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launchpadpurdue@gmail.com ↗Pre-flight questions
A Purdue club that pairs freshman CS students with an upperclassman mentor for a semester. You pick a project together, build it through the fall, and demo it in December.
Freshmen CS students can apply as mentees. Sophomores and up can apply as mentors. No prior experience required.
Applicants fill out a profile with interests, project ideas, and availability. We conduct brief interviews then pair mentors and mentees based on compatibility.
Weekly 1-on-1s with your mentor, social events, mid-semester demo day, and end-of-semester demo day.
Every fall semester. Applications open late August, matching in early September, program runs through December.
3 to 5 hours per week. 1 hour with your mentor, 2 to 4 hours on your project independently.
Sponsors
2026 / 27 Program
Sponsor a cohort, fund a demo night, or get your team in front of students who ship.
Become our next sponsor ↗Fund a year of mentor + mentee programming
Brand a mid-semester or finals showcase
Meet Purdue's most driven CS underclassmen
Voices from the pad
Notes from people who've been in the program, mentored one, or both.
I think LaunchPad has impacted me most in the fact that I've gotten to meet so many new people. At the beginning of my sophomore year, I didn't really know many people in CS, but through this club, I not only became really close with my mentee, but I also met so many new people in the club and made some really great friends.
Memorable moment
The most memorable moment for me was getting to see my mentee present his final project. Watching him start out with no prior technical experience, literally only having IntelliJ installed, to go on to build one of the best frontend designs I saw all night at final presentations really made me proud.
LaunchPad imbued me with the confidence to complete projects, no matter how daunting they may seem. It also introduced me to a community of likeminded apprentices and accomplished developers alike. Many people I met in LaunchPad continued to hang out long after the semester was over.
Memorable moment
A memorable moment for me was mid-semester demos. It's neat to hear everyone's project idea, but to actually see something go from ideation to a working demo is really cool to witness.
LaunchPad has been an exceptional organization that has had a profound impact on me since my freshman year. The absolute best part of LaunchPad, for me, has been the opportunity to immerse myself in various projects. As a mentor, I relished in the chance to contemplate the high-level design decisions that went into my mentees' projects. And as a mentee myself, I experienced the entire design process, from its inception to its completion, while being guided by a talented mentor.
Very fulfilling mentoring someone in cs going through what I experienced a couple years ago. lots of fun convos w my mentee both cs and not cs related
Memorable moment
Lowkey the first time my mentee and i met at pmu and we talking abt san diego and food for like 2 hrs
Although I never had the chance to be a mentee, I'm grateful I joined Launchpad as a mentor. Mentoring gave me the chance to help my mentee navigate their freshman year more smoothly, sharing advice and tips I wish I had known to make their start in a technical field more rewarding. Launchpad really is what you make of it. Whether you're a mentor or mentee, the more effort you put in, the more you will grow. Beyond the mentor-mentee connection, it's a welcoming community where everyone can make connections and learn something new, regardless of experience.
LaunchPad provided me with a valuable experience as a mentee as well as a mentor. As a mentee, I learned new and valuable technical skills, while as a mentor, I had the privilege of sharing my knowledge and experience. I also got the opportunity to network with like-minded people in CS. I highly recommend the LaunchPad program to anyone looking to gain new skills and make meaningful connections!
Built by mentees
Every semester, mentees ship real projects. Here are a few that launched.
Fall 2025 / Jaren Peters
A campus platform that pulls events, club updates, and announcements into one feed. It scrapes organizations’ Instagram posts and publishes them automatically, so clubs do nothing extra and students check one place.
Fall 2025 / Brinda Akuthota
A study planner that combines task tracking, focus sessions, and Gemini-generated insights. Built to help students juggle multiple classes, prep for exams, and keep steadier study habits.
Fall 2025 / Bhavya Gupta
A Chrome extension that protects Purdue students from targeted phishing scams. Uses machine learning to generate a real-time risk score, highlight suspicious phrases, and let students report phishing, adapting to scam patterns that bypass Outlook's spam filter.
Life at Launchpad
Mission brief
Every fall, we match freshmen CS students with experienced upperclassmen who guide them from zero to a shipped project.
Purdue University · Est. 2016
Purdue's CS mentorship club. Pair up with a mentor, launch your first real project, ship by December.
Applications for 2026 have closed.
