Purdue AAE enjoyed a strong presence in Australia as students and young professionals came together to focus on the next generation of space leaders. AAE PhD student Arnau Pons served as the Congress Manager of the Space Generation Congress (SGC) 2017, a three-day event held in September in conjunction with the International Astronautical Congress (IAC).

Purdue AAE enjoyed a strong presence as aerospace experts came together to discuss exploration, security and commerce in space. AAE Prof. Daniel Dumbacher led a group of students in October as they attended the 10th annual Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

The Purdue chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) received second place in a design contest. The team’s proposal, “The Hathor Excavator: A Mission Proposal for Asteroid Mining and the Launch System,” took second place in the AIAA Transportation Design Competition.

Can you imagine? That was the question presented by AAE alumnus Darryl Davis, president of Phantom Works for the Defense, Space and Security (BDS) business unit of The Boeing Company, for the 2017 William E. Boeing Distinguished Lecture.

Purdue Space Day 2017 attracted a record number of children for the annual event. More than 700 participants in grades 3-8 attended this year's event, which gave them the opportunity to learn about STEM.

AAE PhD student Alex Friedman has been selected by an Air Force research lab (AFRL) facility as a SMART scholar.

The work of students from Aeronautics and Astronautics, along with other Purdue students, was featured in an Inside Indiana Business article highlighting the Purdue Hyperloop team. The team recently wrapped its second SpaceX competition.

As a part of Penn State's Fluid Dynamics Research Consortium, AAE Prof. Carson Slabaugh presented a talk on pressure gain combustion (PGC) for advanced energy systems.

AAE alumnus Dr. Rakesh K. Kapania has been awarded the Platinum Jubilee Award by the School of Aerospace Engineering at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science. Dr. Kapania is a renowned expert in aerospace structures and multidisciplinary design optimization.

AAE alumni are helping to make major advances in the development of experimental aircraft. Sarah Arnac and Joe Krsek were part of the team at Scaled Composites who completed the first flight of a new experimental aircraft.