Purdue University has been involved in aviation education since the mid-1930s. Recent announcements suggest that this program with such a long history is about to make some more historic strides.

With steps under way for a hypersonic test facility and a soon-to-be-installed hypersonic tunnel, Purdue has raised interest from an already deep-pocketed partner—Rolls-Royce—that plans to build a new test facility on the Purdue grounds.

What could all this mean?

Research for National Security

In late July, Purdue announced plans to construct a 65,000-square-foot hypersonic research facility, which will be the first of its kind. Coming in at about $41 million, this test facility will explore new hypersonic flight capabilities.