Boilermakers on every American-based team at the Indianapolis 500
Rebecca Hutton is one of dozens of Purdue graduates from the motorsports or mechanical engineering programs in Indianapolis and West Lafayette who are working in the garages preparing for this month’s Indianapolis 500. (Photo provided by Chip Ganassi Racing)
INDIANAPOLIS — As preparations are made for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500, Purdue University will have an outsized presence inside the garages at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Thanks to the university’s renowned mechanical and motorsports engineering programs in West Lafayette and Indianapolis, dozens of Boilermakers are powering teams in the 33-car field of this month’s race, such as current leader and defending IndyCar season team champion Chip Ganassi Racing, 20-time Indianapolis 500 champion Team Penske, Andretti Global, Arrow McLaren, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and many more. On the Ganassi team alone, 12 Purdue graduates play critical roles including lead race engineer, simulation engineer, test engineer and systems support engineer. At least one Purdue graduate will be in the garages of every single American-based IndyCar team.
“The unique motorsports program is a huge part of what makes Purdue engineering special,” said Eckhard Groll, the William E. and Florence E. Perry Head of Mechanical Engineering and Reilly Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue. “We teach our students the fundamentals of engineering and then encourage them to take it to the absolute limit on the track, through real-world competitions and design projects.”
Purdue Motorsports will officially move into Dallara’s U.S. headquarters following a formal ceremony Saturday, May 24. The facility, which will house classrooms and laboratory space for Purdue faculty and students in the motorsports engineering program, is on Main Street in Speedway, just steps away from where “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” is held each year.
Created in 2008, the motorsports engineering program in Indianapolis is one of a kind in preparing Purdue students to pursue motorsports careers in the heart of the racing capital of the world. Boilermaker students build an all-encompassing understanding of vehicle dynamics, aerodynamics, systems engineering, performance engineering and design, applying their proficiency to find real-world solutions. The curriculum is created with direct insight from industry professionals to assist in the development of the technical skill required by the industry.
More stories about Purdue’s legacy and involvement at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are available here.
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 107,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 58,000 at our main campus in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its comprehensive urban expansion, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.
