School of Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering Ph.D. student Christabelle Bosson has been awarded the Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship for the 2014-15 academic year. The Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship, administered by Purdue's Graduate School, provides support to outstanding Ph.D. candidates in their final year of doctoral degree completion.

School of Aeronautics and Astronautics doctoral student Matthew Hudspeth was awarded the inaugural Gary L. Cloud Scholarship Award at the 2014 Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM) Annual Conference.

At the recent AIAA Space and Astronautics Forum in August 2014, current Ph.D. student in Astrodynamics and Space Applications, Wayne Schlei, as well as AAE Professor Kathleen Howell, received a conference Best Paper Award for their technical paper entitled "Enhanced Visualization and Autonomous Extraction of Poincaré Map Topology."

A Purdue University student team has designed, built and tested a critical part of a new a rocket engine as part of a NASA project to develop spacecraft technologies needed to land on the moon, Mars and other cosmic venues. The work began as a senior design project in 2010, initiated by students in a propulsion course taught by William Anderson, a professor in Purdue's School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

On August 9, 2014, the Mars Society declared Team Kanau, comprised primarily of students from Purdue University and Keio University, as the 1st place winner of the International Inspiration Mars Student Design Contest.

School of Aeronautics and Astronautics graduate student Lauren Bowers has been selected as a recipient of a research stipend as part of the Graduate Research Award Program on Public-Sector Aviation Issues from the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) of the Transportation Research Board (TRB)/National Academies, which is sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue's College of Engineering, in conjunction with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), is pleased to announce the formation of the Center of Excellence for Integrated Thermal Management of Aerospace Vehicles.

Gene Kranz, the legendary NASA Flight Control Director who led the effort to save the crew of Apollo 13, will speak at Purdue's Krannert School of Management 14th Annual Leadership Speakers Series. The lecture will be held on September 25, 2014 at 6:30 pm at the Purdue Memorial Union. This unique event offers students, staff, alumni, and the general public the opportunity to learn from a proven leader.

While most Purdue University students are getting ready for classes to start on August 25, four graduate students in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics are preparing to pitch their design for a mission to fly by Mars in 2018.

The team refined their design after receiving feedback from Purdue's Engineering Education Industrial Advisory Council and consulting with Purdue Astronaut alumni Gene Cernan (BSEE'56, DEA'67, HDR'70), Loren Shriver (MSAE'68, OAE'99) and Charles Walker (BSAAE'71, OAE'99).

Max Fagin, a Master's student in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering, is one of 705 candidates for the Mars One program. The program will select four of those candidates in 2025 for a one way trip to Mars. Fagin is completing his thesis on Mars entry, descent and landing (EDL) systems for crewed spacecraft.