There are two related projects, both focused on making air safe, including from bioaersols like COVID.

1) Photocatalysis for Air Purification: Photocatalysis is one method for helping degrade harmful airborne particles, like COVID-19, which our lab is investigating in a partnership with a start-up company. Undergraduates interested in designing experimental setups and microbiological experiments are well-suited for this project. Candidates with experience in culturing microorganism/relevant wet lab experience is preferred.

2) Acoustic removal of aerosols: Sound waves can interact with small particles like aerosols, and be used to manipulate their motion. In this project, we aim to invent the first system that can make air safe with sound waves.

Biological Characterization and Imaging, Biological Simulation and Technology, Energy and Environment, Engineering the Built Environment, Fluid Modelling and Simulation, Material Modeling and Simulation, Material Processing and Characterization, Nanotechnology

• No Major Restriction

All applicants should have an interest in photochemistry, microbiology, aerosol sciences, and experimental research. In addition to the required skills mentioned in the points above, applicants with additional experience with some of the following programs are preferred: Python and Adobe Illustrator. What experience will you gain? • Hands on research experience and potential co-authorship in high impact journals • Application of engineering fundamentals to important societal problems • Research credit hours (and potential opportunities for financial compensation in the summer) • Networking opportunities with academic and industry leaders

Mechanical Engineering

David Warsinger

Controlled environment agriculture methods like hydroponics allow for the growth of crops indoors, providing a stable and controlled conditions for year-round food production, even in urban areas. Despite the high level of control, the growth of microbes can be difficult to control and threatens crop viability. Biofilms develop on system surfaces, and can harbor pathogens harmful to plant or human health.

In this project, biofilm development will be investigated in piped systems using flow cytommetry, imaging, and molecular biology methods. Students will grow plants with hydroponics systems and investigate the factors that control biofilm growth. Since biofilms can develop similarly in any piped system, students will also operate a variety of piped systems with controlled conditions. Students will learn a variety of environmental characterization methods and design and develop controlled experiments.

Biological Characterization and Imaging, Cellular Biology, Ecology and Sustainability, Engineering the Built Environment

• No Major Restriction

While no background is required, a student with biology and/or biology lab experience and background is preferred.

Environmental and Ecological Engineering

Caitlin Proctor

Our project is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and involves an interdisciplinary collaboration between engineers, chemists, and psychologists at Purdue University and New York University (NYU). We will elucidate determinants of indoor dust ingestion in 6- to 24-month-old infants (age range for major postural and locomotor milestones). Specific objectives are to test: (1) whether the frequency and characteristics of indoor dust and non-dust mouthing events change with age and motor development stage for different micro-environments; (2) how home characteristics and demographic factors affect indoor dust mass loading and dust toxicant concentration; (3) how dust transfer between surfaces is influenced by dust properties, surface features, and contact dynamics; and (4) contributions of developmental, behavioral, and socio-environmental factors to dust and toxicant-resolved dust ingestion rates. In addition, the project will (5) create a shared corpus of video, dust, toxicant, and ingestion rate data to increase scientific transparency and speed progress through data reuse by the broader exposure science community.

Our transdisciplinary work will involve: (1) parent report questionnaires and detailed video coding of home observations of infant mouthing and hand-to-floor/object behaviors; (2) physical and chemical analyses of indoor dust collected through home visits and a citizen-science campaign; (3) surface-to-surface dust transfer experiments with a robotic platform; (4) dust mass balance modeling to determine distributions in and determinants of dust and toxicant-resolved dust ingestion rates; and (5) open sharing of curated research videos and processed data in the Databrary digital library and a public website with geographic and behavioral information for participating families.

The project will provide improved estimates of indoor dust ingestion rates in pre-sitting to independently walking infants and characterize inter-individual variability based on infant age, developmental stage, home environment, and parent behaviors. Dust transport experiments and modeling will provide new mechanistic insights into the factors that affect the migration of dust from the floor to mouthed objects to an infant’s mouth. The shared corpus will enable data reuse to inform future research on how dust ingestion contributes to infants’ total exposure to environmental toxicants.

