Sen. Joe Donnelly visits the Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories

Event Date: August 27, 2013
Sen. Joe Donnelly visits the Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories August 26 and met with students and faculty

Sen. Joe Donnelly visited the Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories August 26  where he met with students and faculty and was given a tour of the facilites. Donnelly used the visit to Purdue to tout the state's growing defense industry.

The Indiana defense industry — including transportation equipment manufacturing, computer and electronic product manufacturing, and fabricated metal product manufacturing — grew from 400 defense contractors in 2001 to more than 1,100 in 2010, according to Indiana Business Research Center. After a round of automatic spending cuts known as the sequester took place in March, defense officials estimate it has resulted in $37 billion in cuts from the Department of Defense’s 2013 budget.

Donnelly, a member of the Senate’s Armed Services Committee, also highlighted Purdue’s commitment to defense and aerospace research after his tour of Zucrow’s high-pressure laboratory, where students are working on rocket and gas turbine combustion research.

Photo caption - U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly talks to Purdue University students Joey Rideout, left, Matt Wierman and Mike Bedard, right, Monday, August 26, 2103. Michael Heinz/Journal & Courier

See link for video from WLFI