NEWS   EVENTS   GIVING Purdue Productivity Pods wins Ideas to Innovation Competition   Providing a “home away from home” to combat mid-day exhaustion for students – that’s the idea behind the winning project in Purdue ECE’s Ideas to Innovation Challenge. The competition is a fun and effective way for aspiring Purdue students to form interdisciplinary teams and propose ideas aimed at solving important societal problems, improving people’s lives, and making the world a better place.   Growing Vertically Integrated Projects program offers undergraduates real-world research experience Purdue Engineering’s Vertically Integrated Projects program provides that experiential learning opportunity – and its enrollment has grown by 74 percent in the last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic.    College partners with TaskHuman for more wellness resources A pilot program focusing on wellness that started in Purdue’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering is now available to all students, faculty, and staff within the College of Engineering. The partnership with TaskHuman is another option for support, along with the wellness programs already available through Purdue.  Center for Secure Microelectronics Ecosystem launched at Purdue with TSMC, Synopsys Purdue University has launched the Center for Secure Microelectronics Ecosystem (CSME) with support from industry partners and a U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)-funded workforce development program. CSME is a first-of-its-kind global partnership of academia, industry and government to advance research and workforce development in designing secure microelectronics. Prof. Shreyas Sen receives Intel 2020 Outstanding Researcher Award  Sen is one of 18 leading academic researchers worldwide being recognized for exceptional contributions through university-sponsored Intel research.  Prof. Alexandra Boltasseva named MRS Fellow Alexandra Boltasseva, the Ron and Dotty Garvin Tonjes Professor of ECE, has been named a fellow of the Materials Research Society (MRS). The MRS Fellows program recognizes outstanding contributions to the field, including research, leadership, and service that have advanced the mission of the materials community world-wide. Purdue ECE in the Media Blind Spots Uncovered at the Intersection of AI and Neuroscience – Dozens of Scientific Papers Debunked New approach developed to create thin films for electronics, acoustics Sandia’s QSCOUT now open for business, other quantum news Purdue Engineers Developing Switch for Quantum Internet Say goodbye to the dots and dashes to enhance optical storage media Two Purdue ECE alumni elected to National Academy of Engineering Two alumni of Purdue University’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Khaled B. Letaief and Theodore (Ted) S. Rappaport each received their BS, MS, and PhD from Purdue ECE. They are among 106 new members and 23 international members of the NAE. For contributions to the characterization of radio frequency propagation in millimeter wave bands for cellular communication networks. Alumnus Don Thompson named 2021 Dreamer Award recipient Thompson, who resides in Chicago, worked for Northrop Grumman Corp. before a 25-year career with McDonald’s Corp., where he served as president and CEO from 2012 to 2015. Thompson rose through the ranks of the company after starting as a restaurant systems engineer.   Purdue trustees approve naming of Chaney-Hale Hall of Science The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Thursday (April 2) approved the naming of Purdue’s new STEM Teaching Lab facility as the Chaney-Hale Hall of Science. The naming recognizes the joint leadership gifts from Jeannie (Bachelor of Science 1961, Pharmacy) and Jim Chaney, and Judy (BS ’61, Pharmacy) and Dave Hale (BS ’59, Electrical Engineering).