Supersonic pingpong gun helps break barriers to engineering education

Mark French had a big dream in January of 2013. With a subsonic pingpong gun already built, French wanted to take the idea to a whole new level. So French and his team created a supersonic pingpong gun, which can shoot a pingpong ball faster than the speed of sound.

His team consisted of Ph.D. students Craig Zehrung and Jim Stratton. Davin Huston, a continuing lecturer of electrical and computer engineering technology, watched over the tests as they were performed.

NDA trip yields internships, jobs

In the spring, the Purdue student chapter of the National Demolition Association (NDA) attended NDA’s annual convention in San Diego. The students and their advisor were able to network with many contractors and vendors in the demolition industry. In fact, by the end of the event, all of the Purdue students were offered internships or full-time employment after graduation.

Veteran's mentor program has origins with BCM student

The Veterans Success Center at Purdue University evolved from a building construction management student's hope that every student veteran could have their own "Jerry Brown."

As a student, Bryan Morris said he was able to relate well with Brown, a building construction management professor who is now retired. When Morris mentioned it to Dave Hankins, his Student Veteran Organization (SVO) advisor, they began to lay the groundwork for a mentor program for student veterans.

In the news: Rogers working to secure high school computer networks

Nearly every school system in the United States has its own computer system, and Marcus Rogers says they have become an easy target for cybercriminals.

"They tend to be pretty wide open and insecure, and there's a lot of ability to use those as test beds," said Rogers, associate professor of computer and information technology in Purdue's College of Technology. "Credit card fraud, identity theft, or in some cases, they might even be going out and looking at some sort of foreign espionage."

Entrepreneurs can use lab to refine concepts, build prototypes

College of Technology students and faculty will have access to the campus Artisan and Fabrication Lab (AFL) to build prototypes of their products.

The 4,000-square-foot AFL opened in 2009 and has been used by College of Engineering students for hands-on coursework projects. It is considered one of the country's premier university-based, supervised prototyping facilities.

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