Purdue University in Indiana has received the largest in its history to from the Lilly endowment, school officials announced.

The $40 million grant will be used to fund initiatives designed to foster groundbreaking research, expand high-tech job growth throughout Indiana as well as nationally and globally, and enhance opportunities for students. It will support five transformational projects in the colleges of Engineering and Technology as well as Purdue Libraries.

"This is an important moment in Purdue history," President Mitch Daniels said in a statement. "It's now our duty to turn it into a significant event in Indiana history by delivering even more world-class engineers, technologists and leaders of all kinds, along with the discoveries, innovations and new jobs that great research produces."

The money will help provide engineering and technology students with computer-aided design studios, creating new labs or expanding existing ones and establishing an Active Learning Center that will include classrooms and libraries, the Associated Press reported.

"This support from Lilly Endowment accelerates Engineering's expansion in ways that will make a real difference for students and drive innovations that will have impact in our state and the world," said Leah Jamieson, the John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering and Ransburg Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "Growth in engineering contributes to economic development. Engineering discoveries, and translation of those discoveries to market, build the innovation economy. Moreover, engineering jobs pay well and create fulfilling opportunities for our students."

Lilly Endowment has supported other research and technology efforts at Purdue University, including a nearly $26 million grant in 2001 that launched Discovery Park, Purdue's complex for advanced interdisciplinary research and education. In 2005 the Endowment gave an additional $25 million for continued development of Discovery Park.