| Purdue University School of Mechanical Engineering (ME) | |
| Established: | 1882 |
| Type: | Public |
| Head Label: | William E. and Florence E. Perry Head |
| Head: | Eckhard A. Groll, Reilly Professor of Mechanical Engineering |
| Country: | US |
| Address: | 465 Northwestern Ave. West Lafayette, IN 47907-2035 |
The School of Mechanical Engineering (ME) is the oldest academic unit at Purdue University College of Engineering. The School of ME offers both an undergraduate B.S. degree as well as M.S. and PhD graduate degrees in Mechanical Engineering. The school enrolls over 2,000 undergraduates (sophomores through seniors) and over 1,000 graduate students.[1] U.S. News & World Report ranks Purdue's Mechanical Engineering 6th at the Undergraduate level [America's Best Colleges 2024] and 9th at the Graduate level [America's Best Graduate Schools 2024].[2] The online M.S. program in Mechanical Engineering is ranked No. 1 in the nation [America's Best Online Graduate Programs].[3]
As a Land-grant university, engineering was apart of Purdue since its founding. The School of Mechanical Engineering was established in 1882 as the first of Purdue's schools of engineering with head being Lt. William Hamilton of the United States Army.
See also: Purdue Bell Tower. During its first few years, the Mechanical Engineering school grew drastically, so the first of many mechanical engineering buildings was erected in 1885, originally known as the Mechanical Lab.[4] The Mechanical lab was stocked with around $3000 of modern machinery and tools, but it quickly began to fail the needs of the students. In 1890 President James H. Smart requested $60,000 from the state to build a new mechanical engineering building. He only receive $12,000 which was not nearly enough to build what he had planned. On October 21, 1892 a celebration erupted in University Hall when Smart announced that the university received a generous donation. $35,000 from Amos Heavilon was secured to erect the long desired Mechanical Engineering Building. After seeing the support the school was getting, the state eventually pitched in $50,000.The Mechanical Engineering Building, often referred to as the first of three Heavilon Halls, was dedicated and accepted by governor Claude Matthews on January 19, 1894.[5] This was greatly celebrated, as the Purdue Exponent proclaimed: "The new Engineering Laboratories, which we have needed for so long, are at last completed." Four days later, a gas explosion started a fire in boiler room, and a thousand people watched as new building was destroyed. President Smart later wrote:
Heavilon Hall had been beautiful four days before: it was infinitely more beautiful now, but the crowds this time were speechless with grief and in a few hours only a pitiful mass of blackened ruins remained to mark the spot where Purdue’s greatest pride once stood.The morning after the fire, President Smart addressed the Purdue Community. He stated: “I have shed all of my tears for our loss last night. We are looking this morning to the future, not the past... I tell you young men, that tower shall go up one brick higher.”[6] The University asked for help to fund the new building and its equipment and 52 companies responded. The new Heavilon Hall, officially the Mechanical Engineering Building at the time, was reopened in 1895. A clock with bells was placed in the tower. After 35 years of use the building was officially renamed Heavilon Hall, and mechanical engineering moved out. The clock tower was torn down in 1956.[7] In 1930 a new mechanical engineering building was erected, with a new additions added shortly after in 1933, 1941,1948, and 1950.In 2009 the Roger B. Gatewood wing was added to the Mechanical Engineering Building. It added over 41,000 square feet increasing the size of the building by 55%. It is Purdue's first LEED building.[8] This wing is equipped with flexible classroom space, student commons, computer labs, student learning labs, faculty offices, conference rooms, and research labs, all centered around the Dr. Milton B. and Betty Ruth Hollander Atrium. The atrium regularly hosts industry days, and shows off student projects, such as toys designed by students for ME 444-Computer Aided Design & Prototyping. The clock from Heavilon Hall was placed over the atrium on the second floor.
Only non-interim heads are listed below.