Dr. Stephen Beaudoin, Professor in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, was elected Vice Chair of the Purdue University Senate on Monday, March 23 during the governing body's first virtual meeting. Dr. Beaudoin will succeed current Chair Professor Deborah Nichols when officer terms conclude at the end of fiscal year 2021, and will serve as Chair through the end of FY 2022.

Two Purdue University-affiliated startups have received approvals for up to $250,000 each from the Purdue Foundry Investment Fund to help continue their missions of advancing life science technologies. Brightlamp, a startup led by CEO and founder Kurtis Sluss (BSChE '16), uses machine learning and computer vision to improve health care and detect concussions, received approval for $250,000 in matching investment dollars, of which approximately $130,000 has closed. Sluss received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering in 2016.

Imagine being able to try out something beforehand so you know how it is going to work afterward. That's the power of the virtual twin - a digital replica that lets you validate a design so you get it right the first time, saving time and money and speeding innovation. Dr. R. Byron Pipes, John L. Bray Distinguished Professor of Engineering, discusses how virtual twins help us find the best solution, and reaching optimal solutions to the challenges of our society - whether they lie in medicine, industry, smart cities, or other areas.

Dr. Jeffrey Miller, Davidson School of Chemical Engineering Professor at Purdue University, is part of a multi-institution research team developing new materials for improved single-atom catalysis and future electronics. The materials, based on two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) that include disulfides, diselenides and tellurides, have a variety of interesting properties that scientists would like to exploit, especially for next-generation electronics and catalysis.

Purdue Chemical Engineering alumnus Dr. John Klier (MSChE '86, PhD '89) has been appointed Dean of the Gallogly College of Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. He will begin his role at OU on July 1. Klier will join OU from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he serves as professor and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. Before serving on the faculty at UMass Amherst in 2015, Klier worked for more than 25 years in the private sector with Dow Chemical Co. Klier is a member of several professional organizations, including the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors. Klier was named a 2015 Outstanding Chemical Engineering and 2016 Distinguished Engineering Alumni.