Before NASA takes the “giant leap” of sending humans back to the moon, they are first taking the “small step” of launching an uncrewed Orion capsule as part of the Artemis 1 mission. And just like the Apollo missions, the Artemis missions rely heavily on Purdue Boilermakers. Mark Baldwin (BSME ’97) has been testing and refining the Orion capsule since 2009, and also helped design the manikins who are on board Orion’s first flight.

Earth’s atmosphere holds six times more fresh water than all of its rivers combined. So is it possible to harvest that water, in areas where people have no other fresh water source? Purdue University researchers have crunched the numbers, and have the data to show which atmospheric water harvesting methods work best in different regions of the world.

Every Purdue student is on a journey, and many times that journey contains ups and downs. Faculty can often be the first people to perceive when students are going through challenges. That's why several Purdue ME faculty members have personally stepped up to donate to financial endowments designed to help students in times of need.

The U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has invited Dr. Veeraraghava Raju Hasti, Research Assistant Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, to participate in the German-American Frontiers of Engineering Symposium (GAFOE) to be held in Julich, Germany, March 22-25, 2023.

When we turn on the air conditioner, we seldom think about the hundreds of other air conditioners in our neighborhood that may also be turning on simultaneously. At these peak demand times, local power grids are susceptible to brownouts and other issues. But Purdue University researchers have proposed a simple solution: air conditioners that talk to each other. By distributing the times at which electrical loads turn on – even by a few seconds – power grids can be much more robust against these issues, with no discernible impact to the end user.

Women of Purdue Mechanical Engineering will have a unique opportunity to meet other women students and faculty; attend seminars and chats specific to them; and network with successful alumnae at the first-ever Women in ME Symposium, on Thursday, November 3.

The oddly satisfying small domes that you press on your soda’s to-go cup lid may one day save a winged drone from a nosedive. Patterns of these invertible domes on a drone’s wings would give it a way to remember in microseconds what dangerous conditions feel like and react quickly. The study, conducted by Andres Arrieta, is among the first demonstrations of a neuromorphic metamaterial, which uses its shape to learn how to adapt to its surroundings on its own.

True success requires true collaboration – I have something you need, you have something I need, and we both learn from each other. That’s what motivated Purdue University to become the first school to embed a graduate-level engineering researcher at Navajo Technical University, the largest tribal college in the country.

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation announced today the 2022 class of Packard Fellows for Science and Engineering. This year’s class of 20 innovative early-career scientists and engineers, who will each receive $875,000 over five years to pursue their research, includes Purdue's Tian Li.

Being an engineering student can sometimes feel daunting, as if nobody knows the challenges you’re facing. But alumni have been there, and many are willing to share their experiences with current students. Purdue ME has set up an alumni mentoring program, pairing students with alumni for encouragement, networking, and career advancement.