The Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering is launching a one-of-a-kind program where current students will have access to mentoring by alumni, industry partners, faculty, and other ECE students. Purdue ECE Mentors is a new program that underlines ECE’s unwavering commitment to keep supporting its students across all areas.

Mentors use their unique experiences to help mentees develop new skills, build a network, set and achieve goals, and develop a mindset of innovation and success. Mentors have the opportunity to make a difference by guiding one or more young Boilermakers as early as possible in their professional path and beyond. Mentees benefit from the wisdom and experience of accomplished entrepreneurs, industry and academic leaders, and policy makers. Mentors and mentees will connect via the TaskHuman app, which offers one-on-one coaching via live video calls.

The program is being led by Michael D. Zoltowski, Thomas J. and Wendy Engibous Professor of ECE.  He says Purdue ECE has a large student body and this will be another way to help them feel connected.

"At the same time, we have a large alumni population who want to give back to their alma mater and remain connected to Purdue ECE,” says Zoltowski. “The alumni represent a vast resource for our current students for advice and guidance along many dimensions. Our ECE Faculty, industry partners and senior level/graduate ECE students also represent an important pool of mentors for our lower-level students. The TaskHuman video app is a tremendous vehicle that enables all of this mentoring on a single, integrated platform.”

The frequency and subject matter of the video calls will be determined by the individual mentors and mentees. Sample topics include, but are not limited to:

• work-life balance
• entrepreneurship
• grad school options
• what it’s like “on the job”
• hot areas in the industry
• careers in academia
• advice on upper-level electives
• careers in industry

“We are very proud and excited about this program. While not always emphasized, good mentorship is often key to success. We are very grateful to all our mentors for their generosity. They are really making a difference!” said Dimitrios Peroulis, Michael and Katherine Birck Head and Reilly Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “Our biggest challenge was to do this at scale. With over 3,000 students in our School, we needed to ensure that all students can benefit from it. In addition, we needed a seamless connection platform for mentors and mentees. We are very thankful to our friends at TaskHuman for helping us reach our goal.”

Purdue ECE is the first academic program in the country to offer this exciting and unique opportunity for alumni, faculty, and industry friends to connect with all our current students. Learn more about Purdue ECE Mentors and how to get involved on the website. 

About TaskHuman

TaskHuman is a mobile app that enables 1-on-1 sessions with “coaches” via live video calls. TaskHuman’s revolutionary app helps users instantly discover and connect with the world’s most comprehensive, global network of specialists covering nearly 1,000 aspects of daily life, such as physical fitness, mental well-being, spiritual, emotional, financial, career and leadership coaching, and more. TaskHuman has scoured the globe to find, curate, and bring a diverse network of specialists 24/7 right to users fingertips. With nearly 1,000 coaches from over 20 countries, TaskHuman users can get on-the-spot insight and coaching based on their specific needs for those daily moments in life when generic articles or watching pre-recorded videos just doesnt cut it. Users can enjoy 100 % secure and confidential 1:1 sessions on the TaskHuman platform anytime, anywhere.