Since 2018, scientists in Purdue Polytechnic’s strategic research impact areas have been working to solve challenges in cybersecurity and critical infrastructure that affect global economics, security and health. Faculty members in the Holistic Safety and Security team are building on research that has received national attention and funding.

Purdue Polytechnic’s Robert Nawrocki and his research colleagues are designing a soft, flexible electrode that can be comfortably placed on the skin, enabling a treatment called deep nerve stimulation. The new technology could potentially provide relief for medical disorders including migraine, rheumatoid arthritis and many gastrointestinal illnesses without the side effects of traditional pharmaceutical treatments.

Jose Garcia Bravo and Brittany Newell, assistant professors of engineering technology, along with Jose Chamorro, Santiago Guevara, Jose Solorio, Laura Vallejo and other colleagues, collaborated to design a system that predicts the health of conveyance systems in industry. Improving the reliability of conveyor belts has the potential to improve efficiencies and reduce costs in a variety of industries.

Inspectors check for compliance with building codes during construction projects. Purdue Polytechnic’s Jason Zhang is researching how to automate code compliance-checking and modular construction by using building information modeling (BIM).

Purdue Polytechnic’s Byung-Cheol “B.C.” Min is leading a team designing SMARTBoat 5, an unmanned surface vehicle that removes harmful algae blooms from shorelines and waterways. The vehicle’s lightweight frame was built from 3D-printed parts and can be used in a variety of environments, from small, shallow ponds to large lakes.

Purdue Polytechnic’s Sabine Brunswicker, Soowon Chang, Dominic Kao and Alejandra Magana participated in short-term research projects related to how universities adapted to the pandemic.

A utility company turned to Purdue Polytechnic’s Jason Ostanek and Luis Maldonado to deal with the potential of foul-smelling air near ground-level ventilation shafts for the DigIndy Tunnel System, a 28-mile network of huge sewage storage tunnels 250 feet below Indianapolis.

Phillip Sanger is using a Fulbright Scholarship to study intercultural and gender influences at play in team dynamics by teaching at Kazan National Research Technological University (KNRTU) in Russia. He is also creating a four-year spine of courses that will help KNRTU students learn to manage real-world projects in challenging multicultural teams and help professors there incorporate project-based learning throughout their curricula.

Nicoletta Adamo and Bedrich Benes are researching the ways in which emotional computer-animated instructors affect student learning. Their research also aims to guide the design of affective (that is, emotion-generating) on-screen agents that work well for different types of learners.

Jason Ostanek, assistant professor of engineering technology and director of Purdue’s Applied Thermofluids Laboratory, and graduate students Luis Maldonado and Jhon Quiñones are working with Citizens Energy Group to study air flow in the DigIndy Tunnel System, a 28-mile network of 18-foot diameter sewage storage tunnels being built 250 feet below Indianapolis.