Purdue Engineering

The inaugural Neil Armstrong Space Prize laureates are... 🥁 The five-member @SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster Landing Team! 🚀 The team was nominated for developing the Falcon 9 vertical landing capability, fundamentally changing the launch vehicle landscape by reducing costs and increasing access to space. Falcon 9, the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket, last year had 164 launches with one booster being used more than 30 times. For this Giant Leap, the laureates are being honored under the "innovation" category, recognizing space technology that has most benefited humanity. They attended an announcement via livestream today in Armstrong Hall and were surprised by the news of receiving the award. Read more about the laureates and the prize destined to become the world’s most prestigious honor for space: bit.ly/4cVcip0

WATCH NOW: Purdue Engineering is announcing the inaugural Neil Armstrong Space Prize laureates. The honor is destined to become the world’s most prestigious prize for space. Don't miss this historic event: bit.ly/4vNQGTc

.@PurdueECE's Zubin Jacob has been named a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow, one of the most prestigious honors in American intellectual life This recognition places Jacob in the company of Purdue Engineering luminaries Alexandra Boltasseva, Mung Chiang and George Wodicka. See the full list of fellows: bit.ly/4tkzBhW

At a moment of renewed global ambition in space, the Neil Armstrong Space Prize will inspire the next generation of astronauts, engineers and space innovators to pursue the giant leaps still ahead. Tomorrow, Purdue Engineering will announce the inaugural award winner. Watch the full video: bit.ly/4dYbC3o

Why is Matthew Luckiesh (BSEE 1909) a Purdue Engineering hero? He was an early authority on lighting and became known as the “Father of the Science of Seeing.” In 1910, he began work as a physicist for General Electric’s National Electric Lamp Association (NELA), which, on April 18, 1913, moved from downtown Cleveland to Nela Park, the company’s new, then-rural location 7 miles away. More than 200 horse-drawn vans were used to make the massive move to one of the earliest (if not the first) planned industrial research parks in the nation. There, Luckiesh became director of applied science in 1920 and was director of GE’s Lighting Research Laboratory from 1924 to 1949. His successes included 11 U.S. patents, as well as authorship of 28 books and 800+ scientific and technical articles. His designs were highly successful commercially, representing almost 35% of all lamps purchased in America in 1927. In 1929 alone, 13 million lamps designed by Luckiesh were sold. #OurHeroes #VictoriesAndHeroes @PurdueECE

Last week, Purdue Engineering honored its 2026 Distinguished Engineering Alumni/Alumnae. This year's honorees have distinguished themselves across aerospace, chemical, civil, industrial and mechanical engineering. We're proud to celebrate alumni whose work reflects the very best of Boilermaker Engineering and the profession at large. Boiler Up! 🚂 Learn more about this year's class: bit.ly/4v3E1e8

Purdue Engineering is launching a FREE two-week AI bootcamp this May. “Job Interview in the AI-Era: Coding, Systems, Agents” is open to all Purdue students at no cost. How to register: bit.ly/4dPxBcy

MAKING A SPLASH: All but two of Purdue Engineering's winter 2026 Academic All-Big Ten honorees are with @PurdueMSwimDive and @PurdueWSwim. Among them is @PurdueChemE's Reagan Mattice, who qualified this season for the NCAA Championships in the longest swimming event at the meet, the 1650-yard freestyle. See the full list: bit.ly/3O0C81v

Announcing the fourth and fifth — and final — Purdue 1 crew members! 🚀 Veteran commercial astronaut @Astro_Beth, a @PurdueAeroAstro alumna, and Florence Stahura, a graduate of @PurdueScience, will join the five-person, all-Boilermaker suborbital flight that will include real-time research onboard a @virgingalactic spacecraft. Professor @CollicottSteven, graduate student Abigail Mizzi and @PurdueCCE alumnus Jason Williamson round out the Purdue 1 crew, which came together for the first time during an event today at Armstrong Hall. More about the flight participants and the mission's groundbreaking experiments: bit.ly/4teu7oH

WATCH NOW: @LifeAtPurdue and @virgingalactic are announcing the last two crew members on Purdue 1, the historic all-Boilermaker suborbital flight set to launch next year. If you can't watch in person, don't miss the livestream here: bit.ly/3OldPLx

Tomorrow! 🖤💛🚀💛🖤 #Purdue1

.@LifeAtPurdue is becoming "The Semiconductor University," and several Purdue Engineering professors are at the helm. On the three-year anniversary of the Purdue Computes initiative, read more about the campus-wide push involving @PurdueECE, @PurdueME and other units: bit.ly/4mp5Euj

A prize destined to become the world's most prestigious recognition for discovery, innovation and human achievement in space: the Neil Armstrong Space Prize. An award that's bigger and bolder, inspiring the next generation to take the small steps that lead to the next giant leap. An honor named after the first man to walk on the moon, the most consequential of the 30 Purdue-educated members of the Cradle of Astronauts. Join us for the inaugural award-winner announcement on April 21. Register now: bit.ly/4elxVzR

CE alum Jason Williamson joined our Senior Design class this morning to speak with students ahead of tomorrow's big reveal. Learn more about Purdue 1: bit.ly/4tgIdWM.

Research by @PurdueBME is featured in @ScienceMagazine ⬇️

Stephan Biller with @purdue_ie and @PurdueBusiness has been elected to the 2026 SME College of Fellows — one of just 8 honorees nationwide. More about his contributions to smart manufacturing, AI, digital twins and Industry 4.0: bit.ly/4cjvM5a

Purdue Engineering is celebrating two outstanding teachers with @PurdueECE. Michael Zoltowski has received the Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, Purdue's highest honor for undergraduate teaching. Zoltowski is being recognized for decades of making complex concepts approachable and mentoring generations of Boilermakers. James Davis has earned the Purdue Exceptional Early Career Teaching Award for his dedication to helping students build both technical skills and real-world confidence. Congratulations to two faculty members who go above and beyond for their students. Read more about Zoltwoski: bit.ly/4sjTQuF Read more about Davis: bit.ly/4vsMtEi

Introducing our 2026 Distinguished Engineering Alumni/Alumnae! Darin DiTommaso (BSAAE '88) is vice president of defense and systems engineering for @GE_Aerospace. He is thankful to Purdue for laying a solid foundation in aerodynamics, mechanical design, thermodynamics and materials, which, he says were directly applicable to his career. One of his most memorable professors was Kathleen Howell. “She was among the most demanding and the most supportive, and her orbital mechanics class was very contemporary with the beginnings of the space shuttle program,” he said. DiTommaso is a strong supporter of the GE-Purdue relationship and regularly delivers lectures at Purdue, including multiple visits to the AAE400 seminar class. In 2020, he was named an Outstanding Aerospace Engineer by @PurdueAeroAstro. The full list of honorees: bit.ly/4v3E1e8

Purdue's inaugural Robotics Day brought together ~300 students, researchers and industry leaders, including @AMD, @EliLillyandCo and @Quanser, to showcase the future of robotics and automation. Full story: bit.ly/3QsECGq