Mechanical Engineering Research Areas

Surgical robotics is an emerging discipline that harnesses the power of computer-aided surgery and robotics to assist surgeons to achieve improved outcomes to their patients. The transition from open surgery to minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery in the 80’ and 90’s has allowed patients to benefit from reduced pain, smaller incisions and, in some cases, improved outcomes. However, this transition could not reach its full potential without robot assistance due to dexterity limitations of manual tools and difficulties of associating pre-operative imaging data with the actual surgical scene. The 90’s has seen some small-scale commercial systems for surgical assistance followed by early 2000 when the first commercially successful system for minimally invasive surgery was released. Despite this progress, there are many surgical applications and anatomical regions that remain inaccessible with existing commercial systems. Also, the ways in which robot and computer guidance can be used to improve surgical outcomes are still motivating new research in this area.

Medical and Surgical robotics efforts at our department aim to create new technologies that address the clinical and surgical needs of new surgical paradigms. Often, these new technologies are transformative in a sense that they enable surgeons to carry out procedures that otherwise are impossible to perform without the help of technology. The research efforts in our department include medical robot design and system integration, image-guided surgery and human-robot interaction for supporting new surgical applications. Graduate students in our program are exposed to a unique multi-disciplinary environment in which mechanical engineers collaborate with clinicians and surgeons to create new technologies as part of the Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering (VISE). The unique colocation of the Vanderbilt medical center and our engineering school present graduate students with unique opportunities and access for collaboration with clinicians. The training offered in our program is complemented with courses from biomedical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science allowing Ph.D. students to join leadership research positions in both industry and academia.

• XIAOGUANG DONG
  Research Focus: The design, manufacture and control of miniature soft robots, and their applications in minimally invasive medicine, microfluidics and biomechanics. The design, manufacture and control of miniature swarm robots, and their applications in biomedicine and biomechanics. The modeling, design, manufacture and control of intelligent soft materials
• JASON MITCHELL
  Research Focus: Human augmentation through engineering, wearable sensors, exoskeletons, prosthetics; mechanical simulation and design
• NABIL SIMAAN
  Research Focus: Robotic systems for surgical assistance, theoretical kinematics of mechanisms, synthesis and optimization of robots and mechanisms, design of flexure mechanisms and flexible robots, parallel robots, actuation redundancy and kinematic redundancy
• ROBERT WEBSTER
  Research Focus: Image guidance, robotic surgery, screw theory, mechanics-based modeling, and optimal mechanism design

Rehabilitation Engineering is the "systematic application of engineering sciences to design, develop, adapt, test, evaluate, apply, and distribute technological solutions to problems confronted by individuals with disabilities" (Rehabilitation Act of 1973). Rehabilitation Engineering research at Vanderbilt focuses on restoring health, mobility, independence and societal participation to individuals with disabilities by:

1. Studying the interdisciplinary science of human movement, called biomechanics/neuromechanics
2. Designing, developing and controlling next-generation assistive and rehabilitative technologies, such as prosthetic limbs and robotic exoskeletons
3. Performing human subject experiments in our state-of-the-art motion analysis lab to measure if and how much these technologies help users
4. Training engineers and scientists to be the future leaders and innovators in the fields of biomechanics, biomechatronics, human augmentation, and neuromotor rehabilitation engineering

• DAVID BRAUN
  Research Focus: Robotics, optimal control, system dynamics, compliant robot actuators, human performance augmentation technology
• MICHAEL GOLDFARB
  Research Focus: Design, modeling, and control of electromechanical devices and systems. Design of high-energy-density robotic actuators. Control of fluid-powered actuators and devices.
• JASON MITCHELL
  Research Focus: Human augmentation through engineering, wearable sensors, exoskeletons, prosthetics; mechanical simulation and design
• NILANJAN SARKAR
  Research Focus: Robotics, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Human-Robot and Human-Computer Interactions, Socially Assistive Intelligent Systems for Healthcare with particular interest in Autism, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Down and Rett Syndrome, Dynamics and Control
• KARL ZELIK
  Research Focus: Biomechanics of legged locomotion, lower-limb prosthetics, assistive technology, dynamic walking principles, neural control, human-device interfaces, mobility, rehabilitation engineering

This research focus area deals with combinations of electronic and mechanical systems to achieve a desired function. Micro-processor control, sensing and creation of smart mechanical devices (e.g. smart active prosthetics or surgical devices) are at the heart of the mechatronics research activities at our department. The controls research deals with modeling of input-output relationships in a given system, formulation of a control paradigms to reject disturbances and use of sensory information to achieve a certain outcome.