U.S. EPA project overview: https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract_id/11194

Biological Characterization and Imaging, Ecology and Sustainability, Engineering the Built Environment, Environmental Characterization, Human Factors

• No Major Restriction

We are seeking students passionate about studying environmental contaminants and infant exposure to chemicals in the indoor environment. Preferred skills: experience with MATLAB, Python, or R. Coursework: environmental science and chemistry, microbiology, physics, thermodynamics, heat/mass transfer, fluid mechanics, developmental psychology.

Lyles School of Civil Engineering

Brandon Boor

Although engineers add disinfectant residual to drinking water to prevent microbial growth, as water travels many miles through distribution pipes this disinfectant is lost. Microbial growth is often unavoidable - including the growth of opportunistic pathogens that can cause disease in immunocompromised populations. The three opportunistic pathogens (OPs) recognized by the scientific community to be of major concern are Legionella pneumophila, Mycobacterium avium, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These bacteria often grow in biofilm, a microbiological layer formed along the inner surface of pipes.
This project will investigate the microbial diversity of drinking water bacteria through a variety of molecular biology methods. Opportunistic pathogens will be quantified through qPCR methods within samples from rural drinking water and controlled experiments on Purdue's campus. Additionally, students will help with more advanced molecular methods including sequencing and bioinformatics. Results from this project will provide insight into the dynamics of pathogens within drinking water.

Biological Characterization and Imaging, Cellular Biology, Engineering the Built Environment, Environmental Characterization

• No Major Restriction

While no background is required, a student with biology and/or biology lab experience and background is preferred.

Environmental and Ecological Engineering

Caitlin Proctor

The safety of embankments and earth dams relies on an adequate assessment of seismically-induced deformations. When subjected to earthquake loading, embankments and earth dams may settle, deform laterally and longitudinally, and may exhibit cracking in the longitudinal and/or transverse directions. Cracks are considered one of the most hazardous consequences of strong earthquake shaking on earthen dams, as they can lead to piping failure due to increased seepage and internal erosion through the cracks. Observed cracks in earth dams after an earthquake are most often associated with tensile stresses and strains resulting from earthquake-induced permanent deformations. Current methods to estimate earthquake-induced cracking seem inadequate, given the widespread damage observed in thousands of dams during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. The research is geared at advancing our understanding of the cracking processes in embankments and earth dams during an earthquake and at providing improved tools for practitioners. An important outcome of the work is an updated database of case studies, as well as guidelines and protocols for collection of future information.
The work will combine existing information in the form of case studies and empirical recommendations, and outcomes from numerical simulations. It will expand and modernize databases, update and improve empirical methods, and perform detailed dynamic three-dimensional numerical analyses of actual dams, namely Lenihan Dam in California and Gatun Dam in the Panama Canal.
The student is expected to participate in all aspects of the project, with focus on the analysis of current data and providing recommendations to estimate intensity of cracking.

Engineering the Built Environment, Other

• Civil Engineering

one course in soil mechanics preferred

Lyles School of Civil Engineering

Antonio Bobet

In the coming years, countries around the world will make concerted efforts to decarbonize various industries and technologies to help prevent and reverse climate change. Currently, thermal dehydration accounts for 10-20% of all industrial energy consumption and relies heavily on the combustion of fossil fuels. Vapor compression heat pumps, like those used in building air conditioners, offer a high-efficiency, electrically driven heat source for industrial drying applications, however there are many barriers preventing broad implementation. Our team at Purdue has proposed a new thermal drying system concept that employs unique materials and exploits clever thermodynamic design to provide up to 40% energy and emissions savings. As part of this work, we are developing system models/simulations, designing and building prototype systems, and performing advanced materials research, thus providing a breadth of exciting opportunities for aspiring scientists and engineers. This research is also heavily tied to our work on energy efficient thermal systems for buildings and water/energy sustainability, and the student who joins the project will be exposed to many research topics within the Water-Energy Nexus.

