December, 2015
Computer science class demands user focus from start of design process
Dec. 31, 2015—Future engineers and others who excel in an increasingly popular computer science course must start by thinking past the coding challenges, past the array of possible devices, and all the way to the customers they want to reach. For the fall 2015 semester, one Vanderbilt University School of Engineering team considered the worried family members...
Engineering school builds bridge to local, state maker communities
Dec. 22, 2015—Vanderbilt University School of Engineering added another pillar to the bridge it’s building to the maker community in Nashville and beyond. The school’s daylong ” Design, Build and Test (DEBUT) Makerspace Planning Workshop” Dec. 11 attracted well over 100 registrants who were interested in previously announced plans for a 13,000-square-foot Innovation Center to be housed...
Entrepreneurs pack panel at VISE symposium, alum Tyler-Kabara wows with keynote
Dec. 21, 2015—The world’s smartest technology means nothing if there’s no market for it. And the best business and marketing plan is pointless if there’s not effective engineering to back it up. One entrepreneur after another hit on that message at Vanderbilt Institute in Surgery & Engineering’s fourth annual symposium, held Dec. 16 in Light Hall. Panelists...
Don’t nag me about taking the bus. Vanderbilt engineers already put me on it.
Dec. 17, 2015—By Heidi Hall VUSE Communications Guilt and nagging just don’t work on me. My do-gooder, bus-riding friends who constantly hounded me about adding to traffic congestion and hurting the environment with my car? I just learned to avoid them. Show me that there’s a great reason to make a different choice, and you’ve got...
Gore named fellow of National Academy of Inventors
Dec. 15, 2015— John Gore (Anne Rayner/Vanderbilt) John Gore, director of the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Fellowship is granted to “academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality...
Anatomy of a microscopic wood chipper: New observations reveal how an individual cellulase enzyme operates
Dec. 11, 2015—Illustration of the system used to measure the behavior of an individual cellulase molecule. The red shape represents the atomic tweezers that use laser light to manipulate small objects. The blue sphere represents the plastic microsphere that the atomic tweezers can manipulate. The strand of DNA that links the cellulase enzyme to the microsphere is...
Vanderbilt names distinguished computer scientist as vice provost for research
Dec. 10, 2015— Padma Raghavan Following an extensive national search, Padma Raghavan, a distinguished researcher in high-performance computing and computational science and engineering and a proven academic research enterprise leader, has been named as Vanderbilt University’s next vice provost for research, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan Wente announced today. Raghavan will begin her new...
Innovation Realization brings nationally-recognized tech transfer class to Vanderbilt
Dec. 8, 2015—A Georgia Institute of Technology professor is bringing her ground-breaking, nationally recognized entrepreneurship program here, teaming Vanderbilt School of Engineering students with those in the business and law schools for an entrepreneurship class that uses real-life examples. Four groups presented their ideas recently at Owen Graduate School of Management, explaining how their designs work, their...