News
November 14, 2023
Guillermo Paniagua's turbine modeling wins supercomputing award
A team led by Guillermo Paniagua was honored with the “Best HPC Collaboration” award in HPCwire’s 2023 Readers’ and Editors’ Choice Awards for its work developing novel engine components that will have implications for decarbonized power generation. The team used the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing (RCAC)’s Bell supercomputer to run simulations.
September 12, 2023
How Zucrow alum Loral O'Hara fulfilled her childhood space dreams
When Loral O'Hara talked with Zucrow professor William Anderson about graduate school, she had a cool confidence about her fate. Hiding her internal doubt and widely scattered interests, she said matter-of-factly that she would be an astronaut someday. That day has arrived. O'Hara will launch on the Soyuz MS-24 mission this Friday morning for a six-month stay on the International Space Station.
August 03, 2023
Jimmy Kenyon takes the reins of NASA's Glenn Research Center
When you watch a space launch, what you might not see is the thousands of people who work behind-the-scenes, sometimes for years, to make that mission a success. NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, is just such a place – where thousands of workers develop the power, propulsion, and communications technologies that enable the newest cutting-edge aircraft and spacecraft to succeed. Purdue alum James “Jimmy” Kenyon (MSE ’98) was recently appointed Director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center, and discusses how being a Boilermaker (including working with Sandy Fleeter at Zucrow Labs) has helped him support some of the best researchers in the world.
July 24, 2023
NASA podcast features Purdue-designed engine
A revolutionary rocket engine design was recently tested at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama: a Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE). It's a kind of rocket design that's only been theorized until modern advancements allowed for this once-only-imagined technology to become a reality. NASA's official podcast spoke with Stephen Heister, Raisbeck Engineering Distinguished Professor for Engineering and Technology Integration, on why this is such a big deal.
June 26, 2023
Adranos solid rocket company acquired by Anduril
In 2015, Brandon Terry was a postdoc at Zucrow Labs, working on an experimental solid rocket propellant. The company he started, Adranos Inc., has now been acquired by defense contractor Anduril Industries.
June 08, 2023
How Maurice Zucrow helped Purdue University shoot for the moon
Maurice J. Zucrow was a pioneer: Purdue's first ever Ph.D. recipient, first professor of jet propulsion, and founder of what is now the largest academic propulsion lab in the world. But there's a lot about Maurice Zucrow you don't know! It's detailed in a new book from Purdue Press called "The Rocket Lab: Maurice Zucrow, Purdue University, and America’s Race to Space."
June 06, 2023
New $41M Hypersonics and Applied Research Facility opens
Leaders from Purdue, federal government, and industry celebrated the opening of the Hypersonics and Applied Research Facility (HARF), a $41 million, 65,000-square-foot building at Zucrow Labs that is home to two cutting-edge wind tunnels – the only Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel in the world, and a hypersonic pulse (HYPULSE) reflected shock/expansion tunnel.
April 05, 2023
Supersonic water table enables rapid prototyping for turbines
Testing new designs for jet engine turbines is no easy task. Wind tunnels are large, complicated, and expensive; and building functional prototypes takes a long time. But Zucrow Labs researchers now have an alternative: a water table which simulates supersonic flow, enabling them to quickly test and iterate their designs.
February 16, 2023
Zucrow Labs Annual Report now available
Review all the exciting developments at academia's largest propulsion lab.
September 08, 2022
Explore Zucrow Labs with 360 photo tour
NEW 360° tour! Now you can see Zucrow Labs from the inside, and explore the world's largest academic propulsion lab in detail!
August 19, 2022
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks visits Purdue
Purdue University's strength in state-of-the-art aerospace technology, energetic materials, semiconductors and hypersonics research stands as a testament to the university's future in national security. U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and her advisers visited Zucrow Labs on August 18 to tour essential research facilities.
August 18, 2022
3D printed metal parts go hypersonic
Zucrow Labs is quickly becoming the center for hypersonics research in the US, and for that you need parts that can stand up to Mach 5 conditions. Recent work done by the team demonstrates that advanced additive manufacturing technology is now capable of producing fully dense, end-use parts with robustness that surpasses traditional methods like casting. Parts that can create hypersonic conditions and live to tell the tale.
June 13, 2022
Can we turn Martian soil into rocket propellant?
We've sent many probes, landers, and rovers to Mars, but we've never been able to send anything back from the Red Planet. That may change, thanks to some Zucrow researchers who have successfully demonstrated a solid rocket propellant using the same perchlorates found in Martian soil.
June 01, 2022
Purdue Space Program launches liquid methane rocket twice in one weekend
Very few organizations have ever launched a liquid methane rocket. Launching the same methane rocket, twice in one weekend? Well, that singular honor belongs to Purdue Space Program.
