Research

A symposium out of Vanderbilt University’s newest institute will provide participants a first look at medical technology coming out of our labs and a recap of tech unveiled at conferences around the world this year. The research to be presented at the Dec. 16 Vanderbilt Institute in Surgery and Engineering… Read More

The U.S. Department of Transportation aired a series of "Vince and Larry" public service announcements on seatbelt use from 1985-1999. Today’s undergraduates were in preschool during the “You Could Learn a Lot from a Dummy” series of PSAs encouraging seatbelt use, but the ads were memorable for… Read More

Researchers in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries long have used cells as mini-factories to produce fuels, medication and other products. They know what goes into cells and what comes out — for instance, yeast cells take in sugar and produce alcohol. What researchers don’t know is what is happening inside… Read More

Instead of looking at space atmosphere as a toxic vacuum, look at it as an asset, said Les Johnson, who handed a silver 4-inch square of solar sail material as light as small bird’s feather to an audience member. As the piece of sail traveled through a standing-room-only crowd in… Read More

James Hill, an associate professor of computer and information science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, has become one of the youngest African Americans to become a tenured professor in computer science at a research university in the United States. Hill gained that distinction in August, when his tenure appointment in… Read More

Addisu Taddese, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship recipient, holds a medical capsule robot. (Heidi Hall/Vanderbilt University) Researchers around the globe who want to customize medical capsule robots won’t have to start from scratch – a team from Vanderbilt University School of Engineering did the preliminary work for… Read More

Vanderbilt University School of Engineering volunteers take middle school girls through an experiment about the environment on Saturday at the Society of Women Engineers national conference. (Heidi Hall/Vanderbilt University) Hundreds of middle school girls learned how a mini car runs off solar power, how to ionize water… Read More

For well over a decade, Vanderbilt Engineering alumnus Brock Smethills (BE’13) and his family have been driving to a picturesque spot just south of Denver, envisioning the futuristic wonderland it would become. Houses where the residents pay mere pocket change for utilities thanks to solar power and a one-of-a-kind system… Read More

Brock Smethills is COO of Sterling Ranch. (Heidi Hall/Vanderbilt University) A recent alumnus who distinguished himself in the aerospace field returns this week to talk about his latest big challenge — launching a 20-year, 12,050-unit sustainable community just south of Denver. Brock Smethills (BE’13) is chief operating… Read More

Ebony McGee (Vanderbilt) Understanding the ways in which women persist in the face of barriers in engineering will be the focus of a collaborative study by education researchers at Vanderbilt and Purdue universities. The three-year study, “Why We Persist: An Intersectional Study to Characterize and Examine the… Read More