Redefining the Boilermaker experience
An exterior rendering of Purdue’s new Academic Success Building, a 248,000-square-foot, 15-floor, mixed-use academic and residential facility. (Perkins + Will and Browning Day)
Purdue’s Academic Success Building in Indianapolis will enhance hands-on learning and innovation
For students like Aurelia Chelfannisa, the benefits of Purdue University’s new Academic Success Building (ASB) in Indianapolis will make a meaningful impact in more ways than one.
The first-year biomedical engineering student is already taking advantage of a research opportunity with her professor. And she is excited that the new space will create more student research opportunities — plus offer a home away from home where she and her classmates can not only work and learn, but live and support one another.
Originally from Singapore, she chose Purdue for the world-class engineering education she could receive in Indianapolis while attending college in a big city that reminded her of home.
She is eager to have a space to strengthen the close-knit campus community.
“This building will be a Purdue campus center to hang out and meet up for group projects,” she says. “Campus living also helped me feel welcome. This new addition will help a lot of students adjust to campus life.”
When it opens in May 2027, the ASB will further expand Purdue’s footprint in Indianapolis. It will be an innovative, all-encompassing central hub for students. The building will include areas for housing and dining, seven large classrooms, a makerspace, two chemistry laboratories, conference rooms, community venues, and retail spaces.
“This is the first major new building in Indianapolis that will serve the long-term need for a real Purdue hub,” says David Umulis, Purdue’s senior vice provost Indianapolis. “A place for students to call home, participate, advance training, socialize and partner with the community.”
Increasing access to partners
The ASB embodies Purdue’s investment in its current and future students.
Nestled in the heart of the city, the facility will be surrounded by a historic neighborhood and near corporate and nonprofit partners like Elanco, Elevance Health, Eli Lilly and Company and The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
Zachary Lear, a sophomore double-majoring in mechanical and motorsports engineering, says that this proximity will continue to prepare him for a career in the automotive design world.
Lear, who dreams of becoming an automotive engineer for a race team, already benefits from industry access in his classes and through exposure to the motorsports club in Indianapolis. He is thrilled about the flexible, tech-forward spaces the ASB will provide.
“I feel that everyone can benefit,” Lear says. “Tech is evolving, and we need hands-on experience in working with 3D printers and the fabrication and design that’s important for engineering.”
Enhancing hands-on training
Experiential education at Purdue focuses on seven main pillars, including work-integrated learning, research and scholarly projects, and engaged campus experiences. These pillars extend to university programs like EPICS, a service-learning design program, and The Data Mine.
Kate Caward, assistant director of the Office of Experiential Education in Indianapolis, says that the ASB will directly support these core offerings, creating more opportunities for undergraduate research, partner collaboration, industry mentorship and events like career fairs and industry interviews.
“The ASB will provide space for us to grow and offer better services to our students,” Caward says.
Those efforts will open doors for students like Ishita Mukadam, a freshman in biomedical engineering who founded the Purdue in Indianapolis Medical Association to increase student networking with the medical and health care industry.
Mukadam is driven to pursue and highlight health care on campus, and she’s confident that the resources available in the ASB will help students like her reach their goals.
“I think a lot of people on campus feel a sense of community because we all chose Indy for a reason, which in a way unites us,” says Mukadam, who has already landed an internship at Neurava, a medical device startup focusing on epilepsy research. “Having a building of our own is going to be really valuable.”
And this is only the beginning. Designed to provide both formal and informal educational opportunities in a centralized location in downtown Indianapolis, the ASB represents a giant leap toward realizing Purdue’s vision for its expansion into Indiana’s capital city.
“Though this is Purdue University’s first major development in Indianapolis, it certainly won’t be our last,” says Evan Hawkins, Purdue’s senior director for administrative operations in Indianapolis. “We look forward to the positive impact our facility will bring.”
This is the first major new building in Indianapolis that will serve the long-term need for a real Purdue hub. A place for students to call home, participate, advance training, socialize and partner with the community.
David M. Umulis, Senior vice provost
Purdue University for Indianapolis
