May 3, 2013
Scientific American: An App that locates the source of shots
Vanderbilt University engineers have developed a module that works in combination with a smartphone. The device can pick up the “sonic signature” of gunfire, and then sense shockwaves produced from the bullet. The App sends the combined information to an Android phone, where it plots the details on a map. The story was also published in Fast Company and Guns.

April 30, 2013
Al Jazeera: Autistic boy responds to his robot
A robot designed by Nilanjan Sarkar, professor of mechanical and computer engineering, has been shown to help children with autism learn certain social skills. Sarkar andZachary Warren, director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders, are quoted.

Sun News (Canada): Need to find a sniper? There’s an app for that
Computer scientists at Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Software Integrated Systems have developed an Android smartphone program that can detect where shots are coming from. Akos Ledeczi, associate professor of computer and electrical engineering, is quoted. The story ran in Sun-affiliated newspapers across Canada. The research was also covered by The Atlantic.

April 29, 2013
Fast Company: The best teachers for autistic children: robots
It’s strange to think that robots are teaching humans to be more “normal,” but Vanderbiltresearchers are successfully using a humanoid robot called NAO to help children with autism develop certain social skills.

Discovery News: Android phones pinpoint snipers
A team of computer engineers from Vanderbilt University’s Institute of Software Integrated Systems has developed an inexpensive hardware module and related software that can transform an Android smartphone into a simple shooter location system. Akos Ledeczi, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Kenneth Pence, associate professor of the practice of engineering management, led the research. The story was also reported by CBSNews.com, the Times of India, Mashable, Futurity, Gizmag(Australia), and Wired’s U.K. edition.

April 26, 2013
FoxNews.com: Could you design the next marine amphibious assault vehicle?
A three-person team from Texas, Ohio and California has won the first stage of DARPA’s Advanced Vehicle Make competition to design a new amphibious assault vehicle for the military. Using DARPA’s META design tools and its online collaboration platform VehicleFORGE, developed at Vanderbilt’s Institute of Software Integrated Systems, to manage and submit their designs, the competitors developed a drive train for the new vehicle. The next contest will be for the best chassis design.

Science Daily: Tracking gunfire with a smartphone
A team of computer engineers from Vanderbilt University’s Institute of Software Integrated Systems has developed an inexpensive hardware module and related software that can transform an Android smartphone into a simple shooter location system. Akos Ledeczi, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Kenneth Pence, associate professor of the practice of engineering management, led the research.

April 24, 2013
CBS News: Boston Marathon amputees face challenges relearning how to walk
The victims of the Boston Marathon bombing may have to live with the physical and emotional scars from the April 15 attack for the rest of their lives. For some of the injured, that includes learning how to live without one or more of their limbs. Prosthetics researcher Michael Goldfarb, H. Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is quoted.

April 19, 2013
Nashville Post: Engineering problem to solve? Check Vanderbilt University’s Senior Design Day
Today is Senior Design Day at Vanderbilt University, and it means that dozens of engineering students will show off their team solutions to challenges posed to them by corporate sponsors such as Nissan North America, Gresham Smith & Partners, Oreck Corp., the Tennessee Department of Transportation, NASA and CH2M Hill. Cynthia Paschal, associate dean, is quoted.

WTVF, Channel 5, aired a report about Vanderbilt researchers Nilanjan Sarkar, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Julie Crittendon, professor of psychology, who have developed a humanoid robot that can be used in therapy for children with autism. The video was provided by Vanderbilt Video.

April 12, 2013
WLS (Chicago) aired a report about a humanoid robot called NAO that Vanderbilt researchers are using to help children with autism develop better attention skills. Researchers Nilanjan Sarkar, professor of mechanical engineering and computer engineering, and Julie Crittendon, professor of psychiatry, are quoted.

VUSE in the News 2013 Archives

VUSE in the News 2012 Archives