Students taking a new roller-coaster design course at Purdue University have discovered that fun, real-world applications make solving difficult engineering problems more interesting.

Professor Steven Frankel has worked with Professor Mark Rodefeld, of the IU School of Medicine, to develop a new heart pump that could significantly reduce open heart surgeries for and increase the life spans of affected children.

Professor Steven Son and colleagues are developing a new type of rocket propellant made of a frozen mixture of water and "nanoscale aluminum" powder that is more environmentally friendly than conventional propellants and could be manufactured on the moon, Mars and other water-bearing bodies.

Research led by Professor Suresh Garimella has determined precisely how fluid boils in tiny "microchannels," creating formulas and models that will help engineers design systems to cool high-power electronics in electric and hybrid cars, aircraft, computers, and other applications.

Researchers led by Professor Yung Shin are developing technologies that use lasers to create arterial stents and longer-lasting medical implants that could be manufactured 10 times faster and also less expensively than is now possible.