Boilermaker Engineering Engenuity Podcast

This episode features Vladimir Shalaev on the occasion of his recent election to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering. Years ago, Shalaev studied with a mentor who stressed the importance of trying to do something really big, something based on fundamental science that could potentially lead to truly disruptive innovations. Shalaev specializes in metamaterials, materials that are design...

Today we’re speaking with Professor Yuehwern Yih, newly elected to the National Academy of Engineering, among the highest professional distinctions accorded an engineer. Professor Yih‘s accomplishments have morphed over her career from entomology, to manufacturing, to healthcare, to humanitarian work, to broadly applicable advances in supply chain resilience. In each instance she started afresh, n...

Classroom education and lab research are core, but student organizations outside the lecture halls and labs play an equally vital role in student life, helping students develop top-notch technical skills and providing opportunities for innovation and leadership. Two Purdue student organizations celebrated recent milestones: the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and the Purdue Grand Prix....

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is pretty much the Super Bowl for high-tech. In addition to being a prime stage for the race to dominance of various technologies, this year’s CES featured an actual race: an autonomous racecar competition on the 1.5 mile track at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The event was sponsored by the Indy Autonomous Challenge, where drivers are replaced by sensors, algori...

The United States not only needs to increase the production of the microelectronics at the heart of virtually everything — it must also plug a huge gap in its microelectronics workforce. By 2029, the U.S. is expected to be short almost 150,000 workers in the semiconductor field, including more than 50,000 engineers. Global competition and supply chain risk are prompting a reshoring of semiconducto...

Few mysteries have captured the American imagination like the disappearance of Amelia Earhart over the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937, while attempting to become the first woman pilot to circumnavigate the world. Earhart spent several years at Purdue, which invited her to come to campus and inspire our women students in STEM careers. Earhart stayed in the women’s residence hall for a few weeks each...

There’s a lot more to the wonder drugs that provide life-changing treatments than the research breakthroughs that enable them. Just because you make something work in a lab doesn’t mean you can produce it at scale, especially given the fact that pharmaceuticals are inherently unstable. After discovery of the novel substance (molecule) comes follow-on steps like manufacturing (at acceptable yields)...

The introduction of quantum elements into classical computing is revolutionizing semiconductor technology, as researchers push the boundaries of knowledge at the convergence of physics, chemistry, and electrical engineering. Quantum transport of electrons might sound like something from Star Trek, but the flow and spin of electrons at an atomic scale is what makes possible modern semiconductor tec...

At Purdue, classroom, lab and seminar learning is the springboard for a student’s deep dive into their passions. Purdue students are not only excelling in foundational tenets taught in that traditional academic setting — they are spilling out after class to join or start clubs and organizations, collaborating across disciplines with other students and faculty, entering national and international c...

Semiconductors and chips are at the heart of everything we do. They are some of the most fiendishly complex engineered devices ever built, and are getting even more complex as we race to develop chips with mind-boggling power to fuel artificial intelligence. Chips are also a national security priority, which is why the CHIPS Act aims to onshore, or near shore, semiconductor manufacturing. This is...

It’s widely agreed by all that United States infrastructure is in dire need of improvement, getting low grades like C- and D- in various studies. Luna Lu wants to make our aging infrastructure “smarter.” She’s leveraging the Internet of Things via her smart, materials-based sensor technology and novel, interpretive data-processing methods, enabling infrastructure to monitor and wirelessly communic...