IE students, faculty, staff, and the IE Advisory Council voted, and the winners were announced at a reception on April 23. Parklynn Petty won 1st place, Shareena Paul won 2nd place, Casey Stowers won 3rd place, Patrick Stuff won 4th place, and Megan Rodder won 5th place.

The winning paintings will be hung in Grissom Hall's Student Excellence Center. Congratulations, IE artists!

Parklynn Petty, 1st Place for "Oh, the Places IE'll Go"

This painting was inspired by my study abroad experience as a Purdue IE student, symbolizing the countless programs available that offer unthinkable sights, diverse educational opportunities, and life-long friendships. I wanted to represent how study abroad expands perspectives by opening up the world to explore. Each possible destination presents its own architecture, nature, customs, and society, all which develop a greater cultural understanding. I believe this is increasingly important for disciplines like industrial engineering that can take you anywhere and have you work with anyone. I personally got to experience the culture that Hong Kong and its neighboring countries had to offer, but I wanted to portray that whether it’s Asia or Europe, South America or Australia, the Purdue IE study abroad program provides limitless adventures and beautiful experiences.

Shareena Paul, 2nd Place for "Art of Engineering"

My painting focuses on the creativity of engineering, and specifically industrial engineering. The main focus of the piece is to show the variety of ways our philosophy of "Rethink IE" can be applied. To me, it represents where and how we as industrial engineers find our ideas and inspiration. I show the word "rethink" in a variety of languages to show that ideas can come from all around the world; I believe it represents Purdue's international culture well. We are a diverse group of students who all share a common passion for innovation. The woman's silhouette is a personal representation for me, because it serves as a way I can see myself in my work, but also serves as a way I can see myself in the world of engineering, which can be stereotyped as being male dominated. It gives a chance for other women who see my work to also see themselves be represented. I used a variety of bright colors and freehanded design because I wanted to show a side of engineering that is not typically thought of. It shows my creativity and style as an artist, and shows how I can bring these unique talents to engineering.

Casey Stowers, 3rd place for "Oops, I Did My Homework on a Canvas!"

This painting is intended as a representation of the foundations of industrial engineering moving forward into the future of industrial engineering. The foundations are depicted on the bottom half of the painting. We have a portrait of Lillian Gilbreth with her face composed of therblings. The background is a representation of much of the handwritten, theory-based work we do in IE. The top half is a representation of the present and future IE. It features the engineering fountain to represent Purdue as a large component in the future of IE. The background is a conglomeration of code from a variety of different languages to depict the movement from doing work by hand to using computers. As it is on top, the future is resting on the foundations. They take up equal space because the importance of the foundations never changes or diminishes. Even as technology progresses, it is important that we know the foundations in order to apply the technology to them and ensure it works correctly. Everything we do will always have a basis in these foundations and that should never be forgotten.

Patrick Stuff, 4th place for "Lillian Gilbreth"

This painting is a tribute to a Purdue IE legend, Lillian Gilbreth. She was instrumental in making industrial engineering what it is today. I wanted to honor that with this piece. She was a family woman (mother of 12 kids, and the movie Cheaper by the Dozen was based on her life), so if you notice, the clock tower is at 12:00 for her 12 kids. I just wanted to create a piece to show my respect for the woman who created the thing that I am passionate about, Purdue IE.

Megan Rodder, 5th place for "passIonatE"

My piece is entitled "passIonatE". In the painting, Passion starts with the unfinished Purdue P for two reasons. The first reason is that my passion for Industrial Engineering began at Purdue. Second, this symbol represents how I will always continue learning and applying my IE skills throughout my career. The background contains various equations from topics that I have learned about throughout my time in IE. This represents the variety of knowledge taught in the IE department, making the IE students diverse. The brain represents IE ideas. There are "roads" spreading out from the brain to represent the how IE ideas can be transported and applied anywhere in the world. The buildings on the left side represent how ideas can be spread locally, through cities and hospital systems, as well as the people that can be helped through applying engineering skills. The right side has a computer to represent the increasing field of "Big Data" and the impact that technology has on IE and our world. Attached to the computer are growing vines - these acknowledge the fact that we cannot focus solely on technology, because we need to prioritize other things, such as the environment and quality.

"Beautify Grissom" Contest

Writer & Photographer: DeEtte Starr, starrd@purdue.edu