Purdue's third annual Day of Giving raised a record $18.3 million in one day. Mechanical Engineering supporters alone donated $4.5 million -- the largest of any school, department, or organization at Purdue. Thank you!

Mechanical engineering major Katie Hoevet, a Purdue track and field star, has won the prestigious Big Ten Medal of Honor for 2016. The award, given to just one male and female athlete in every Big Ten school, recognizes both academic and athletic excellence.

Monika Ivantysynova (Maha Fluid Power Systems Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering) has received the Morrill Award, for professors whose careers have demonstrated excellence in teaching, research, and engagement missions. The award comes with a $30,000 prize. Ivantysynova studies fluid motion in the modeling and simulation of pumps and motors.

Founded by ME post-doc Brandon Terry, Adranos Energetics plans to revolutionize the solid-fuel rocket industry, which has remained largely unchanged since the 1950s. Based on work done at Zucrow Labs, Brandon's new rocket fuel has led to several victories for Adranos in recent entrepreneurial contests.

According to research by Arvind Raman (Robert V. Adams Professor of Mechanical Engineering), studying the subtle oscillations of one’s standing posture can help to diagnose neuromuscular conditions like concussion symptoms, or multiple sclerosis.

Eric Nauman, professor of mechanical engineering, has been named the recipient of a 2016 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in Memory of Charles B. Murphy.

A new paper demonstrates how carbon nanotubes can be precisely positioned and aligned, forming “nanotube forests” that could more easily be used to build complex and useful structures. Under the supervision of Stephen Wereley (professor of mechanical engineering), the team conducted this research at Birck Nanotechnology Center.

A paper by Xiulin Ruan (associate professor of mechanical engineering) and his group is among the most cited since 2011 by the journal Computational Materials Science. The paper -- "Molecular dynamics simulations of lattice thermal conductivity and spectral phonon mean free path of PbTe: Bulk and nanostructures" -- was authored by Bo Qiu, Hua Bao, Gengqiang Zhang, Yue Wu, and Xiulin Ruan.

Developed by Karthik Ramani (Donald W. Feddersen Professor of Mechanical Engineering) and his students, the Ziro hand-controlled robot is now available to order, after being named one of the best inventions at the Consumer Electronics Show. Ziro was highlighted by the LA Times, Engadget, Wired, Yahoo, and many more.

Students got up close and personal at the biggest event for the smallest science: NanoDays, at Purdue University's Birck Nanotechnology Center. The research center in Discovery Park was buzzing with special activities and learning opportunities focused on nanotechnology. Students could get geared up to go into a cleanroom, play with ferrofluids, and eat some nano-created ice cream.