Lab Tours

Herrick Laboratories

Founded in 1957, Herrick Labs supports world-class Mechanical Engineering research for students, faculty, and industry. Among the facilities available in our 83,000 square feet of space are HVAC and indoor air quality labs; advanced engine test cells; acoustics, noise, and vibration testing; and unique perception-based engineering labs. Herrick Labs is also home to the Center for High Performance Buildings, which partners with industry to develop new technologies in sustainable building systems, indoor environments, human perception and comfort, and high performance equipment.

Birck Nanotechnology Center

The Birck Nanotechnology Center (BNC) is an interdisciplinary research unit that provides infrastructure for 160 affiliated faculty members and their research groups from 36 academic units at Purdue. The 186,000 sq ft. facility includes a nanofabrication cleanroom, the Scifres Nanofabrication Laboratory, and the pharmaceutical-grade biomolecular cleanroom. In addition to the cleanroom, the facility provides specialized laboratories and offices for resident faculty members, postdocs, staff, and graduate students.

Bowen Laboratory

The 66,000 square-foot Robert L. and Terry L. Bowen Laboratory for Large-Scale Civil Engineering Research provides the space and technical capability needed to investigate the behavior of large structural models and elements subjected to loads representing extreme events, such as earthquakes, blasts, and impact, so that future structures will be designed to better withstand these extreme events. The lab's "strong floor," clear ceiling height of 54 feet, loading apparatus, and advanced instrumentation set a new standard for materials and structures testing.

Zucrow Laboratory

Founded by Maurice J. Zucrow in 1948, Zucrow Labs is the largest academic propulsion lab in the world. The Zucrow Labs research facilities occupy a 24 acre site adjacent to the Purdue University Airport. The Laboratory's research capability encompasses many disciplines: aerodynamics of turbo machinery, aeroacoustics, combustion, measurement and control, computational fluid mechanics, particle flow heat transfer, and atomization processes.