Examples of ongoing research include motion control of mechanical systems, motion control of pneumatic/fluid powered systems and control of novel MRI compatible devices that use non-traditional actuation methods. The design aspects of this research focus area include optimal design of mechanical systems to achieve a desired function, structural and dimensional synthesis and optimization of robotic systems and devices.

• ERIC BARTH
  Research Focus: Dynamic systems and control. Design, modeling and control of mechatronic and fluid power systems, free-piston internal combustion and free-piston Stirling engines, power supply and actuation for autonomous robots, and applied non-linear control.
• DAVID BRAUN
  Research Focus: Robotics, optimal control, system dynamics, compliant robot actuators, human performance augmentation technology
• XIAOGUANG DONG
  Research Focus: The design, manufacture and control of miniature soft robots, and their applications in minimally invasive medicine, microfluidics and biomechanics. The design, manufacture and control of miniature swarm robots, and their applications in biomedicine and biomechanics. The modeling, design, manufacture and control of intelligent soft materials
• KEVIN GALLOWAY
  Research Focus: Design of robotic systems from the micro- to the macro-scale, soft robotics, rapid prototyping materials and methods, human-centered design, mechanical design, medical device design, assistive technology.
• JASON MITCHELL
  Research Focus: Human augmentation through engineering, wearable sensors, exoskeletons, prosthetics; mechanical simulation and design
• NILANJAN SARKAR
  Research Focus: Robotics, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Human-Robot and Human-Computer Interactions, Socially Assistive Intelligent Systems for Healthcare with particular interest in Autism, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Down and Rett Syndrome, Dynamics and Control
• NABIL SIMAAN
  Research Focus: Robotic systems for surgical assistance, theoretical kinematics of mechanisms, synthesis and optimization of robots and mechanisms, design of flexure mechanisms and flexible robots, parallel robots, actuation redundancy and kinematic redundancy
• ROBERT WEBSTER
  Research Focus: Image guidance, robotic surgery, screw theory, mechanics-based modeling, and optimal mechanism design

Almost all modern technology is enabled either directly or indirectly by the balance of energy into and out of the system. This energy can be in the form of heat, light, or electricity. Research efforts in this direction broadly focus on new materials, devices, and systems that can harness control over these forms of energy.

Some specific research efforts in the department include new materials and systems to store electrical energy, the study of combustion processes to improve the energy efficiency of energy conversion, the design of metamaterials that can modulate the interaction of light and heat with surfaces, and the study of heat transfer through novel materials and systems that are important to energy consuming technologies. Graduate students who work in this area are exposed to an environment that commonly engages core mechanical engineering preparation with multidisciplinary approaches toward technology development often combining concepts of nanoscience, optics, and/or chemistry. Many faculty in this area are closely associated with the Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (VINSE), which houses state-of-the-art clean room and imaging facilities in the newly constructed Engineering and Sciences Building.

• DEYU LI
  Research Focus: Micro/Nano scale energy and molecular transport phenomena,. Nanofabrication techniques, Molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo Simulation, Micro/Nanofluidics.
• ROBERT PITZ
  Research Focus: Laser diagnostics, laminar & turbulent combustion, turbulence-chemistry interaction, pollutant formation, supersonic combustion, gas turbine combustion, rocket propulsion, Raman scattering, laser-induced fluorescence, molecular-tagging velocimetry.
• JASON VALENTINE
  Research Focus: Optical metamaterials, plasmonics, transformation optics, nanophotonics, nanoimaging, active photonics, gradient index optics, high spatial resolution bioimaging and sensing, solar energy conversion, scalable 3D nanomanufacturing.
• GREG WALKER
  Research Focus: Micro-scale heat transfer, heat flux measurement, energy transport processes, ultrasonic pyrometry, thermographic phospors, energy conversion devices, high-performance computing

Fluids engineering, which involves both liquid and gas flows, is a broad field that includes important applications in aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, combustion and engines, microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip devices, energy production and storage (e.g., wind, hydro, and nuclear power), hemodynamics and biomedical flow, environment and water treatment, and so on. In the department of mechanical engineering, we have particular focuses on both fundamental fluid transport and various practical applications of fluids engineering. These focused areas include:

1. Use advanced laser diagnostic technology, chemical reactions and pollutant generation to study in flames and combustion in gas turbines, engine ignition, and natural gas appliances.
2. Develop fluidic biomaterials and medical devices for diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, and surgery treatment of disease and healing of tissue.
3. Develop multiphase materials and devices for energy storage and water treatment.
4. Use high-performance computing and computational modeling (e.g., computational fluid dynamics) techniques to study the fluid flow in various fluid flow applications such as those mentioned above. 