Composite Materials and Alloys, Energy and Environment, Engineering the Built Environment, Fluid Modelling and Simulation, Material Modeling and Simulation, Material Processing and Characterization, Microelectronics, Nanotechnology, Thermal Technology

• No Major Restriction

Applicants should have a general interest in energy and sustainability. Should also have a strong background/interest in thermodynamics, heat transfer, and/or materials science. Applicants with experience in some (not all) of the following are preferred: LabVIEW, Python (Jupyter, Google Colab, etc.) Engineering Equation Solver, MATLAB, 3D-CAD Software, prototype design/manufacturing, and Adobe Illustrator. 2nd semester Sophomores, Juniors, and 1st semester Seniors are preferred.

Mechanical Engineering

Jim Braun

Accessible, on-demand transportation is unavailable to many persons with travel-limiting disabilities. Professors Duerstock and Brandon Pitts have led a team to look at inclusive design for autonomous transportation. They were recently awarded $1 million 1st prize for the DOT Inclusive Design Challenge to design autonomous vehicles (AV) for passengers with disabilities including those with motor and perceptual impairments. This internship will focus on the analysis of data collected through surveys and participant testing from this competition as well as future investigations of this problem from the standpoint of AV design and transportation infrastructure.

Engineering the Built Environment, Human Factors

• No Major Restriction

Understanding scientific methods of statistical analysis and data collection from both qualitative and quantitative data sets is a must. Some programming experience is preferred.

School of Industrial Engineering

Brad Duerstock

Drinking water contamination is a global problem, and a challenge across North America. In the past decade, numerous chemical spills, wildfires, backflow incidents, and other activities have contaminated drinking water. As a result, many households have encountered water at their faucets that contained high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC). Often, households are warned not to use the water due to ingestion, inhalation, and sometimes dermal exposure concerns. In some cases though, this water has contacted personal items and home water filters. Personal items have included baby pacifiers, bottles, toys, teething rings, utensils, and other items. If not cleaned thoroughly, these products may release chemicals that reach the user. Separately, home water filters may also be exposed to this highly VOC and SVOC contaminated drinking water but the degree these devices can reduce excessive contamination has gone unstudied. While home water filters are industry tested against low levels of contaminants, no such testing is available for post-disaster scenarios that involve excessive contamination levels. Despite this lacking information, officials have sometimes recommended households rinse personal items with clean tap water or purchase and use home water filter devices. The lack of prior testing inhibits households from knowing if the recommended actions are effective at protecting their health.

This study will develop a better understanding of the degree personal items and home water filters are contaminated by VOCs and SVOCs when exposed to contaminated water. Specific objectives are to: (1) Review the myriad products and types of materials that contact with water, (2) Review VOC/SVOC uptake phenomena associated with the specific plastics identified, (3) Down-select products and conduct VOC/SVOC contamination testing to estimate uptake, (4) Evaluate different practices for removing the contamination from the product. Results will help health officials and households understand whether contaminated products can be used after cleaning or should be discarded.

The student will work with a graduate student to contaminate and then evaluate different cleaning practices on various household items. The project will involve repeating recommended practices issued by public health officials and also evaluating other newer practices. The student will be taught on how to prepare solutions, collect samples, analyze data, and report results. Results are expected to be shared widely with public health officials after the project is completed.

Chemical Unit Operations, Engineering the Built Environment, Environmental Characterization

• No Major Restriction

Strong motivation to learn and apply knowledge.

