November, 2014
Mechanical engineering undergrad gives back to inspirational middle school
Nov. 26, 2014— Most visitors to John Early Museum Magnet Middle School see wide smiles and hear cheerful hellos while walking down hallways brightly decorated with kids’ artwork and positive messages. But the greetings for school volunteer Adam Bell, a fourth-year mechanical engineering major at Vanderbilt University, may be even heartier. Bell provides a frequent, visible reminder...
Discovery Canada show features Professor Doug Adams and intelligent materials
Nov. 20, 2014—The Discovery Canada show “Daily Planet” featured a segment this week on Professor Doug Adams, who took a camera crew on a tour of his intelligent materials research at Vanderbilt University’s Laboratory for Systems Integrity and Reliability. Using a bat and a hammer, Adams — the Daniel F. Flowers Professor of Engineering and chair of the Department...
Dean Fauchet lectures at BU, says silicon fueled technological revolution
Nov. 18, 2014— Editor’s note: This was originally published Nov. 17 on the Boston University engineering website. It was written by Gabriella McNevin. “Aside from oxygen, silicon is the most abundant material on earth’s crust,” stated Vanderbilt University Engineering Dean Philippe Fauchet while speaking as part of the ECE Distinguished Lecture Series at Boston University. On Oct....
NEE students gain hands-on experience at plants, national recognition for work
Nov. 18, 2014—Across the country, schools of engineering devote their researchers to building a better nuclear power plant. Vanderbilt University’s engineers specialize in making existing plants more environmentally friendly and in what happens after those plants have outlived their usefulness. It’s a niche role becoming more crucial as the nation addresses an aging but vital nuclear power...
Engineering students’ ideas take off after marathon 3 Day Startup session
Nov. 17, 2014—On Friday afternoon, the five teams of students had a lot of amorphous ideas. By Sunday night, they had potential companies. That’s the idea behind 3 Day Startup, an international nonprofit that sends representatives with a proven curriculum to campuses to run weekend entrepreneurial camps. It’s a brutal marathon that includes killing off bad ideas...
New form of crystalline order holds promise for thermoelectric applications
Nov. 14, 2014— Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope image showing the interlaced crystalline structure. (Wu Zhou/ORNL) Since the 1850s scientists have known that crystalline materials are organized into 14 different basic lattice structures. However, a team of researchers from Vanderbilt University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) now reports that it has discovered an entirely new form of...
Jumpstart Foundry’s Gatto enthralls crowd with stories of entrepreneurial heroes
Nov. 14, 2014— If entrepreneurs want to convince anyone that their product is worthwhile, they have to tell a story, the inaugural Chambers Family Entrepreneurial Lectureship speaker told a group of rapt listeners this week. Vic Gatto, a Nashville venture capitalist and founder of start-up accelerator Jumpstart Foundry, also told the crowd inside Vanderbilt University’s Jacobs Believed in...
Professors serve on Trans-institutional Programs review council, panels
Nov. 14, 2014—Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos (Vanderbilt University) Four engineering professors will serve on review boards of the formally launched new $50 million Trans-institutional Programs initiative outlined in the university’s Academic Strategic Plan. Doug Adams, Daniel F. Flowers Professor of Engineering and chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, joins the TIPs Review Council. Anita...