In the blog post, “Engineering Students Show Off Interdisciplinary Problem-Solving Skills,” at Design News, Dave Palmer commends IIT’s IPRO program for its focus on preparing new engineers with real-world problem-solving skills. Palmer also gives a shout-out to the many companies that both contribute to and benefit from the students’ work. His list includes Motorola, Nokia, Argonne National Laboratory, A. M. Castle, A. Finkl and Sons, and Omron Automotive Electronics.

He writes that IPROs are different than “standard industrial engineering projects” because they are interdisciplinary, challenging students majoring in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, and math to come up with solutions together. In addition, he likes that there are also service-oriented projects, done in collaboration with local community organizations and non-profits, and some projects are based on ideas developed by the students themselves.