Lyles School of Civil Engineering

Andrew Whelton

The project goal is to investigate the trends in next generation mobility in the US as evidenced by bike-sharing ridership and electric vehicle (EV) ownership. Objectives include: i) exploring the effect of the urban built environment and demographical fabric on the usage of bike-sharing; ii) forecasting EV ownership rates in the future considering the influence of incentives, new technologies, and barriers. The student candidate will collect historical data available from public sources such as US Census, US Department of Energy, FHWA and other sources and compile with bike-sharing ridership data from an open- source website, EV registration data and other survey data collected by the mentor/faculty advisor. Using these data, a baseline model (which can be a time series model, or any machine learning model) will be developed that will incorporate the effects of influencing factors affecting bike-sharing ridership and/or EV ownership. The student will get an opportunity to work with scholars in the STSRG group as well as to collaborate with the ASPIRE Engineering Research Center.

Big Data/Machine Learning, Energy and Environment, Engineering the Built Environment, Other

• No Major Restriction

- Knowledge of MS Excel and programming (R, Python, C++, Java) - Basic knowledge or course work in statistics (regression, time series) - Data analysis skills including downloading, cleaning, and merging different datasets

Civil Engineering

Nadia Gkritza

Water infrastructure is critical to the safety and economic health of communities. The restoration and maintenance of water supply and wastewater infrastructure are ongoing challenges for the Nation. Cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) composites technology is a popular method for repairing buried sewer pipes. CIPP technology is also now growing in popularity for repairing drinking water pipes. This is due in large part to economic considerations, as it can be 60-80% less costly than other repair alternatives. Unfortunately, the process of curing (polymerizing) the new plastic inside the damaged pipe can release hazardous materials into the air. For drinking water applications, the CIPPs can allow chemicals to leach into drinking water. Chemical air releases have resulted in illness to members of the general public and workers, and contributed to one worker fatality. The overall goal of this research is to reduce chemical volatilization from CIPP by understanding mechanisms of chemical release. This research directly addresses multiple National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine grand challenges focused on restoring infrastructure, sustainably supplying water, building healthy cities, and reducing pollution.

The student will work with a graduate student and help evaluate chemical emissions during plastic manufacture using heat and steam. Sewer and drinking water resins will be explored. The student will help conduct the laboratory experiments, sample analysis, data analysis, interpretation, and reporting. Results will be shared with health officials, municipalities, and regulators after study completion. Prior studies where undergraduates have contributed on this topic can be found on the website listed below.

Composite Materials and Alloys, Energy and Environment, Engineering the Built Environment, Environmental Characterization, Material Processing and Characterization

• No Major Restriction

Strong work ethic and commitment to learn and apply knowledge.

Lyles School of Civil Engineering

Andrew Whelton

The objective of this project is to utilize state-of-the-art proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) to evaluate emissions and exposures of volatile chemicals in buildings. My group is investigating volatile chemical emissions from consumer and personal care products, disinfectants and cleaning agents, and building and construction materials. You will assist graduate students with full-scale experiments with our PTR-MS in our new Purdue zEDGE Tiny House and process and analyze indoor air data in MATLAB.

Big Data/Machine Learning, Ecology and Sustainability, Energy and Environment, Engineering the Built Environment, Environmental Characterization

• No Major Restriction

Preferred skills: experience with MATLAB, Python, or R. Coursework: environmental science and chemistry, physics, thermodynamics, heat/mass transfer, and fluid mechanics.

Lyles School of Civil Engineering

Nusrat Jung

Today’s structures are highly engineered buildings and bridges capable of carrying everyday and extreme loads. In this project, students will get to work on understanding blast engineering design with a special focus on building materials like concrete and steel. Undergraduate researchers will work day-to-day alongside graduate students and permanent staff to create test plans, fabricate test specimens, and test large-scale structures to failure. Students will leave this summer with a greater understanding of engineering principles including structural dynamics, impact and blast loading, and composite behavior.

Composite Materials and Alloys, Energy and Environment, Engineering the Built Environment, Other

• No Major Restriction
• Civil Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering Technology
• Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
• Aeronautical Engineering Technology
• Construction Engineering
• Construction Management Technology
• Engineering (First Year)
• Materials Engineering

Willing to work in a large-scale structural testing facility which may include some manual labor.

Civil Engineering

Amit Varma