School of Engineering recruits 7 new faculty members

The Vanderbilt University School of Engineering announces the appointment of seven new faculty members to its full-time teaching staff.

They are Jon F. Edd, W. David Merryman, Hak-Joon Sung, Craig L. Duvall, Bennett A. Landman, Yaqiong Xu and Akos Ledeczi.

Assistant professor of mechanical engineering Jon Edd focuses his research on inertial and drop-based microfluidics (BioMEMS), fluid mechanics, crypreservation and cryosurgery. Edd joins VUSE from Massachusetts General Hospital’s BioMEMS Resource Center where he served as a postdoctoral research fellow. He received a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of California-Berkeley in 2006.

Assistant professor of biomedical engineering W. David Merryman’s research interests include cell mechanics, cardiovascular mechano-biology and pathophysiology. Merryman joins VUSE from the University of Alabama-Birmingham where he was an assistant professor of biomedical engineering. He completed a Ph.D. in bioengineering in 2007 at the University of Pittsburgh.

Assistant professor of biomedical engineering Hak-Joon Sung’s research focus is biomaterials and biointerface for vascular and stem cell engineering. Sung joins VUSE from Rutgers University where he was an assistant professor of biomedical engineering. He completed his Ph.D. in 2004 at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Craig L. Duvall is an adjoint assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Vanderbilt until he joins the faculty Jan. 1, 2010, as an assistant professor. Duval’s recent research involves developing stimuli-responsive polymeric carriers for intracellular delivery of biomacromolecular drugs. He currently is a member of the bioengineering department at the University of Washington. Duvall completed a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering in 2007 at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Bennett A. Landman is an adjoint assistant professor in electrical engineering and computer science at Vanderbilt until he joins the faculty Jan. 1, 2010, as an assistant professor. His research interests include magnetic resonance imaging and statistical analysis with emphasis on medical imaging. He currently is an assistant research professor at Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering. He completed a Ph.D. in 2008 at Johns Hopkins University.

Assistant professor of electrical engineering Yaqiong Xu focuses her research on nanoelectronics and nanofabrication. Xu also is an assistant professor of physics. She joins VUSE from Cornell University where she was a postdoctoral research associate. Xu completed a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering at Rice University in 2006.

Akos Ledeczi has been appointed associate professor of computer engineering. He serves as a senior research scientist at the School of Engineering’s Institute for Software Integrated Systems (ISIS). His primary research focuses on wireless sensor networks. At ISIS, his team developed the first WSN-based countersniper system, which localizes a shooter and identifies the caliber and weapon type. Ledeczi completed a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Vanderbilt in 1995.