AAE Zucrow Alumni swept the AIAA Liquid Propulsion Technical Committee Awards this year at the 51^st AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference.

Diwakar Naragani has been awarded the best poster prize at the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on the Frontiers in Physical Metallurgy. The conference was held July 19-24, 2015 at the University of New England. One of the cornerstones of the GRC is fostering advancement within the younger generation of scientists and engineers, which culminates in the student poster presentations.

Leah Jamieson, Purdue University’s John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering, will travel to the White House on Thursday (July 9, 2015) for a roundtable discussion on ways to increase the involvement of women and girls, as well as other underrepresented groups, in STEM fields of study.

School of AAE Professor Daniel Dumbacher, former NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, and Dr. Michael Griffin, former NASA Administrator (2005-2009) under President George W. Bush, discussed the "powerful new launcher," the Space Launch System (SLS) in a recent guest column.

School of AAE Alumna Jane Kinney (BSAAE'11) was named as the new Assistant Director by Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) on June 25, 2015. Kinney's appointment follows the departure earlier this month of AAE alumna Sirisha Bandla (BSAAE'11) who left CSF for a new position in the commercial space industry.

Congratulations to the 2014-2015 Research Symposium Series Winners. This year's Research Symposium Series had seven seminars and fourteen presentations.

Purdue University held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Indiana Manufacturing Institute on June 23, 2015. More than 200 people attended the ceremony for the IMI, which is part of a $50 million project where Purdue University researchers will advance research of composite materials manufacturing to develop more energy-efficient technologies.

School of Aeronautics and Astronautics graduate student Samantha Alberts has been chosen as the 2015-2017 Student Liaison for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Board of Directors. Created in 2004, the Student Liaison position is designed to provide the Board of Directors with a direct link to student members as well as utilize insight from a student perspective.

The United States Air Force Academy and the Association of Graduates (AOG) announced the winners of the Distinguished Graduate Award for 2014. Recipients include Dr. Thomas J. Eller, who received his M.S. in 1969 from Purdue's School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Dr. Eller graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1961, and spent 20 years in the Air Force, serving as a pilot and faculty member at the Academy. He is the recipient of numerous medals and commendations, including twice receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).

School of Aeronautics and Astronautics Ph.D. student Sayan Biswas has been awarded a 2015 Summer Research Grant.