October 21, 2020

Radiative cooling paint

What if paint could cool off a building enough to not need air conditioning? Xiulin Ruan has pioneered radiative cooling paint; instead of absorbing sunlight, it radiates the heat back into space. This actually cools surfaces below ambient temperature, something paint has never done before.
September 27, 2020

Raymond Cohen (1923-2020)

The School of Mechanical Engineering is sad to announce that Raymond Cohen, professor and former director of Herrick Labs, has passed away.
September 22, 2020

Don Giffels remembers the early days of Herrick Labs

Today, Herrick Labs is the foremost academic HVAC lab in the world. But when it opened in 1958, its focus was on how livestock reacted to refrigeration! Don Giffels (MSME 1959) was one of the first graduate students at Herrick, and shares his reflections.
July 13, 2020

Shape-shifting furniture inspired by Venus flytrap

"Flat pack furniture" may soon have a new meaning. Purdue researchers have developed a 3D printing method that emulates the switchable bistability of the Venus flytrap plant. This breakthrough in material science may soon inspire flat objects that snap into their final stable form with very little external force.
June 18, 2020

Will empty middle seats on airplanes slow Coronavirus?

Airlines have been leaving the middle seats empty on many of their flights. Does this actually help stop the spread of COVID-19? The answer is complicated, as Prof. Yan Chen explains in this video from Vox.
May 20, 2020

Refrigeration in developing countries

We take refrigeration for granted, but for developing countries it can become a game-changer for health, agriculture, and economic opportunities. Engineers Without Borders turned to the HVAC experts at Purdue's Herrick Labs to help create the "Chill Challenge," where teams build devices that can make ice and cold water at minimal cost.
< Previous 10 | Viewing 61 to 70 of 158 | Next 10 >