Research

Frank L. Parker, Distinguished Professor of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, Emeritus, has been unanimously chosen to receive the 2018 W. Bennett Lewis Award for Sustainable Energy and Development from the American Nuclear Society at its November conference in Orlando, Florida. The award recognizes those who have made major lifetime… Read More

Engineering faculty members will play key roles in two new university-wide interdisciplinary initiatives as well as help develop a Vanderbilt University institute of data science. The efforts are among the newest round of grants made through the $50 million Trans-Institutional Programs initiative, now in its fourth year. In all,… Read More

Orthopaedic surgeons typically look at X-ray or CT images of a broken arm bone and hold up an old-school ruler to confirm the best plate type and size for repair. But the process is not always that easy, especially in cases involving complex fractures. And without years of experience to… Read More

Imagine a box you plug into the wall that cleans your toxic air and pays you cash. That’s essentially what Vanderbilt University researchers produced after discovering the blueprint for turning the carbon dioxide into the most valuable material ever sold – carbon nanotubes with small diameters. Carbon nanotubes are supermaterials… Read More

Janos Sztipanovits, a leader in cyber-physical systems research, has been named the John von Neumann Professor by Budapest University of Technology and Economics and the John von Neumann Computer Society of Hungary. Sztipanovits, E. Bronson Ingram Distinguished Professor of Engineering and founding director of the Vanderbilt University Institute for… Read More

Vanderbilt rocketry team at NASA Student Launch in Toney, Alabama, on Sunday April 8, 2018, before liftoff of their rocket Senor Cohete: L-R, Sara Tsai, Tristan Gilbert, Xavier Williams, Conner Morency, Kurt Lezon, Alex Byrd, Spencer Kallor, William Pagano, Taylor Parra, Peyton Fite, Dominic Ghilardi, Daniel Schneller, Ben Gasser, Katie… Read More

Nabil Simaan’s Advanced Robotics and Mechanism Applications Laboratory at Vanderbilt leads the way in advancing several robotics technologies for medical use. The path from university lab to commercialization is especially complex in the biotech industry. Challenges range from long lead times, sometimes measured in decades, to the costs of transforming… Read More

Brett Byram, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is developing a helmet that allows for brain ultrasound imaging. (Daniel Dubois/Vanderbilt University) Ultrasound technology for the brain could mean real-time images during surgery, a better idea of which areas get stimulated by certain feelings or actions and, ultimately, an effective way… Read More

Cyber-physical systems let you analyze Fitbit data on a smartphone. They tell your house to bump up the thermostat before you get home. They run traffic lights. Mass transit. Electrical grids. It’s not a question about whether these systems connecting humans and technology are hackable. America’s challenge is to keep… Read More

Josh Fleck, a mechanical engineering senior, plans to pursue a PhD. (John Russell/Vanderbilt) a high school student in Bradenton, Florida, Josh Fleck knew he wanted to research and develop robotic prosthetic devices. At the time, however, he had no concept of what that research looked like. He’s more than resolved… Read More