Highlights from Purdue
March recap: Purdue sesquicentennial celebration
Purdue's sesquicentennial celebration is a time to spotlight Purdue's people – past and present – for the world, and draw a daring vision for the future. March was packed with exciting opportunities to learn and ponder through Ideas Festival events and the Giant Leaps Series. Astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent 520 days in space on four missions, presented "What IF the sky is not the limit?" and Michael Pollan, renowned author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food," spoke on "What IF Psychedelics Could Heal?" A video recap is available here.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Perdue visits Purdue campus
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue met with students, faculty and statewide agricultural industry leaders during an April 2 visit to Purdue. President Mitch Daniels hosted Perdue for a conversation that was open to the public, and Perdue also met with College of Agriculture student leaders who organized Hammer Down Hunger, which prepared 150,000 meals to be distributed throughout Central Indiana as well as abroad. The visit came during the College of Agriculture's Ag Week celebration. More ...
Purdue ensures Tyler Trent's legacy with memorial gate, scholarship
Purdue President Mitch Daniels on March 27 announced that a memorial gate leading to the student-section entrance of Ross-Ade Stadium will be erected in honor of Tyler Trent, the Purdue graduate and superfan who died Jan. 1 of cancer. Daniels also announced the first recipient of the Tyler Trent Courage and Resilience Award, a memorial scholarship in Trent's name funded through a combination of gifts. More ...
New unified portal launching this summer for access to Purdue online and hybrid programs
Purdue and partner Kaplan Higher Education (KHE) will launch a new web portal this summer designed to direct students of all types to online and hybrid programs and classes -- anywhere in the Purdue system -- that best fit their needs. More ...
Purdue engineers to participate in newest Department of Defense program
A team of engineers from Purdue's School of Aeronautics and Astronautics will work as part of a new U.S. Department of Defense program intended to accelerate basic research innovations, with defense relevance, into the marketplace. The team is led by Vikas Tomar, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics, and will collaborate with Mike Dodd, director of business development for the Indiana Innovation Institute (IN3), as part of the inaugural I-Corps @ DoD program. More ...
'Transformative' microscope to be installed at Purdue
The cryo-electron microscope is a modern marvel of a machine that allows scientists to look at how proteins and viruses are built atom by atom. And it's so important to the science that the original developers of this technique received the 2017 Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work. It's also important enough to research that six major life science entities – Purdue University, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University Bloomington, the University of Illinois, Eli Lilly and Co., and the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute – have pooled their resources together to purchase the latest version of the nearly $9 million machine. More ...
'What is a Boilermaker?' video promoting Purdue Day of Giving on April 24
Members of the Purdue community are encouraged to take the next giant leap for the University on April 24 during the sixth annual Purdue Day of Giving. The 24-hour online, social media-driven fundraising effort invites students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents, retirees and friends to grant opportunities to support the University and its programs. Last year, the Purdue community raised a record-breaking $37.6 million through 18,663 individual gifts. "What is a Boilermaker?" -- the full-length Purdue Day of Giving 2019 video -- may now be viewed at DayofGiving.Purdue.edu.
Space technology can help patients take a 'giant leap' around their neighborhood
Statistics from the American Heart Association show that peripheral artery disease is increasing. More than 8.5 million people in the U.S. and more than 200 million people worldwide are affected by lower-extremity PAD, which is the narrowing of the peripheral arteries serving the legs. The most common symptoms of PAD include cramping, pain or tiredness in the leg or hip muscles while walking. Bruno Roseguini, assistant professor in Purdue's Department of Health and Kinesiology, is studying whether leg heat therapy is beneficial for patients suffering from PAD. More ...
Blue light could treat superbug infections
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacterium that causes infection in various parts of the body, is often called a "superbug" thanks to its ability to dodge many common antibiotics. Although most MRSA infections aren't serious, some can be life-threatening, sometimes resulting in amputation of the infected appendage. Rather than rolling the dice with a multi-drug combination or wasting precious time trying to determine which medicine to prescribe, doctors could soon use a new method for disarming the superbugs: light therapy. More ...
Your body is your internet – and now it can't be hacked
Someone could hack into your pacemaker or insulin pump and potentially kill you, just by intercepting and analyzing wireless signals. This hasn't happened in real life yet, but researchers have been demonstrating for at least a decade that it's possible. Before the first crime happens, Purdue University engineers have tightened security on the "internet of body." More ...
Boosting the 'brains' of computers with less wasted energy
Many internal components used in today's computers reach temperatures that are hot enough to cook a Thanksgiving meal. The heat produced by the computations can easily burn human skin and tissue – and much of the heat is simply wasted energy, a byproduct of the computer's internal functions. Now, Purdue researchers are working on more energy-efficient technology to better mimic functions of the human brain and produce only a fraction of the heat. More ...
Because there are no pharmacies in space
Research continues on an eventual 140-million-mile mission to Mars, developing the latest transportation as well as habitats necessary for the red planet. But embarking on such a mission and safely living both during and afterward are differing ideas. The latter is the research focus of Alina Alexeenko. To make sure astronauts have the nourishment and medication to survive such a yearlong venture into space, Alexeenko has taken on several research projects involving lyophilization, also called freeze drying. More ...
