Highlights from Purdue
January 2020
Annual open letter from President Daniels
In his annual open letter to the Purdue community, President Mitch Daniels addresses the top issues facing our university and higher ed at large — including a nationwide decline in college enrollment, the shortage of qualified underrepresented minority students, student debt, and the prospect of compensating student athletes — and how Purdue plans to address these and other matters strategically in the new year. More ...
Purdue Engineering Open Bytes to provide free access to educational resources in first-of-its-kind offering
Purdue is developing a first-of-its-kind collection of engineering educational resources that will be available online – for free, or at low cost – to anyone in the world. Purdue Engineering Open Bytes will include high-quality textbooks, case studies, monographs and lecture notes written by College of Engineering faculty members. Through collaboration among the college, Purdue University Libraries and Purdue University Press, the Press will make these materials accessible via open access beginning in mid-2020 to students, professors, working professionals and anyone else interested in engineering. Hardcover editions of books also will be available. More ...
Purdue to expand Polytechnic High School to South Bend
An expansion to South Bend for Purdue's innovative Purdue Polytechnic High School is a step closer to reality following a vote by the South Bend Community School Board on Dec. 16. The board approved moving forward with negotiations for an agreement to house the STEM-focused charter school at Washington High School with classes to begin in fall 2020. More ...
State Street Redevelopment Project wins prestigious complete streets best project award
The Institute of Transportation Engineers, an international professional organization, named Purdue and the city of West Lafayette's collaborative State Street Redevelopment Project as the winner of the 2019 Complete Streets Council Best Project Award. The distinction recognizes innovative design solutions that benefit the profession and the public related to complete streets – those that enable access for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. More ...
Photo, video gallery looks back at Purdue research
Ready to look back on 2019? Here is a photo and video gallery capturing Purdue research highlights during the university's 150th anniversary this past year. These 30 research profiles capture just a few of the world's challenges that Purdue scientists are trying to solve. How will astronauts manage nourishment and medication to survive long ventures in space? Humans and computers interact daily, so why do jokes fall flat for Alexa and Siri? Can service dogs help veterans with PTSD live healthier lives?
Purdue commencement signals start of professional lives for newest graduates
Purdue alumna, distinguished professor and researcher Rita Colwell keynoted two commencement ceremonies Dec. 15 at Purdue's West Lafayette campus. The winter commencement ceremonies took place in Purdue's Elliott Hall of Music. Students in Agriculture, Education, Engineering and Liberal Arts graduated during a morning ceremony. Those in Health and Human Sciences, Management, Pharmacy, Purdue Polytechnic Institute, Science and Veterinary Medicine received their degrees during an afternoon ceremony. Photo gallery
'Buildings' in human bone may hold key to stronger 3D-printed lightweight structures
What do bones and 3D-printed buildings have in common? They both have columns and beams on the inside that determine how long they last. Now, the discovery of how a "beam" in human bone material handles a lifetime's worth of wear and tear could translate to the development of 3D-printed lightweight materials that last long enough for more practical use in buildings, aircraft and other structures. More ...
Solar power from 'the dark side' unlocked by a new formula
Most of today's solar panels capture sunlight and convert it to electricity only from the side facing the sky. If the dark underside of a solar panel could also convert sunlight reflected off the ground, even more electricity might be generated. A new formula developed by Purdue engineers reveals exactly how much more electricity double-sided panels could generate compared with conventional single-sided panels. More ...
Magment, Purdue to pursue electric transportation pilot projects at Discovery Park District
Magment Concrete Wireless Power and Purdue officials on Dec. 4 announced an innovation partnership to advance electric transportation pilots at Purdue's Discovery Park. Magment and Purdue researchers in the Joint Transportation Research Program will be working on several test cases including micro-mobility scooters, autonomous electric utility vehicle equipment and robotic shop floor delivery systems. More ...
Your food may help make stickier, safer glues for laptops, packaging, furniture
You cannot make glue out of a ham sandwich – but you may be able to use the components of that food to create a strong adhesive. That's the thinking behind technology developed by a group of scientists at Purdue, who have taken inspiration from the kitchen and the ocean to create strong glues. More ...
What if a bridge could prevent its own collapse in real time?
Several major bridges worldwide collapsed in 2019, ranging from a pedestrian bridge in Miami, killing six people, to a towering arch bridge in Taiwan dumping a truck onto boats below. A new Center for Intelligent Infrastructure at Purdue is bringing together researchers of various fields to develop technology that a bridge, building, road or other infrastructure could use to communicate directly with humans and respond to disasters, preventing collapse. More ...
Site search: A digital approach to targeting proteins in disease
What if scientists could create more effective drugs to treat cancers and other diseases by better targeting specific sites of proteins in the body? That's the primary question researchers in the Purdue laboratory of Carol Post, a distinguished professor in Purdue's College of Pharmacy, are trying to answer. More ...
Camouflage made of quantum material could hide you from infrared cameras
Infrared cameras detect people and other objects by the heat they emit. Now, researchers have discovered the uncanny ability of a material to hide a target by masking its telltale heat properties. The effect works for a range of temperatures that one day could include humans and vehicles, presenting a future asset to stealth technologies, the researchers say. More ...
This 'lemon' could help machine learning create better drugs
One of the challenges in using machine learning for drug development is to create a process for the computer to extract needed information from a pool of data points. Drug scientists must pull biological data and train the software to understand how a typical human body will interact with the combinations that come together to form a medication. Purdue drug discovery researchers have created a new framework for mining data for training machine learning models. More ...
Sensing technology could improve machine learning precision for manufacturing, electric vehicles, smart homes
The same small piece of technology that one day may help train welding robots and monitor electric vehicles could enable energy companies to better power smart homes and factories. Purdue innovators have developed a sensing module that works with machine learning for applications ranging from electric cars to manufacturing and home design. The technology is a small and noninvasive sensor that monitors electric currents. More ...
Reorganizing a computer chip: Transistors can now both process and store information
A computer chip processes and stores information using two different devices. If engineers could combine these devices into one or put them next to each other, then there would be more space on a chip, making it faster and more powerful. Purdue engineers have developed a way that the millions of tiny switches used to process information – called transistors – could also store that information as one device. More ...
Purdue Systemwide
Purdue Northwest graduates encouraged to 'find their why'
Graduates were encouraged to make choices that lead to individual fulfillment and cause a positive difference in the world during Purdue University Northwest's fall 2019 commencement ceremonies on Dec. 14-15. The graduating class consists of 1,225 candidates, including the conferring of three doctoral degrees, 253 master's degrees and 969 baccalaureate degrees. More ...
Purdue in the News
Washington Post: Opinions: Here is a powerful alternative to student loans
National Review: University president: A conversation with Mitch Daniels (Part one of three)
Inside INdiana Business: Purdue Global joins Disney Aspire education network
The Conversation: How can we make sure that algorithms are fair?
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