Did you know there’s a silent war going on inside your home? Alternating current (AC) electricity comes in from the grid, but many of your appliances and lighting run on direct current (DC). Every time you plug in a TV, computer or cell phone charger, power must be individually converted from AC to DC – a costly and inefficient process. Purdue University researchers have proposed a solution to the problem by retrofitting an entire house to run on its own efficient DC-powered nano-grid.

Jun Chen and Lizhi Shang have designed a powertrain system to improve turbines that generate wind energy and marine hydrokinetic energy. The design transmits power from the low-speed high-torque turbine to the high-speed, low-torque generator. It also uses water as the hydraulic fluid.

Every year, the students of Purdue SAE design, build, and compete with custom race cars. This year, the Purdue Formula team finished 2nd among all competing universities. In this episode of the official This is Purdue podcast, we go behind the scenes of their first ever live unveiling event, and discuss why students devote their time to building race cars.

Three new faculty have joined the School of Mechanical Engineering in August 2022, bringing our total to 94 tenure-track faculty. Let's meet these three new faculty!

Jesse Omondi loved three things: business, basketball, and engineering. At Purdue University, he found the perfect combination of all three! As this graduating senior moves on to the business and consulting world, he reflects on his Purdue journey.

A Purdue Engineering team will collaborate with the lead institution University of New Hampshire (UNH), NASA and the University of Alabama to explore a new paradigm in manufacturing for the equitable commercialization, industrialization, and democratization of in-space manufacturing (ISM).

To journey and return from other planets, future spacecraft may have to do something they've never done before: refueling in space. Thanks to a Purdue University experiment, scientists are now beginning to understand how cryogenic liquids behave in zero-gravity, and how this affects the future operation of propellant depots in space.

When the National Science Foundation (NSF) asks manufacturing engineers to think big, Purdue University researchers think really big. They proposed a breakthrough vision and roadmap to tackle history’s most persistent problem: food security. Their plan, creating a manufacturing infrastructure for cultured meat, has won 1st place in the NSF Manufacturing Blue Sky Competition.

Tahira Reid Smith, associate professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering, has been named an "emerging leader" by the Society of Women Engineers.

They say “slow and steady wins the race.” But does that apply to motorsports? For 30 years, Purdue Formula have been pushing their custom-built race car up the mountain, and in 2022, they reached their best-ever podium finish: 2nd place overall.