Fueling the future: Tapping into 100-year supply of natural gas
It is a figure that has been thrown around quite a bit lately in the energy debate – the United States has enough energy in shale to provide all of the nation's transportation fuels for 100 years. But two challenges remain – how to tap into that supply and how to process it into fuel at a reasonable price. A research team at Purdue has come up with a series of patented solutions that may help address those hurdles. More ...
New protein for gene editing may improve disease treatment, crops, sustainable manufacturing
Gene editing has been a much sought after and controversial technology. Last month, part of the World Health Organization called for an international registry to track all research into editing the human genome. Purdue researchers, including one who was inspired by the cancer death of a close friend, have developed a new technology that could change how gene editing is approached in the future. More ...
Probe shines light on overactive immune cells to help detect, treat certain cancers, autoimmune diseases
One frustration for doctors and patients dealing with certain cancers and autoimmune diseases is that they know the cause, but they don't know how to reduce its effects in the body. A clue can be found with the immunoproteasome, a protein complex in the body that is present in specific types of cancers, such as colorectal, colon and breast. It also is present in autoimmune diseases where cells have encountered a pro-inflammatory signal where the body's immune cells start to attack and destroy themselves. A Purdue team has designed a new probe to monitor and label immunoproteasome-expressing cells. More ...
What oil leaves behind in 2.5 billion gallons of water every day in U.S.
About 2.5 billion gallons of produced water, a byproduct from the oil refinery and extraction process, is generated each day in the United States. Handling that water is a major challenge in the oil refinery industry, particularly because it is deemed unusable for household and commercial use by the Environmental Protection Agency because of remaining contaminants. Several commercial treatments are available, but they are expensive, do not remove all traces of contaminants from water and can be energy-intensive. Now, Purdue researchers have developed a process to remove nearly all traces of oil in produced water. More ...
Implant to better track brain chemical gone rogue after neurotrauma
Your chances of getting a nasty migraine increase following a spinal cord injury, thanks to a chemical messenger in the brain that spikes to toxic levels, past studies have suggested. For treatment to get any better, researchers need to catch that split-second spike in action and closely follow its path of destruction. Purdue engineers have built a tiny, flexible sensor that is faster and more precise than past attempts at tracking this chemical, called glutamate. More ...
Aspire apartments incorporate 21st century digital lifestyle on Purdue campus
Aspire at Discovery Park is the first apartment community on the Purdue campus to feature tech-centric living with an integrated smart home experience for students and residents to meet the growing demand for technology-driven, connected living spaces in the higher education arena. Aspire, a new three-building, 831-bed community, is part of the $1 billion-plus Discovery Park District, a 450-acre district that will feature 7 million square feet of office and business spaces, housing, parks with trails, research facilities and industrial and manufacturing facilities. More ...
Environmentally friendly soy straws win ISA's annual New Uses Competition
A soybean-based drinking straw earned top honors at this year's Student Soybean Product Innovation Competition funded by the Indiana Soybean Checkoff. The contest encourages Purdue students to develop novel applications for soybeans that meet a market need. The 2018-19 competition winner, Team Stroy, took home the award for replacing a common restaurant item with a biodegradable, environmentally friendly straw. More ...
Two Purdue nutrition science professors named to 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee
Richard "Rick" Mattes, distinguished professor of nutrition science, and Regan Bailey, associate professor of nutrition science, were selected by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture to serve on the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Every five years a committee reviews the latest in nutrition and medical research to provide the scientific basis for these national recommendations. These guidelines provide the foundation for national nutrition programs, standards and education. More ...
Purdue appoints new dean for Libraries and School of Information Studies
A former associate dean and professor at Purdue will be returning to campus after being selected the new dean of Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies. Beth McNeil, dean of library services and professor at Iowa State University, will join Purdue on July 1. More ...
Purdue Systemwide
Purdue University Northwest appoints vice chancellor of institutional advancement, business college dean
Purdue University Northwest has appointed Lisa Goodnight, a 25-year member of the PNW faculty, its new vice chancellor of institutional advancement. PNW also has selected Lawrence O. Hamer as its next dean of the College of Business following an extensive career at DePaul University in Chicago.
Purdue University Fort Wayne receives $130,000 contract for suicide prevention and intervention initiatives
The Behavioral Health and Family Studies Institute at Purdue University Fort Wayne, in partnership with the Indiana Suicide Prevention Coalition, has received a $130,000 contract to oversee and lead suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention activities across the state. The funding comes from Indiana's Department of Mental Health and Addiction. More ...
Purdue in the News
Forbes: Mitch Daniels: Revolutionizing Purdue’s affordability while keeping a commitment to quality
NPR: Episode 903: A new way to pay for college
WRTV: Hiring Hoosiers: Mitch Daniels on cost of college
BTN Live BIG: Purdue prepares for the future with 'Giant Leaps'
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