• LEON BELLAN
  Research Focus: Microfluidics, microfluidic materials, smart materials, biomaterials, micro and nanotechnology, bioMEMS.
• XIAOGUANG DONG
  Research Focus: The design, manufacture and control of miniature soft robots, and their applications in minimally invasive medicine, microfluidics and biomechanics. The design, manufacture and control of miniature swarm robots, and their applications in biomedicine and biomechanics. The modeling, design, manufacture and control of intelligent soft materials
• DEYU LI
  Research Focus: Micro/Nano scale energy and molecular transport phenomena,. Nanofabrication techniques, Molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo Simulation, Micro/Nanofluidics.
• HAOXIANG LUO
  Research Focus: Computational fluid dynamics, biofluids, fluid-structure interaction, microfluidics; biomimetic aerial/underwater vehicles, biomedical flows.
• ROBERT PITZ
  Research Focus: Laser diagnostics, laminar & turbulent combustion, turbulence-chemistry interaction, pollutant formation, supersonic combustion, gas turbine combustion, rocket propulsion, Raman scattering, laser-induced fluorescence, molecular-tagging velocimetry.

Nanoscale Engineering deals with materials and devices with critical dimensions that are of the order of 1 to 100 billionths of a meter. Working at these scales can have a number of advantages. For instance, the properties of nanostructured materials can be tuned over a wide range. This engineering of materials arises, in large part, because devices have the same length scale as that of energy carriers such as photons, phonons, and electrons providing new freedoms to control energy flow and interactions with matter.

In the Mechanical Engineering Department we have a strong emphasis on Nanoscale Engineering with faculty researching how nanoscale materials can be used for a wide variety of applications. This includes fundamental studies focused on manipulating light, heat and fluids as well as more applied work such as developing more efficient energy storage/conversion devices and controlling interactions with biological systems such as cells. Ultimately, Nanoscale Engineering is an inherently interdisciplinary area of research that is at the cutting edge of technology, and Vanderbilt is a significant contributor to the state-of-the-art.

• LEON BELLAN
  Research Focus: Microfluidics, microfluidic materials, smart materials, biomaterials, micro and nanotechnology, bioMEMS.
• XIAOGUANG DONG
  Research Focus: The design, manufacture and control of miniature soft robots, and their applications in minimally invasive medicine, microfluidics and biomechanics. The design, manufacture and control of miniature swarm robots, and their applications in biomedicine and biomechanics. The modeling, design, manufacture and control of intelligent soft materials
• DEYU LI
  Research Focus: Micro/Nano scale energy and molecular transport phenomena,. Nanofabrication techniques, Molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo Simulation, Micro/Nanofluidics.
• JASON VALENTINE
  Research Focus: Optical metamaterials, plasmonics, transformation optics, nanophotonics, nanoimaging, active photonics, gradient index optics, high spatial resolution bioimaging and sensing, solar energy conversion, scalable 3D nanomanufacturing.
• GREG WALKER
  Research Focus: Micro-scale heat transfer, heat flux measurement, energy transport processes, ultrasonic pyrometry, thermographic phospors, energy conversion devices, high-performance computing

At Vanderbilt University, we concern ourselves with the manufacturing needs of the future. We answer questions like how can the car of the future be built more efficiently and how will the next space station be built and supplied? Specifically, we focus on friction stir welding, and applications of additive manufacturing (often called 3D printing).

Friction Stir Welding is a welding technique that will revolutionize the space, aerospace, and automotive industries. This solid state joining process used by both NASA and SpaceX in the construction of their shuttles. Previously unweldable alloys can be joined, as well as dissimilar materials. By joining dissimilar materials, designers can not only select materials on a part by part basis, but on an intra-part basis. Through friction stir welding techniques, we have welded iron meteorite, a conventionally unweldable material.

Additive manufacturing can fundamentally change our notions of complex part development. By creating a reactive material architecture, rate and heat of the thermite reaction can be tuned by geometry as opposed to chemical composition. Metallic additive manufacturing can supply a framework for in-space manufacturing, reducing dependence on scheduled resupplies. Non-traditional materials and techniques can provide solutions to the ever expanding problems of manufacturing.

• LEON BELLAN
  Research Focus: Microfluidics, microfluidic materials, smart materials, biomaterials, micro and nanotechnology, bioMEMS.
• KEVIN GALLOWAY
  Research Focus: Design of robotic systems from the micro- to the macro-scale, soft robotics, rapid prototyping materials and methods, human-centered design, mechanical design, medical device design, assistive technology.
• JASON MITCHELL
  Research Focus: Human augmentation through engineering, wearable sensors, exoskeletons, prosthetics; mechanical simulation and design
• ALVIN STRAUSS
  Research Focus: Nuclear Propulsion, Friction Stir Welding, Direct Energy Conversion, Variational Methods in Mechanics, Mechanical Properties of Actinides, Macro-Engineering, Spacecraft Design