Skip to main content

March, 2015

Cynthia Paschal wins Ingalls teaching award at spring assembly

Mar. 31, 2015—Associate Dean Cynthia Paschal was recognized by Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos for her achievements in teaching both inside and outside the classroom at Vanderbilt’s Spring Faculty Assembly March 31. Paschal received the Ellen Gregg Ingalls Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching, which includes a cash prize and an engraved pewter Washington Camp Cup. The award...

Read more


Simulating success in aerospace and automotive manufacturing

Mar. 31, 2015—The use of high-performance carbon fibers in the past 50 years has revolutionized product design and manufacturing – from airplanes and automobiles to golf clubs and skateboards. However, the barrier to expanding applications for the stalwart carbon composites and the advanced composite materials being developed now is an ‘outdated and overly conservative building-block approach’ to...

Read more


Gummy Bears, laser pointers demonstrate concepts at celebration of light

Mar. 30, 2015—Children and their parents crowded against the table at Adventure Science Center, eyes glued to biomedical engineering grad student John Nguyen and the green laser pointer pressed to his index finger. “Can you see the light come through my finger?” he asked. “No!” came the chorus of voices back — and it’s true, the green...

Read more


Researchers seek answers to cancer, diabetic wounds in controlling gene networks

Mar. 27, 2015—Behind the pathology for a variety of painful and deadly diseases lie genes that aren’t doing their jobs. They may be blocking the healing process for foot wounds in diabetic patients or contributing to cancer by interfering with the dying off of mutated or damaged cells. Kelsey Beavers, a Vanderbilt University Ph.D. candidate in interdisciplinary...

Read more


Fauchet joins nationwide pledge to White House to train next-gen engineers

Mar. 26, 2015—Students will be prepared to address major global challenges of the 21stcentury Vanderbilt University School of Engineering Dean Philippe Fauchet signed a letter of commitment presented to President Barack Obama at the White House Science Fair Monday, March 23, in which more than 120 U.S. engineering schools announced plans to educate a new generation of engineers expressly...

Read more


Higher ed leader Jeffrey Selingo to describe college of the future at April 7 lecture

Mar. 26, 2015—School of Engineering announces creation of Schmidt Family Annual Educational Technologies Lectureship As technological advances ‘evolutionize’ higher education, award-winning author and speaker Jeffrey Selingo imagines what the college of the future will look like. Selingo will deliver the inaugural lecture – College (Un)Bound: The Future of Higher Education – April 7 for the School of...

Read more


Class learns biomedical engineering behind breathalyzer tests

Mar. 24, 2015—Students in a biomaterial manipulation class got an inside look at a piece of equipment they hope they never experience outside the lab. Samera Zavaro, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation forensic scientist charged with training officers on breathalyzer tests and ensuring the instruments’ calibration, demonstrated one Monday – with students chewing yeasty crackers and dipping...

Read more


Mission to Mars? Engineers discuss NASA’s innovative Space Launch System

Mar. 20, 2015—Should humans go straight to Mars or stop at the moon first? It’s an actual debate in international space exploration circles, NASA engineers told a group of Vanderbilt University School of Engineering students and professors Friday afternoon. It’s also one where NASA has a strong voice — thanks to development of a vehicle that can...

Read more