Becky Gunn Mueller (MSME '09) works for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Her latest study, showing that many SUVs offer far less crash protection for front passengers than for drivers, gained national media attention last month.

Did you know that buildings consume 40 percent of the nation's energy? Creating efficient buildings saves energy, and helps to stave off climate change. That's the focus of three simultaneous conferences happening this week at Purdue: the 16th International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference, the 23rd International Compressor Engineering Conference, and the 4th International High Performance Buildings Conference. These events are organized by Herrick Labs, which hosts one of the most advanced HVAC laboratories in the world.

Professor Sanford Fleeter, the McAllister Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, died on July 7, 2016.

CNN's Senior Medical Correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, visited Herrick Labs in April to film a segment about the indoor air quality of bedding materials.

Jim Eibel (BSME '58) has a long history at Purdue. His father was fraternity brothers with John Wooden; his wife of 53 years, Sue, is also a Purdue graduate; their children and grandchildren have followed in their footsteps attending. But it's his Mechanical Engineering education that prepared him for the career challenges that he faced: from repairing a Navy ship hauling 10,000 tons of ammunition, to a 37-year career at AT&T overseeing a five-state area. The Eibels acknowledged the value of that education by making a donation to support future facility renovations. Because of their support, the School is proud to acknowledge ME1061, the largest classroom in the Mechanical Engineering Building, as the "James A. Eibel Classroom in Mechanical Engineering." They recently visited the classroom to reinforce the need for future generations of mechanical engineers to be ready for anything.

Amanda Harvey (BSME '92) has worked in different aspects of the movie business for years, but her latest project, as lead producer on the Hemingway-centric docudrama, PAPA: Hemingway in Cuba, made history. It’s the first Hollywood production filmed on location in Cuba since the 1960 trade embargo that essentially closed the island nation to US business and travel.

Steve Florence, ME’s Technical Services Manager, was chosen as one of the torchbearers for the Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay. The torch, built by Purdue engineering students, will be carried through all 92 Indiana counties this fall, including Purdue’s campus on October 12th. Other torchbearers include president Mitch Daniels and astronaut David Wolf.

Dr. Issam Mudawar has been named the Betty Ruth and Milton B. Hollander Family Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

"DeepHand," developed at C Design Lab, uses depth-sensing cameras to re-create the movement of a hand in a virtual 3D space. More importantly, it uses deep-learning algorithms to understand the hand's structure and movement, so that (just like the human brain) it can extrapolate features of the hand that are not visible to the cameras.

Beth M. Holloway, director of Purdue University's Women in Engineering Program and assistant dean of undergraduate education, has received the 2016 WEPAN Founders Award from the Women in Engineering ProActive Network.