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.

Even as you stand in the middle of it, the McLaren Technology Centre seems like a spaceship that has landed in the middle of the British countryside. Sunlight pours through futuristic glass that surrounds you on all sides. Curved walkways and spiral staircases lead to state-of-the-art garages and laboratories. An overwhelming number of racing trophies fill hallway display cases. Men and women dressed in papaya orange casually walk past historic vehicles driven by former F1 champions Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, and current champ Lando Norris.

“This is really the pinnacle of motor racing,” said Roberto Figueroa, a 2012 Purdue graduate who calls this spaceship his office, as Aerodynamics Project Leader for McLaren Racing. “There are people who have wanted to visit this place their whole lives, and I get to come here every day. I try to never take it for granted.”

DNA molecules are not just biological material — they can also serve as mechanical building blocks. Purdue University researchers have successfully built a 3D DNA origami structure that performs a “jitterbug transformation,” mimicking the same behavior that enables viruses to deploy their payloads in nature.

As the steel framework of a large warehouse starts to rise in Pakistan, Zeeshan Ahmed takes a deep breath and looks up. None of this existed just a few years ago. Thanks to an Online Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, Zeeshan now has the confidence to build just about anything.

For amputees, wearing a prosthesis can be a game-changer — but it also can introduce huge pressure points which become very painful. Purdue University researchers have developed soft sensors that can be worn comfortably, providing a more accurate picture of the pressures experienced at the interface of limb and prosthesis.

Tandralee Chetia, a second-year doctoral student in the School of Mechanical Engineering working with Dr. Arezoo Ardekani, was selected as one of approximately 600 Young Scientists worldwide to participate in the 75th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (Interdisciplinary Sciences), a premier international forum that brings together Nobel laureates and outstanding early-career researchers for scientific exchange.

In parts of the world where fresh water is scarce, many people rely on a process called “reverse osmosis” to desalinate seawater — flowing it over a membrane at high pressure to remove the minerals. Purdue University engineers have developed a variant of the process called “batch reverse osmosis,” which promises better energy efficiency, longer-lasting equipment, and the ability to process water of much higher salinity. Their team has been awarded $250,000 as semifinalists in the worldwide XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition, where their prototype will compete for a potential prize pool of $119 million.

Zach Hochhauser is all about going fast! From karting professionally to interning within IMSA to winning the evGrandPrix, this Purdue Engineering student is already making his mark in the motorsports world.

To sustain operations in space, you have to be able to build in space. That’s the idea behind one of the first ever university courses focused on In-Space Manufacturing — hosted by the Cradle of Astronauts, Purdue University.

When NASA’s Artemis II crew successfully slingshotted around the Moon in April 2026, it marked the first time in more than 50 years that humans made such a journey.

But human spaceflight is about more than just rockets and technology. It's about card games. And coping with frozen toilets. And living with others in a tiny capsule for two weeks, having your actions and conversations broadcast live to the world. The person responsible for that side of the experience is NASA's Chief of the Astronaut Office, Purdue graduate Scott Tingle.