Congratulations are in order for many of our ME faculty members! Purdue's Board of Trustees has just approved a slate of faculty promotions, and here are the ones in our ME family.

A surge of migrants. An unstable power grid. A changing climate. Even the hostile takeover of a dam. The US-Mexico border is currently facing a number of daunting challenges. But according to research just published by Purdue University engineers, there is one thing that could solve all these problems: water.

Gas turbine engines often are considered the "heart" of airplanes and ships. Now, a Purdue team including Prof. Nicole Key, looking for new solutions to reduce emissions and enhance operations of these engines, have come up with technology similar to tests used on human hearts.

Congratulations to Francesco Fuentes, Glynn Gallaway, Ryan Regan, and Maureen Winter, who received Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation, and will pursue their research at Purdue. The prestigious five-year fellowship includes an annual stipend of $34,000.

After rotator cuff injuries, many patients actually retear the tendon after surgery. Purdue researchers Eric Nauman and Darryl Dickerson began working on the problem in 2004, and developed a small strip with both hard and soft tissue layers, which attaches with standard laparoscopic surgical techniques. Bones and tendons connect more naturally, leading to a more durable and longer-lasting repair, and quicker recovery time for patients.

Purdue Engineering's graduate program ranks #4 in the latest US News & World Report rankings: its first time in the top 5, and the highest ranking ever for a school of Purdue's size. Mechanical Engineering's graduate program is ranked #8 in the country, the 30th straight year that Purdue ME is in the top 10.

Congratulations to all our ME graduate students, postdocs, and instructors who have been recognized by the College of Engineering's Graduate Program Awards.

The smaller we make computer processors, the more heat they generate. Justin Weibel's Cooling Technologies Research Center creates miniaturized solutions to dissipate that heat, including custom 3D-printed heat sinks.

Congratulations to Purdue ME swimmers Ryan Lawrence and Nick Sherman: both named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team, and both headed to Greensboro for the NCAA Championships!

Electric vehicles won't be widely adopted without fast charging - which creates a huge amount of heat. Prof. Issam Mudawar has developed a system that successfully dissipates heat at high currents, even up to 2400 amps.