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April, 2016

Alum’s Nervana earbuds use nerve stimulation for blissful listening; debut to rave reviews

Apr. 28, 2016—It only takes a few seconds to understand Nervana is not your regular earbuds. You feel the slightest tingling in your ear as tiny jolts of electricity, synchronized with the beat of “Another One Bites the Dust” or “Back in Black” or “Sweet Emotion,” connect with nerve endings. A few songs in, and you experience...

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More projects, new Design Day site draw record crowd

Apr. 27, 2016—A combination of a record number of design projects and relocation to the university’s Student Life Center ballroom sparked a rise in visitors to the School of Engineering’s annual Design Day. A crowd of about 400 visitors packed the expanded SLC ballroom causing a din that required leaning in to hear senior engineering students in...

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New director sees Innovation Center as both startup and catalyst for campus and city

Apr. 25, 2016—  Robert Grajewski is inaugural director of the new Innovation Center. (Anne Rayner/Vanderbilt) A startup veteran and investor whose ventures range from retail to manufacturing joined Vanderbilt University this spring as the inaugural executive director of the newly created Innovation Center. Robert Grajewski, formerly the president of Edison Nation Medical, a health care innovation incubator,...

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Engineering alumni Evans, Rothschild to lead Vanderbilt University Board of Trust

Apr. 22, 2016—The Vanderbilt Board of Trust has elected Bruce R. Evans to succeed Mark F. Dalton as chairman and Jeffrey J. Rothschild to succeed Jackson W. Moore as vice chairman, effective July 1, 2017. Officer positions are term-limited. Evans and Rothschild are graduates of the Vanderbilt School of Engineering. Evans graduated magna cum laude with a...

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Vanderbilt rocketeers win sixth payload design award at NASA launch competition

Apr. 20, 2016—The Vanderbilt student rocket team collected two key awards in NASA’s Student Launch Challenge following a near flawless flight of their Thrustworthy rocket Saturday, April 16, at Bragg Farms in Toney, Alabama. At the awards banquet held at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Vanderbilt – three-time national champs – won the coveted...

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Anonymous donor pledges $5 million to Vanderbilt Dean’s Chair in Engineering

Apr. 15, 2016—An anonymous donor has pledged $5,000,000 to establish the Dean’s Chair in Engineering at Vanderbilt University’s School of Engineering, Chancellor Nicholas S.  Zeppos announced at the school’s annual distinguished alumni celebration dinner April 14. Deans’ chairs represent the highest faculty honor in academia, recognizing a dean based on the influence of his or her scholarship,...

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Schmidt lecturer predicts higher ed’s future: Lifelong, tech-based learning instead of 4 years

Apr. 14, 2016—UT-Arlington’s Siemens says professors will track student engagement, students will take ‘learner profiles’ with them We know about the clicker – a handheld device that lets professors pose a question and learn almost instantly how many students understand the material. Education researcher and MOOC pioneer George Siemens knows what comes after the clicker. He’s predicting...

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Measuring drought impact in more than dollars and cents

Apr. 14, 2016—(iStock) The standard way to measure the impact of drought is by its economic effect. Last year, for example, the severity California’s four-year drought was broadly characterized by an estimate that it would cost the state’s economy $2.7 billion and 21,000 jobs. However, there are many experts who feel economic measures alone are inadequate to...

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