(From left to right) David Warsinger, associate professor of mechanical engineering; Denny Yu, Cubitt Rising Star Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering; and Brandon Chynoweth, research associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics, have been selected to attend the 2026 Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering Symposium. (Submitted photos)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — 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.

David Warsinger, associate professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering and Denny Yu, Cubitt Rising Star Associate Professor in the Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering were selected as general participants, and Brandon Chynoweth, research associate professor in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, was selected as a speaker, after a competitive nomination and invitation process to attend the symposium Sept. 21-24 at the University of Texas at Austin.

Hosted in conjunction with Advanced Micro Devices, with additional sponsorship from the National Science Foundation and Cummins, the annual symposium brings together 100 of the nation’s most accomplished early-career engineers from industry, academia and government.

The invitation-only program is open to engineers who are within 12 years of earning their master’s or doctoral degree. Participants are selected based on their exceptional research accomplishments and leadership potential.

The three-day symposium is designed to foster collaboration across engineering disciplines by exposing participants to emerging research and technological advances outside their areas of expertise. Through technical presentations, panel discussions and networking opportunities, attendees exchange ideas, develop new collaborations and explore innovative approaches to addressing complex engineering challenges.

This year’s symposium will focus on four emerging areas of engineering research: Innovation in Bioengineered Materials, Compute Challenges for Artificial Intelligence, Agriculture as a System of Systems: From Molecules to Markets, and Hypersonics. Chynoweth was selected by the organizing committee as a speaker on the topic of hypersonics.

The Frontiers of Engineering program is intended to strengthen U.S. innovation by encouraging the transfer of new techniques and ideas across engineering disciplines and sectors, while helping build lasting professional connections among the nation's future engineering leaders.

Purdue Engineering has a strong history of participation in the symposium. Previous faculty members selected include:

General participants

• 1995 - Santae Kim (Distinguished Professor Emeritus)
• 1996 - Srinivasan Chandrasekar (Professor Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering)
• 1997 - Paul Mort III (Professor of Materials Engineering)
• 1998 - Andrew Weiner (Scifres Family Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
• 2000 - Ali Shakouri (Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
• 2003 - Barrett Caldwell (Professor, Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering)
• 2004 - James Garrison (Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics)
• 2005 - Rodrigo Salgado (Charles Pankow Professor in Civil Engineering)
• 2006 - Stephan Biller (Harold T. Amrine Distinguished Professor, Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering)
• 2007 - Barrett Caldwell (Professor, Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering) and Ajay Malshe (R. Eugene and Susie E. Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering)
• 2008 - Inseok Hwang (Paul Stanley Professor in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics), and Andrew Weiner (Scifres Family Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
• 2009 - Gerhard Klimeck (Elmore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
• 2010 - Joseph Sinfield (Professor of Civil and Construction Engineering)
• 2011 - Dan Jiao (Synopsys Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering) and Haiyan Wang (Basil S. Turner Professor of Engineering)
• 2012 - Alexandra Boltasseva(Ron And Dotty Garvin Tonjes Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
• 2014 - Pablo Zavattieri (Jerry M. and Lynda T. Engelhardt Professor in Civil Engineering)
• 2015 - Alina Alexeenko (Reilly Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics & Chemical Engineering), Peter Bermel (Elmore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering), Chien-Chi Lin (Professor of Biomedical Engineering - Indianapolis)
• 2016 - Nina Mahmoudian (Professor of Mechanical Engineering) and Kelly Schultz (Professor of Chemical Engineering)
• 2017 - Dimitrios Peroulis (Reilly Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
• 2018 - Andrew Whelton (Professor of Civil and Construction Engineering)
• 2020 - Dana Weinstein (Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering) and Arezoo Ardekani (Professor of Mechanical Engineering)
• 2021 - Michael Sealy (Associate Professor Of Mechanical Engineering) and Shweta Singh (Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering)
• 2022 - Rahim Rahimi (Associate Professor of Materials Engineering)
• 2023 - Christopher Brinton (Elmore Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering) and Brandon Pitts (Elliot Sigal Rising Star Associate Professor)
• 2024 - David Johnson (Ravi and Eleanor Talwar Rising Star Associate Professor Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering) and Timothy Rogers (Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
• 2025 - Jason Morphew (Assistant Professor of Engineering Education) and Sivaranjani Seetharaman (Assistant Professor Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering)

Speakers

• 2015 - Alexandra Boltasseva (Ron and Dotty Garvin Tonjes Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering)

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