NA's Purdue campus has a new name: Purdue Polytechnic Institute.

Now, if we can just begin thinking about harnessing PPI and IUS into a unified effort to incubate economic activity in New Albany ... viewing both as the capstones of geographical transport corridors to be transformed into multi-modal use for all residents ... minimizing our perennial anti-intellectualism and maximizing possibilities ...

We may need to find an economic development director capable of crawling out from inside self-imposed boxes.

Ah, and a boy can dream -- and sometimes, even run for office.

Note the website: Purdue Polytechnic.

Polytechnic for short: New Albany Purdue campus gets new name, by Jerod Clapp (Grudgingly New Albany)

NEW ALBANY — They’ve condensed the name, but expanded what they hope to offer to students in the region.

The Purdue Polytechnic Institute — formerly Purdue University College of Technology at New Albany — will share its name with all the regional campuses across the state.

Andrew Takami, director of the New Albany campus, said the name reflects the mission of those campuses, which stems from a concept that originated in New Albany.

NA Bicentennial Art Project collaborating with Purdue College of Technology to stage visiting artist program.

(Submitted)

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February 25, 2009 ----- The New Albany Bicentennial Public Art Project announces a new collaborative project with Purdue University featuring a visiting artist program at Purdue College of Technology in New Albany in the Purdue Research Park on Charlestown Road.

Professor Richard Kopp, the Society for Mechanical Engineers (SME), and the Special Interest Group for Graphics (SIGGRAPH) host the program. Both SME and SIGGRAPH are student organizations associated with the Mechanical Engineering Technology and Computer Graphics Technology programs offered at the Purdue College of Technology.

Selected artists from this year's 2010 River Project will speak at the university. The Visiting Artist lectures are free and open to the public. The first speaker is sculptor Brad White, and is scheduled for March 18th, 2010 from 12:00 to 1:00 am. White will discuss his design for the Underground Railroad inspired sculpture that will be installed downtown in May of 2010. He is an employee of Bright Foundry, and will also explain mold making and other techniques used in the process of casting bronze works of art.

Scheduled talks to date include:

March 18th, 2010 from 12:00 to 1:00pm:
Brad White - His sculpture is inspired by Underground Railroad History, and will be located on Main Street next to Keystone Restoration.

April 1st, 2010 from 12:00 to 1:00pm:
J. Daniel Graham - His sculpture is influenced by Early Settlement history, and his work is sited for placement in St. Marks Garden on Spring Street.

April 15th, 2010 from 12:00 to 1:00pm:
Leticia Bajuyo - Her sculpture is inspired by New Albany's Brewing and Tavern History, and will be installed at the New Albanian Bank Street Brewhouse.

April 29th, 2010 from 12:00 to 1:00pm:
Valerie Sullivan Fuchs - She will speak about the process involved in the filming and design of her project, which will be projected on the wall of the YMCA building in downtown New Albany.

May 13th, 2010 from 12:00 to 1:00pm:
John King - His sculpture is inspired by the historic Glass industry in New Albany, and will be installed on the exterior wall of the River City Winery on Pearl Street.

For more information about this exciting public art project, or artists' speaking opportunities, please contact New Albany Bicentennial Public Art Project Director Julie Schweitzer or visit the web site.

For details about these speakers at Purdue University of Technology at New Albany, contact Professor Richard Kopp.

This project is a partnership between the Carnegie Center for Art and History and the New Albany Urban Enterprise Association. It is directed by Julie Schweitzer Studios, with major funding provided by the Horseshoe Foundation of Southern Indiana and support from The Tribune. For more information or to get involved contact Julie Schweitzer, Project Director, or call 812-944-4986.

Everyone knows it's windy.

It's obvious that renewable energy sources will play a substantial role in the future of our planet. We simply have no choice.

What's not so obvious, but expertly highlighted in Carbon Nation, an upcoming film from local director/producer Peter Byck recently previewed in its entirety at the Carnegie Center, is that many other countries are actively preparing for the inevitable, ramping up the production of devices - often most fully developed by U.S. scientists and engineers - that will mercifully and necessarily bring our reliance on fossil fuels to an end.

Economic opportunities abound but we thus far seem collectively content to leave the money making to others while we senselessly lollygag, allowing ourselves to become beholden to foreign producers again.

Luckily, not everyone has put their reasoning ability to bed. A press release, alternately credited by various media sources to the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and One Southern Indiana, recently let us know that Windstream Technologies, Inc., a company focused on the development of small, energy capturing wind turbines for urban markets, will be moving its research and production headquarters from California to the Purdue Technology Center and Research Park in New Albany. 260 jobs are forecast by 2012.

The creative economy is coming ever faster, led by the small, independently owned businesses that account for over half the jobs in this country and the cities and towns that actively create the physical and intellectual environments in which they want to live and work. The global question is how to better mark the path and to whom to hand the orange spray paint can. Be sure to ask it each time you read a report of local government.