Andrea Vacca, the Maha Fluid Power Faculty Chair and professor of agriculture and biological engineering and mechanical engineering, moved from Italy to Indiana to optimize fluid power systems for vehicles in agriculture, aerospace and construction. For his 25 years of innovation, teaching and training and seven years of leading the Maha Fluid Power Research Center, he was recently nominated by leading fluid power industry representatives and inducted into the Fluid Power Hall of Fame of the International Fluid Power Society.

Industrial waste, fragile supply chains and decarbonization targets rarely arrive one at a time. In a macroeconomic supply chain, choices made today inside one industry can cascade across suppliers, recyclers and regulators tomorrow. Traditional tools often treat these pieces in isolation, leaving decision makers without a unified view of how to design for true circularity. This fragmentation obscures feedback, delays investment and dulls accountability across value chains. Abhimanyu Raj Shekhar, a Bilsland Fellow and fifth-year PhD candidate in Purdue’s Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering, is tackling those challenges together.

Adynamic team of student leaders from diverse agricultural fields, under the leadership of the Institute for Digital and Advanced Agricultural Systems (IDAAS), will host Purdue University’s first-ever Symposium of Digital Agriculture (SyDAg) and Hackathon Weekend. These landmark events will bring together researchers, industry professionals and innovators in a collaborative effort to shape the future of agriculture.

The dedicated students behind SyDAg include Ana Morales, Anna Mendes, Autumn Denny, Emmanuel Cooper, Erick Oliva, Gustavo Santiago, Harsh Pathak, Jeanine Arana, Leonardo Bosche, Leslie Aviles, Mariela Fernandez, Natalia Volpato, Megan Low, Pedro Cisdeli, Wily Sic and Thirawat Bureetes.

Purdue University and John Deere had been discussing opportunities to collaborate, and the development of an automated unloading system was the perfect chance to combine forces. Purdue didn’t just have technical expertise – the university also offered agricultural insight and the facilities to test emerging technologies in real-world conditions.

Six engineering majors were represented in the seventh cohort of Purdue Engineering Fellows, honored during a ceremony on Sept. 16 at Fowler Hall in West Lafayette.

Fellows were honored for their critical thinking and problem-solving skills, positive relationships with peers and contributions to the Purdue Engineering community.

“Nearly 99% of the plastics produced today are made from petrochemicals derived from oil or gas, which often must be imported from outside the United States,” Sankaranarayanan said. “We want to take advantage of locally available materials, such as those commonly used throughout the state of Indiana.”

Zhiyuan Chen is one of three Purdue University students that have been named by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) as 2025 Astronaut Scholars — one of the nation’s most prestigious merit-based scholarships for undergraduates in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

All the staff and professors have open-door policies so you don’t need to be hesitant to go in and ask for help.

- Harsh Pathak, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Michael Holland (BSME ’05, MS agricultural engineering ’07, PhD agricultural engineering ’12), James Bartlett (BS agricultural engineering ’08) and Greg Long (BS agricultural engineering ’07, MS agricultural engineering ’09) are the minds behind the hydraulics on the prototype John Deere E-Power battery electric tractor.