As the largest academic propulsion lab in the world, Zucrow Labs has brought thousands of researchers to Purdue University since 1948. Zucrow alum David Norton (Ph.D. 1968) has created a new award to support graduate students from military backgrounds, in honor of his advisor and former Zucrow director Joe D. Hoffman.

In the 2026-2027 US News rankings, Purdue has the #4 undergraduate mechanical engineering program in the country — its highest ranking in the 36-year history of the chart.

Direct air capture is a technology designed to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But does its deployment create more carbon than it captures in the long run? Purdue University researchers have run the numbers, including often-overlooked aspects of manufacturing the adsorbent materials for the devices.

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.”