The most popular Vanderbilt research stories of 2013 plumbed mysteries of the brain, examined complex social phenomena, shed light on dark matter, uncovered a surprising link among our three greatest health threats and more.
Of the top ten stories, Akos Ledeczi and Kenneth Pence with Vanderbilt’s Institute for Software Integrated Systems landed at No. 9 with mechanical engineer Cary Pint’s research at No. 5.
9. Tracking gunfire with a smartphone
Vanderbilt computer scientists have developed a smartphone-based system for identifying the location where gunshots are fired. (Courtesy of ISIS)
Akos Ledeczi and Kenneth Pence with Vanderbilt’s Institute for Software Integrated Systems have created a simple, inexpensive way to turn an Android smartphone into a sniper locator—something that currently requires a dedicated array of sensors mounted on military vehicles.
5. New device stores electricity on silicon chips
Assistant Professor Cary Pint (Joe Howell / Vanderbilt)
Mechanical engineer Cary Pint has designed a silicon-based supercapacitor that can charge and discharge in minutes, instead of hours, and operates for a few million cycles, instead of a few thousand cycles like batteries. This could one day lead to solar cells that can produce electricity at night, and cell phone batteries that charge in minutes.
See the full top ten research stories here.