Purdue Polytechnic's "guitar lab" remains one of Purdue's most popular courses. Gryphon Mawhorter’s lifelong passion for building guitars caught the attention of Mark French, who teaches the course. French appointed Mawhorter, a junior in audio engineering technology, to lab supervisor — and Mawhorter is now charting his own unique path in the Polytechnic.

Purdue Polytechnic's James Tanoos turned the tables on his students this semester by giving them the opportunity to be consultants. Students got to use their expertise learned in class and beyond to help two businesses, by and for Boilermakers, persistently pursue their goals with the latest strategic approaches.

Purdue Polytechnic and the College of Engineering celebrated the dedication of Dudley and Lambertus Halls, the Engineering & Polytechnic Gateway Complex. The state-of-the-art $140 million complex, built during the last three years, opened in January 2023. It is now home to new laboratories for the Polytechnic’s School of Construction Management Technology, School of Engineering Technology, Department of Computer and Information Technology and Department of Computer Graphics Technology, plus faculty offices and numerous labs and offices for the College of Engineering.

Purdue Polytechnic’s Jason Ostanek is collaborating with colleagues at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) on research to establish laboratory testing capability, enhance performance and improve the safety of lithium-ion batteries.

Purdue Polytechnic’s Vetria Byrd and a multidisciplinary research team received a five-year $15 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish I-GUIDE, a new institute for geospatial data-driven scientific research.

Purdue Polytechnic researchers are using the Toolbox Dialog Initiative (TDI) to improve their cross-disciplinary collaboration. The TDI team from Michigan State University facilitates collaborative partnerships and investigates the practice of collaborative research.

Because of inhospitable living conditions in outer space, some of the galaxy’s next explorers will be robots. To ascertain the caliber of the world’s robotics experts, the Centennial Challenges Program at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) teamed with the Space Center Houston, the official visitor center of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, for the Space Robotics Challenge. A team led by Byung-Cheol “B.C.” Min, associate professor in Purdue Polytechnic’s Department of Computer and Information Technology, is a finalist in NASA’s robotics challenge.

Knowing the types of machines available at Bechtel Innovation Design Center and being familiar with how they work is fundamental to Purdue students’ projects; however, becoming an expert in a machine’s use in order to create only one piece for a class project seemed a bit excessive. Matthew Swabey, Bechtel’s director, needed a happy medium, so he enlisted Bechtel’s student employees, led by Anirudh Pal, to devise a solution.

Purdue University’s Polytechnic Institute has teamed with leading technology and manufacturing corporations, including Rockwell Automation, Caterpillar, General Mills and Microsoft, to launch the Smart Manufacturing Industrial Infomatics program. Additional partners include the Foundry Educational Foundation, International Society of Automation and the US-DoE Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII).

Purdue University’s Polytechnic Institute is receiving support from major technology companies for the college's Smart Manufacturing program and facilities. Microsoft, Rockwell Automation, PTC, Endress+Hauser, Foundry Educational Foundation, International Society of Automation, and the US-DoE Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII) are collaborating to support the Polytechnic’s faculty and staff as they transform learning to prepare the next generation of graduates specializing in 21st-century manufacturing technologies.