Top 5 stories from Purdue University
‘Purdue News Now’
Purdue and Eli Lilly announce plans to accelerate innovation of the pharmaceutical pipeline and Boilermakers prepare for the Indy 500. Derek Schultz has that and more in this week’s edition of “Purdue News Now.”
Plus, check out five good stories below you may have missed.
Purdue ranks among top 50 global research universities powering innovation
Purdue University, known for its pioneering advancements and leadership in impactful research, has made the latest list of the 50 most innovative higher education institutions in the world. Purdue is ranked No. 47 worldwide and No. 29 among private and public universities in the United States in the Top 50 Universities Powering Global Innovation report for 2024 by Clarivate, a leading global provider of transformative intelligence. Purdue was the only university from Indiana on the list.
Media contact: Erin Murphy, ermurphy@purdue.edu
Mark Lundstrom and Vladimir Shalaev elected members of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Purdue University researchers Mark Lundstrom and Vladimir M. Shalaev have been named members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies. They join nearly 250 new members in the Class of 2025, recognized for their accomplishments across academia, the arts, industry, policy, research and science. They will be inducted in October in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Lundstrom and Shalaev are professors in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and members of the National Academy of Engineering. Both have made lasting contributions to their fields and to Purdue’s global research reputation.
Media contact: Erin Murphy, ermurphy@purdue.edu
Purdue ECE students shatter Guinness World Record for fastest puzzle cube-solving robot
Solving a Rubik’s Cube is a challenge for most people. For a team of students from Purdue University’s Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, it became an opportunity to redefine the limits of speed, precision and automation — and officially make history. Meet Purdubik’s Cube — a high-speed robotic system that now holds the Guinness World Record for “Fastest robot to solve a puzzle cube,” clocking in at a jaw-dropping 0.103 seconds. That’s faster than the blink of an eye and nearly three times faster than the previous official record of 0.305 seconds, set by Mitsubishi Electric engineers in Japan in May 2024.
Media contact: Erin Murphy, ermurphy@purdue.edu
Boilermakers on every American-based team at the Indianapolis 500
As preparations are made for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500, Purdue University will have an outsized presence inside the garages at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Thanks to the university’s renowned mechanical and motorsports engineering programs in West Lafayette and Indianapolis, dozens of Boilermakers are powering teams in the 33-car field of this month’s race, such as current leader and defending IndyCar season team champion Chip Ganassi Racing, 20-time Indianapolis 500 champion Team Penske, Andretti Global, Arrow McLaren, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and many more. On the Ganassi team alone, 12 Purdue graduates play critical roles including lead race engineer, simulation engineer, test engineer and systems support engineer. At least one Purdue graduate will be in the garages of every single American-based IndyCar team.
Media contact: Erin Murphy, ermurphy@purdue.edu
The universal socket set of vaccines: Innovative technology heralds more effective, more efficient vaccines
You fight fire with fire. And vaccine expert Suresh Mittal fights viruses with viruses. Using innovative techniques, Mittal, Distinguished Professor of Virology in Purdue’s College of Veterinary Medicine, develops novel vaccines for viral infections including avian influenza. Preventing viruses is easier, safer, cheaper and more effective than fighting them. The flu vaccine is safe, effective and widely available but must be updated every year, which is expensive and can be difficult for some people, logistically or financially. No effective vaccine yet exists for the avian flu virus that arose in 2022 and continues to affect swathes of the globe, including the United States’ cows, chickens, turkeys, ducks and wild mammals. Mittal is working to change that using a technique that has shown to be promising with other illnesses.
Media contact: Erin Murphy, ermurphy@purdue.edu
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About Purdue University
Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 107,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 58,000 at our main campus in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its comprehensive urban expansion, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.
