As the Perseverance rover makes its way to Mars, it contains something never seen before on the red planet: a spacesuit. Amy Ross (BSME '94, MSME '96), who designs spacesuits for NASA, put samples of spacesuit materials on the rover to test them in the harsh conditions of Mars.

Accurately diagnosing the spread of cancer often involves painful and invasive biopsy procedures. The use of a "liquid biopsy," which involves a simple blood draw, has been shown in a five-year clinical trial to accurately detect and monitor certain kinds of breast cancer. The device to perform these "liquid biopsies" was created by Purdue ME professor Cagri Savran.

For Fall 2020, on-campus undergraduates will have a mixture of in-person, hybrid, and online classes. Here is a spreadsheet of how all undergrad-level ME classes are being conducted in Fall 2020.

Congratulations to Steve Son, who received the Research Excellence Award from the Combustion Institute for "high-impact scientific contributions."

Pavlos Vlachos, professor of mechanical engineering, has received funding from the Trask Innovation Fund, through the Purdue Research Foundation's Office of Technology Commercialization. Vlachos is a fluid mechanics researcher whose work includes biomedical cardiovascular devices.

Particles are everywhere, from food to pharma -- and no one knows particles like Purdue! The Center for Particulate Products and Processes combines the best of academia with the best of industry, to advance the science of particles, powders, and compacts.

Jessica Traver Ingram never planned to become an engineer -- or CEO of a medical startup at age 25! She describes how Purdue Engineering prepared her for anything.

Every time a gun fires, lead leaches into the air. A scientific advancement from Purdue ME professor Davin Piercey could provide a comparable replacement for lead-based explosive materials found in ammunition, protecting soldiers and the environment from potential toxic effects.

Wear a mask. Sanitize your hands. Simple steps, but no one knows their effectiveness better than Yan Chen, who has studied the airborne spread of diseases since the first SARS outbreak in 2003.

"Flat pack furniture" may soon have a new meaning. Purdue researchers have developed a 3D printing method that emulates the switchable bistability of the Venus flytrap plant. This breakthrough in material science may soon inspire flat objects that snap into their final stable form with very little external force.