LAFAYETTE — Purdue University and Dallara came together to celebrate the start of a partnership that will connect Purdue motorsports engineering students to the prominent industry leader in the heart of the world’s racing capital.
Dallara and Purdue leaders, including Dallara President Giampaolo Dallara, who founded the company in 1972, praised the collaboration during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, May 24, at the Dallara Experience Hub on Main Street in Speedway. The partnership pairs Purdue’s unique motorsports engineering program — the only undergraduate, ABET-accredited program in the country — and Dallara, the largest multinational Italian race car manufacturer, inside Dallara’s U.S. headquarters, located just one mile from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“What is unique about this Purdue program is the combination of motorsports passion and engineering excellence,” said Eckhard Groll, the William E. and Florence E. Perry Head of Mechanical Engineering and Reilly Distinguished Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue. “Here in this building with Dallara, students will have hands-on instructional labs about aerodynamics, thermodynamics, design, controls, and everything else that goes into a fast car.”
”This is a new model for academic institutions,” said Dan Hasler, Purdue’s chief operating officer for Indianapolis. “To be able to partner the only accredited motorsports engineering program in the United States with an industry leader benefits Purdue and our students, but creates potential talent and research opportunities for Dallara as well.”
The facility will create a pipeline of Purdue talent just steps from the iconic racecourse and near many motorsports entities, teams, and manufacturers throughout central Indiana. Purdue students will gain real-world knowledge and training while making critical connections to an industry leader. There was a Purdue graduate on every American-based IndyCar team in last weekend’s 109th running of the Indianapolis 500; Dallara, the exclusive chassis supplier of the NTT INDYCAR Series since 2012, has several Purdue graduates on its engineering team; and many more Boilermakers have gone on to careers in motorsports in Indiana.
Purdue Motorsports will begin operations at Dallara in time for the start of the 2025-26 academic year.
