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.

Gozdem Kilaz, assistant professor of engineering technology and director of Purdue’s Fuel Laboratory of Renewable Energy (FLORE), will serve as principal investigator for “Higher Energy-Content Jet Blending Components Derived from Ethanol,” a research project funded by a $1.7 million Department of Energy grant.

Ida Ngambeki, assistant professor of computer and information technology, is researching techniques to incorporate secure programming into computer programming curricula without adding to the course load.

Lisa Bosman wants use real-time and historical weather data to enable utility companies and solar energy system owners to predict when and where to expect sunshine and the resulting increase in solar energy generation.