Purdue

Neil has a bachelors degree in aerospace engineering from Purdue University. He also has a masters degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Southern California.

In a Purdue University lab, team members designed a hair straightener tool — a flat iron with ceramic plates and temperature control.

Purdue University professor, Japanese Ei'ichi Negishi is a co-recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He shares the award with Japanese Akira Suzuki of Hokkaido University and American Richard Heck of the University of Delaware. Together, their work created a method to build complex organic molecules that are now used to manufacture a range of products — from pharmaceuticals to electronics. Our correspondent spoke with Negishi at his office in Indiana shortly after the Nobel announcement was made.

But with corn-based ethanol making up 10 percent of most gasoline in the United States, it is one of several factors pushing up the cost of food, according to Purdue University economist Wally Tyner.