Purdue AAE Ph.D. student Emma Nicotra has been named a 2026 Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellow, an award presented annually to just 30 women worldwide pursuing doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering and space sciences. She was also recently selected to represent Purdue as the invited graduate student speaker at Caltech's 2026 Trailblazers Symposium, where she will present her hypersonics research. Nicotra conducts experimental hypersonics research in Purdue's Boeing/AFOSR Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel under the guidance of Professors Joseph Jewell and Sally Bane.

As primary catalysts for Purdue's research and teaching missions, Boilermaker students continued their impressive run of success: 23 graduate and undergraduate students captured NSF GRFP awards for 2026. Ten recent Purdue alumni received program awards to complete their doctoral studies at other institutions. Another nine current grad and undergrad students and four undergrad alumni achieved honorable mention recognition.

After nearly eight months of research, design, and collaboration, a Purdue student team earned second place and a $5,000 prize at NASA's 2026 Human Lander Challenge (HuLC). Composed primarily of students from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AAE), the team was nationally recognized for their Enhanced Potable Water Dispenser (EPWD).

For the third consecutive year, Purdue University was ranked as the nation’s most recognized public university while climbing two spots to No. 4 among all universities in the world in the latest 2026-27 Global University Visibility (GUV) rankings.

An aerospace engineering course leverages Purdue's rare manufacturing capabilities to challenge 100+ students to design, build, and fly their own solid rocket motors.

Learning from the attempted rescue of the Lunar Trailblazer: how ground-based optical observations and laboratory measurements can improve recovery of the attitude of a spacecraft lost in space.

Show your Purdue 1 pride with official Purdue 1 Spaceflight apparel and merchandise.

Three Purdue Engineering faculty members have been selected by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) to participate in the 2026 Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, one of the nation's premier programs recognizing outstanding early-career engineers.

Purdue University, a leading land-grant institution committed to affordability and accessibility, is ranked second nationally and tops in Indiana and across the Big Ten in SmartAsset’s 2026 study of America’s Best Value Public Universities for its cost of attendance, median alumni earnings and graduation rate.

Purdue University's Advanced Lyophilization Technology Hub (LyoHUB) is working to advance the science and technology of lyophilization/freeze-drying, a preservation method that is vital to national security and public health due to its ability to ensure long-term stockpiling of lifesaving medicines without cold-chain refrigeration. More than 70% of antibiotics on the Essential Medicines List are supplied in lyophilized form.