Lilly Endowment announces $40M cash donation to Purdue

Lilly Endowment Inc. announced Wednesday a $40 million grant to support five projects in the Purdue University Colleges of Engineering and Technology and Purdue Libraries.

"It's now our duty to turn it into a significant event in Indiana history by delivering even more world-class engineers, technologists and leaders of all kinds, along with the discoveries, innovations and new jobs that great research produces," Purdue President Mitch Daniels said.

The grant is the largest cash donation in Purdue history.

"These projects hold great promise to be real game-changers," said Sara B. Cobb, vice president of education for Lilly Endowment. "With its considerable strengths in engineering and technology, Purdue is poised for significant impact in research, education and economic development."

The endowment will provide:

•$13 million for the Innovation Design Center, which will provide engineering and technology students with open-bay space, collaborative areas and computer-aided design studios where they can develop, build and test extracurricular and course-based design projects 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

•$5 million for expansion of the College of Engineering's Maurice J. Zucrow Labs. Originally developed in 1964 as part of the Apollo space program, the labs will expand to include five new tests cells and a laser diagnostics lab for environmental controls.

•$13.5 million for a $54 million, 75,000-square-foot Flex Lab in the College of Engineering, where faculty teams can collaborate on research that ranges from advanced manufacturing to imaging, and from information technology to medical devices. Designed to adapt to the needs of professors and their students, Flex Lab will house wet-lab, dry-lab and open collaboration spaces that support many disciplines.

•$5 million for the Active Learning Center, a facility that will fuse classrooms, libraries, and study and collaboration areas into one adaptable space. The facility will consist of 38,000 square feet of study space and 59,000 square feet of classroom space.

•$3.5 million for the College of Technology's transformation into the Polytechnic Institute, which will introduce student-driven, project-based courses designed to address the needs of Indiana's industries that employ many of Purdue's technology graduates.

"This support from Lilly Endowment accelerates Engineering's expansion in ways that will make a real difference for students and drive innovations that will have impact in our state and the world," said Leah Jamieson, the John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering and Ransburg Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "Growth in engineering contributes to economic development. Engineering discoveries, and translation of those discoveries to market, build the innovation economy. Moreover, engineering jobs pay well and create fulfilling opportunities for our students."

David Joyce, president and CEO of GE Aviation, applauded the Lilly Endowment investment as a step toward providing more of the engineering and technology graduates needed for the future of manufacturing.

"GE is proud to be the largest corporate employer of Purdue graduates in the world. We value the skills and experiences they bring to our businesses, and are happy that the Lilly Endowment grant will be used to further their studies and provide opportunities for even more students in the College of Engineering and College of Technology," he said.

Lilly Endowment has supported other research and technology efforts at Purdue University, including a nearly $26 million grant in 2001 that launched Discovery Park, Purdue's complex for advanced interdisciplinary research and education. In 2005, the Endowment gave an additional $25 million for continued development of Discovery Park.

The Innovation Design Center, Zucrow Labs expansion, Flex Lab and Active Learning Center are all scheduled for completion in 2017.