May 26, 2022
Purdue and Rolls-Royce sign 10-year, $75 million strategic alliance agreement
Purdue University and Rolls-Royce officials have signed a research and testing agreement that will bring $75 million over 10 years to the West Lafayette campus, primarily to Zucrow Labs. It is the largest deal with an industry partner in Purdue history.
May 24, 2022
Arthur Mellor (1941-2022)
Arthur McLeod (Mac) Mellor has passed away. A well-known figure in combustion and propulsion, he served as a professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue from 1967 to 1975, recruited by "Doc" Zucrow himself.
April 27, 2022
Adranos closes on $20 million funding for solid rocket propellant
Adranos Inc. has closed on a $20 million Series A funding round to help the company continue development of solid rocket fuel and motors for long-range missiles and space systems. Adranos co-founder Brandon Terry developed their proprietary aluminum-lithium alloy fuel called ALITEC at Zucrow Labs.
April 15, 2022
Roy Ramirez recognized as outstanding senior for all of Purdue University
Roy Ramirez came from Costa Rica to Purdue to learn about propulsion, and had a much bigger adventure than he had ever planned. Ramirez is this year's recipient of the G.A. Ross Award, which is presented annually to one outstanding male senior in honor of his contributions to Purdue University.
April 08, 2022
Purdue approves $73 million funding for new High-Speed Propulsion Lab
Purdue University’s work in national security took another giant leap forward, as the Board of Trustees approved $73 million for the construction of a new high-speed propulsion laboratory at Zucrow Labs. Otherwise known as ZL9, the lab will feature new testing capabilities for innovative research in rocket combustion and gas turbine engines, continuing Purdue’s history of world-class research and development in those areas, and reaching a scale only found in government or large defense contractor facilities.
April 01, 2022
Research at Zucrow Labs leads to a Tesla internship
As a sophomore, Tarun Prakash conducts research at Zucrow Labs, and participates in Purdue Space Program's liquid rocket team. This small step has led to his giant leap of getting an internship at Tesla!
February 07, 2022
New hypersonics materials and manufacturing center
Purdue University will expand its hub of hypersonics research with the addition of a center focused on developing high-temperature materials and creating new manufacturing processes to build and join these materials, which will extend hypersonic vehicles’ capabilities and apply to other industries. The new Hypersonics Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center (HAMTC) will be a single location at Zucrow Labs for industry partners, including GE Additive, Dynetics, Lockheed Martin, Aerojet Rocketdyne, GE Edison Works, Boeing and several small businesses, to work on materials and manufacturing innovations and provide access to testing capabilities at Purdue that would enable the U.S. to overtake near peer adversaries in the field.
January 21, 2022
Paul Sojka retires from Purdue
Paul E. Sojka has retired from Purdue after 38 years as a professor of mechanical engineering. He conducted research in spray mechanics at Zucrow Labs.
December 17, 2021
Nicole Key appointed to NASA Advisory Council
Nicole Key has been appointed to the NASA Advisory Council, as part of the Aeronautics Committee. Key conducts turbine and compressor research at Zucrow Labs.
December 15, 2021
Michelle Moody: the glue that holds Zucrow Labs together
As Laboratory Coordinator at the world's largest academic propulsion lab, Michelle Moody has a big job. But her efforts have made Zucrow Labs a better place for everyone. Purdue's College of Engineering recently recognized Michelle with their Support and Customer Service staff award.
December 13, 2021
Guillermo Paniagua receives Humboldt Research Award to share expertise in Germany
Guillermo Paniagua, professor of mechanical engineering, has received the prestigious Humboldt Research Award, and will move to Germany for six months to research at Technical University of Darmstadt.
November 19, 2021
Pourpoint wins AIAA Best Paper Award for liquid propulsion
A paper by AAE Professor Timothee Pourpoint and his team was selected for the 2021 AIAA Liquid Propulsion Best Paper Award from the Propulsion and Energy Forum held virtually this past August.
August 10, 2021
Another landmark facility: the Hypersonics Ground Test Center
As announced by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, the Purdue Aerospace District will host two new hypersonics facilities: the Hypersonic Applied Research Facility, and the Hypersonic Ground Test Center.
August 02, 2021
Rolls-Royce to expand its investment in Purdue Aerospace District
Rolls-Royce has conducted research at Zucrow Labs for many years, and in 2017 opened an adjacent 55,000-square-foot technology center. They have now announced an enhanced partnership with Purdue, committing to new multi-million dollar research and testing facilities.
July 27, 2021
Hypersonics facility to feature the only Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel in the world
Construction will soon begin on Purdue's 65,000 square-foot $41 million Hypersonic Applied Research Facility (HARF), adjacent to Zucrow Labs.
June 08, 2021
NASA funds hyperspectral imaging at Zucrow Labs
En'Urga Inc has received a $125,000 grant from NASA to develop a hyperspectral imager, to help with combustion research at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Jay Gore will oversee the Phase I experiments at Zucrow Labs.
Viewing 1 to 30 of 110 |