We are always looking for enthusiastic, energetic, and motivated students with an interest in water. Both undergraduates and graduates are welcome to apply to work in our lab, and we look to recruit students with a wide variety of skillsets and backgrounds, ranging from people who like to build things with their hands to people who like to write code for high performance computer modeling. Beyond having a interest in water, prospective students should have skills or coursework in one or more of the following: fluid mechanics / hydraulics; Matlab/Python/C++ or some programming experience; data analysis and statistics; boating or watersports; hand-on building experience; or geospatial software such as ArcGIS. I look for students who are team-oriented, proactive communicators, and fun to work with. Troy Lab members go on to careers in engineering consulting, academia, government laboratories, business, teaching, and elsewhere.
Prospective graduate students should have an undergraduate degree in engineering or the natural sciences, with coursework in fluid mechanics and enthusiasm for teaching (or learning to teach). I fund my students through a combination of RA and TA positions, and hire students at both the M.S. and Ph.D. levels.
Undergraduate students that have worked in my lab come from many disciplines, including civil engineering, environmental and ecological engineering, computer science, mechanical engineering, and elsewhere. During my time at Purdue, I have mentored more than 30 undergraduate students on research activities, many through Purdue’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURF). The SURF program provides a structured, mentored introduction to university research, with an annual application cycle in early spring. If you are interested in SURF, look over my posted projects and follow up with me to learn more. If the timing isn’t right for the SURF program but you would still like to work in my lab, it may be possible to arrange an independent study for a particular semester. Send me an email if you are interested in seeing whether they may be a current opportunity to work as an undergraduate student, or catch me after class if you’re in one of my classes.”
