Bison are one of the most majestic animals in North America. But they suffer every summer under swarms of biting flies. Purdue Mechanical Engineering students have developed a device that attracts bison to a scratching post, and automatically sprays them with insect repellent with no human intervention required.

Siddharth Bhaganagar came to Indianapolis to study motorsports engineering and left as a published author. His findings on composite structures, compiled into a textbook, bridge the gap between academic research and real-world engineering.

This QR code has a secret: embedded in the half-millimeter-square symbol are thousands of gold nanoparticles, which form an unclonable security feature. Purdue University researchers use a combination of nanomanufacturing and machine learning to create digital fingerprints that are impossible to forge.

Laura Blumenschein, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has received a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award to support the development of contact-aware robots that intelligently leverage touch to interact with their environments.

Since 1983, Purdue Baja Racing has designed and built a new single-seat off-road vehicle every year, competing against the best universities in the world. In 2026 Purdue Baja topped the podium, winning 1st place for the first time in its history.

Microfluidics are tiny pipes that transport fluids and particles at a microscopic scale. But like any pipes, they can become easily clogged. Purdue University researchers have developed a solution: virtual microchannels created with acoustic energy. This allows microfluidic flow at much higher speeds, with much less chance of physical clogs.

For Mark Baldwin (BSME 1997), 15 years of work came down to 15 seconds.

As he watched the launch of Artemis II from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in April 2026, Baldwin knew better than anyone the stresses and vibrations being experienced by the astronauts — because he had subjected himself to those same vibrations. As Occupant Protection Lead for Lockheed Martin, he had personally tested the seats, the control panels, the spacesuits, and other aspects of the astronaut experience on the Orion capsule.

But there’s testing, and then there’s a real-world launch.

“Everyone else was cheering, but I was busy doing calculations in my head,” Baldwin said. “I knew some phases of ascent were expected to have more severe vibrations than others. But we did the work years ago. We knew the levels. We quantified the risks. When we finally saw the live feed showing our four astronauts working comfortably in their seats, we knew the Artemis II mission was well and truly on.”

Xiulin Ruan, professor of mechanical engineering, has received the Heat Transfer Memorial Award from ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers).

Nationwide, only 5% of engineering students study abroad. At Purdue, it’s closer to 40%. This global influence enables both students and staff to see the world from a brand-new perspective, as evidenced by this year’s five different Maymester trips.

Most agricultural tractors use petroleum-based diesel fuel — even though a significant amount of the corn they are harvesting goes toward making ethanol. Could tractors start using ethanol as fuel? That’s the project being tackled by Purdue University, John Deere, Cummins, and a consortium of biofuel producers.