaron Lottes, & Danielle Soranno
Affiliation: Crossroads Pediatric Device Consortium (West Lafayette, IN)
Creative Display Winners
First Place – $150
Title: Sustainable Community Center Design (Faith Community Center)
Author: Jesse Smith
Affiliation: AD 330, Interior Design, Department of Art and Design, College of Liberal Arts, Purdue West Lafayette
Community partners: Faith Community Foundation (Gary, IN)
Second Place – $100
Title: Wildlife Ambassadors
Authors: Ibrahim Bhutta, Carissa Lukac, Amogh Jani, & Sunishka Deshpande
Affiliation: Honors College, Purdue West Lafayette
Community partner: Wolf Park (Lafayette, IN)
Third Place – $50
Title: Faith Community Center, Gary Indiana
Author: Shianne Dacosta
Affiliation: Interior Design, Department of Art and Design, College of Liberal Arts, Purdue West Lafayette
Community partners: The Faith Temple of Christ (Gary, IN) and the City of Refuge Christian Church (Gary, IN)
Photo credit: David Mason
Sources: Carly Evich, Virginia Vought