News

Suresh V. Garimella, who has led four straight record years for Purdue University research funding, will be appointed to the National Science Board. Garimella, Purdue’s executive vice president for research and partnerships and the Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is one of seven appointments to the board by President Donald Trump. Members are selected for their eminence in research, education and records of distinguished service and are appointed by the U.S. president.

Pharmaceutical manufacturing is a major industry. More than 4 billion prescriptions are filled in the United States very year (according to the Kaiser Family Foundation), which means that pharmaceutical companies are generating tablets at a massive scale. But is the pharmaceutical industry keeping pace with the technology and advancements seen in other manufacturing industries?

At Purdue, she worked on Hyperloop, and had a Neil Armstrong action figure. Now she's building robots that will assemble structures in space! Check out this Air & Space Magazine profile of Megan Smith (BSME '17).

Katie Clayton (PhD '17) used her expertise in microfluidics to build a smartphone-based miniature lab called OmniVis, capable of detecting cholera in 30 minutes, instead of 3 days.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. Prof. Bumsoo Han has built a simulated pancreatic duct with microfluidic channels, to test how to alleviate blood clots, helping cancer drugs to be more effective.

Purdue ME senior Reshma Sudhesh spent her summer in Bogota, Colombia, doing research at Universidad de los Andes. Her adventures included flying drones at high altitude, and a broken wrist while mountain biking!

Purdue University President Mitch Daniels took the driver's seat of two student-designed electric race cars, at a demonstration Thursday at the Purdue Grand Prix Track. He drove 10 laps in a battery-powered go kart, and 10 laps in a mini-Formula electric race car, powered by a 300-volt battery.

Not many people can claim that they programmed the first humanoid robot in space. Julia Badger (BSME '03) saw her hard work pay off with Robonaut, a sleek feat of humanoid technology that flew on the International Space Station. Today, as the Project Manager for the Robotics and Intelligence for Human Spacecraft Team at NASA's Johnson Space Center, she is designing the next generation of autonomous robots that will help humans explore the solar system.

What does the Factory of the Future look like? Does it include autonomous robots? Drones? Virtual reality? Professor Karthik Ramani is joining forces with manufacturers to build virtual factories using augmented reality -- so they can test new labor-saving technologies in the virtual world, before installing them in the real world.

Space exploration isn't just about astronauts (though we have those too!) Purdue grads are flight directors, spacesuit engineers, CEOs, and more! Check out all the Purdue grads that make the space industry work.