The Office of Undergraduate Research hosted the 2026 Purdue Spring Undergraduate Research Conference from April 13 to 17. The hybrid event featured in-person poster sessions in the Purdue Memorial Union and research talks in the Stewart Center.
Purdue Polytechnic students and faculty mentors presented projects on topics ranging from artificial intelligence to supply chain emissions.
Mark Altman, an industrial engineering major pursuing a minor in supply chain management technology, presented research alongside data science major Jin Guo. Jim Tanoos, a professor in the School of Engineering Technology, mentored the team. Altman and Guo delivered a talk analyzing pre- and post-pandemic air emission levels among Indiana's fabricated metal and paper manufacturing industries.
Tanoos requires his undergraduate researchers to engage directly with scholarly communities.
"Students who present their research beyond campus demonstrate that their work resonates outside our institution," Tanoos said. "Traveling to present research requires students to defend their ideas before unfamiliar audiences and respond to challenging questions."
Polytechnic faculty also guided students from other Purdue colleges through the university's Vertically Integrated Projects program. Sabine Brunswicker, a professor in the Department of Technology Leadership and Innovation, mentored a multidisciplinary team of computer science and engineering students. The team researched a reinforcement learning environment for fixed-wing autonomous drones inside the Purdue UAS Research and Test Facility.
Student researchers noted that the course operated like a professional lab rather than a traditional classroom.
"The VIP class feels like a professional research lab where we have the freedom to take ownership of our work and experiment with cutting-edge tech," student researcher Aryan Shahane said. "Professor Sabine Brunswicker creates a great environment by treating us like colleagues and pushing us to align our technical code with real-world research impact."
Student Adam Zhang said preparing for the conference helped the team structure their development timeline.
"The undergraduate conference provided an amazing template for our group," Zhang said. "It allowed us to build our research questions and structure our work in an organized way that helped us to do more in less time."
Zhang also credited the lab's leadership for their progress.
"Professor Brunswicker has been extremely helpful in guiding our team in the right direction, while still allowing us to do our own research," Zhang said. "She is extremely passionate about both research and providing the best learning environment for her students."
Student researcher Srinidhi Tammana agreed, noting the value of the hands-on environment.
"VIP is unlike any other class I've taken," Tammana said. "It's research-first, and you genuinely own your work. Dr. Brunswicker creates an environment where curiosity is the norm. She challenges you to think deeper without just handing you the answer."
The conference schedule included dozens of other Polytechnic participants. Keaton David Bennett delivered a research talk mentored by cybersecurity professor Smriti Bhatt. Technology leadership and innovation professor Lisa Bosman mentored multiple student teams, including a poster presentation by Audrey Olivia Ackermann and Nathan William Wu.
The annual conference allows undergraduates across all disciplines to disseminate research results and receive feedback from university judges.
