Pure speed is the goal behind updates and improvements on the Purdue Hyperloop pod ready to compete in the upcoming SpaceX Hyperloop competition in California. Led by AAE student, Aaron Pikus, team members left this week for the competition, which begins next week and ends on Sunday, August 27. Working with students from Universitat Politecnica de Valencia and ME professor, Guillermo Paniagua, this is the is second Hyperloop competition for Purdue.

A new type of micropropulsion system for miniature satellites called CubeSats uses an innovative design of tiny nozzles that release precise bursts of water vapor to maneuver the spacecraft. The research is being led by AAE Prof. Alina Alexeenko.

Takayuki Miyauchi is an AAE junior who is studying abroad this summer in Germany at Technical University of Braunschweig.

Last month, AAE Professor Alina Alexeenko and AAE PhD Students Drew Strongrich, Gayathri Shivkumar and Dr. Tong Zhu served as instructors for a 4-day training workshop on lyophilization technology for Purdue Industrial and Physical Pharmacy graduate students and postdocs and industry held at Birck Nanotechnology Center.

Graduate student Nicoletta Fala was the pilot on the first AAE-sponsored Air Race Classic team. Fala competed in the 41st annual Air Race Classic, a 2,652-mile all-female airplane race across the United States. The race took off from Frederick, MD on June 20th and ended in Santa Fe, NM on June 23rd.

Discovery Park has announced that effective this month, Dan DeLaurentis, professor in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and director of the Center for Integrated Systems in Aerospace, will serve as the inaugural director for the Institute for Global Security and Defense Innovation (i-GSDI). DeLaurentis has served as the interim director of the institute since its launch in December.

AAE senior Pulkit Parolia is spending his summer on co-op at Rockwell Collins, Inc. in Cedar Rapids, IA.

AAE junior Benjamin Gutman is spending his summer on co-op with Innovative Scientific Solutions at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

AAE senior Maaninee Gupta is spending her summer doing as an intern at Greenlee Textron in Rockford, IL.

AAE senior Ryan Clay is spending his summer on co-op at Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation in Savannah, GA.