By Lauren Carnahan
At Susan Gray School, a new tree installation has quickly become a favorite feature for the kids. This once empty space now invites students to settle into a cozy reading nook. The tree, with its soft colors and layered wooden branches, helps create the calm, welcoming space the school had hoped for.
“It’s truly inspiring to see the reading nook come to life at Susan Gray School,” said Paige Correia, PT, DPT at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “This creative space not only sparks a love for books and learning, but it also serves as a gathering place for teachers, students, and families. We are incredibly thankful to Kevin Galloway and the skilled engineering students who brought this vision to life, ensuring it is accessible to children of all mobility levels.”
This imaginative addition began as a student project in Vanderbilt University’s ME 3273: How to Make (Almost) Anything and Make it Matter course, taught by Prof. Kevin Galloway, Director of Making at the Wond’ry and Research Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering. Tasked with rethinking an underused hallway, students Bryce Keating, Gabrielle Bruns, and Dante Nicolo Delgado worked closely with the Susan Gray School staff to design something both playful and practical.
“A lot of the other projects felt very theoretical,” said Gabrielle. “This felt like something we could actually complete—and it would have an impact.”
Inspired by the other nooks found in Susan Gray’s classrooms, the three envisioned a large tree structure that would transform the space into something inviting for students—a place to pause, read, and play.
As a team with majors spanning economics, psychology and engineering science, they relied on creative thinking, research, and support from their class and the resources of the Wond’ry, Vanderbilt’s Innovation Center, to build a small-scale prototype. “We didn’t have a ton of technical background,” Bryce said. “But we knew how we wanted the space to feel, and we worked to make that vision real.”
When the semester ended, the small scale design was ready—but the team was headed overseas for study abroad. That’s where Saksham Sharma, a Vanderbilt fourth-year mechanical engineering student, stepped in.
Working with Galloway over the summer, Sharma took on the challenge of scaling the design up to nearly nine feet tall and ensuring it was safe for students. “Architectural designs are an engineer’s nightmare,” Sharma said. “We had to make sure it looked beautiful, but also that it was safe for kids to play around.”
With the help of the Susan Gray team, Sharma selected a calming color palette and added playful 3D elements to give the tree depth. Over the course of two months, he handled everything from CAD redesigns to CNC cutting and painting—so much painting that his shoes still bear the marks of the project.
“It wasn’t just an engineering project,” Sharma said. “It was also an art project. I’ve been involved with art since my first year, so it was nice to reconnect with that part of myself, too.”
As part of the final design tweaks, Galloway suggested adding a small cutout in the base of the tree to resemble a mouse’s home—a subtle detail that added even more charm. “At first, I wasn’t sure how we’d make it work,” Sharma said. “But once we prototyped it and figured out how to integrate it into the tree’s structure, it became one of my favorite parts. Now it just adds so much personality.”
For the Nook Book Team, seeing their vision realized—even from afar—was deeply rewarding. “It looks exactly how we imagined,” Bryce said. “It’s surreal that it actually came to life.”
Their work is now a permanent part of Susan Gray School, offering young students a place to gather, play, and imagine beneath the branches of a tree that embodies the spirit of collaboration, creativity, and care at Vanderbilt.
“Honestly,” Gabrielle said, “this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of.”
Contact: brenda.ellis@vanderbilt.edu