An all-woman team from Purdue won the third annual Stryker Engineering Challenge Sept. 27-28 at Stryker Medical in Portage, Mich.

Team members were Bakytgul Khaday, Gwenlynn Schroeder, Sarah Small and Rachel Lindsay. Khaday and Schroeder are electrical engineering technology majors, and Small and Lindsay are mechanical engineering majors.

Photo: Jeff Ackerman and Justin Siepel (far right) meet with client prospects as part of their NSF i-Corps project.)

Musculoskeletal injuries are the second most common reason to go to the doctor and cost $850 billion a year in the United States alone. Through their National Science Foundation (NSF) funded research on robotics, a Purdue graduate student and his advisor have created a device to help alleviate such injuries for people who carry heavy luggage, briefcases and even medical stretchers.

As lawmakers around the country and world grapple with energy policy and decisions, the College of Technology is preparing its students for a utility landscape that could be much different than today’s. With new courses, new partnerships and new ways of addressing increased demands (for electricity and for conservation), the college is focusing on ways to impact the energy sector on several fronts.

Matt Mckillip is a man on fire. As executive director of Tech Ventures, he has a passion for commercializing ideas, which is vital to Purdue and the surrounding community. The ultimate vision is this: take great ideas, mix in support and expertise, and push the product into the marketplace. This dynamic mixture will help give new discoveries the spark they need to transform from idea to world-changing venture.