WHAT IS EPICS?

EPICS Overview

"EPICS" stands for Engineering Projects in Community Service. In the program, teams of undergraduates earn academic credit with multiyear, multidisciplinary projects that solve engineering and technology-based problems with community service and education organizations. This partnership provides many benefits to the students and the community alike. For example, EPICS teams have developed projects ranging from homelessness prevention to environmental protection to creating toys for children with disabilities.

An overview paper of the program can be found here

EPICS was founded at Purdue University in 1995.

EPICS Goals

Broaden students\' education to include experience with design as a start-to-finish process by defining, designing, building, testing, deploying, and supporting real systems
Bring affordable engineering expertise to community service and education organizations

A Unique Course Structure

Vertical, multidisciplinary teams mix freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors
Students participate for up to seven semesters
Long-term projects span several semesters
The EPICS Lecture Series covers technical material and brings in guest lecturers on topics including project management, team dynamics, entrepreneurship, ethics, diversity, communication, and the community

Benefits to Students

Real World Skills for Engineering Students
Communication Skills
Teamwork
Start-to-Finish Design Experience
Project Management, Organizational, and Leadership Skills
Resource Management
Professional Ethics
Customer Awareness
Interdisciplinary Experience
Resourcefulness
Community Awareness
Maturity
Pride

Benefits to Community Project Partners

Engineering Change in Our Community
Access to technical knowledge and resources that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive
Opportunities to improve current services
Opportunities for new services
Opportunities to try new, innovative ideas
Positioning as a leader among area not-for-profits