May, 2018
Dean presents 2017-2018 faculty, staff and student research awards
May. 8, 2018—Dean Philippe Fauchet announced May 8 the promotions of seven engineering faculty members at the final faculty meeting of the 2017-2018 academic year and presented four awards at a reception following the meeting. Five faculty members have been promoted to the rank of professor: Aniruddha Gokhale, computer science and computer engineering; David Merryman, biomedical engineering;...
Getting robotic surgical tools from the lab to the operating room
May. 8, 2018—The path from university lab to commercialization is especially complex in the biotech industry. Challenges range from long lead times, sometimes measured in decades, to the costs of transforming ideas into innovations, as well as issues of intellectual property, patenting and licensing. Yet Nabil Simaan, a mechanical engineering professor who specializes in designing robots to...
Ultrasound helmet would make live images, brain-machine interface possible
May. 8, 2018—Brett Byram, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is developing a helmet that allows for brain ultrasound imaging. (Daniel Dubois/Vanderbilt University) Ultrasound technology for the brain could mean real-time images during surgery, a better idea of which areas get stimulated by certain feelings or actions and, ultimately, an effective way for people to control software and...
Engineering students anchor 2017-18 NCAA championship bowling team
May. 7, 2018—It’s got math, physics, logic, precision and a nice slice of art. No surprise, then, that engineering students comprised more than a third of the 11-person roster on Vanderbilt’s 2017-18 NCAA Champion bowling team. The team clinched the title in April, its second national championship since Head Coach John Williamson started the program in 2004-05. Just...
Koutsoukos heads NSA Lablet to enhance America’s post-hack resiliency
May. 7, 2018—Cyber-physical systems let you analyze Fitbit data on a smartphone. They tell your house to bump up the thermostat before you get home. They run traffic lights. Mass transit. Electrical grids. It’s not a question about whether these systems connecting humans and technology are hackable. America’s challenge is to keep them running after inevitable hacks...
Class of 2018 Profile: Josh Fleck, ME major, empowers people with disabilities
May. 7, 2018—a high school student in Bradenton, Florida, Josh Fleck knew he wanted to research and develop robotic prosthetic devices. At the time, however, he had no concept of what that research looked like. He’s more than resolved the mystery. Fleck, a mechanical engineering major, has spent the past three years working with Vanderbilt Assistant Professor Karl Zelik...
I-Corps training supports commercialization of NSF-funded research
May. 5, 2018—Even as an undergraduate majoring in chemical engineering, Lara Jazmin, PhD’15, had a deep interest in applying math and science to real-world problems. She found a golden opportunity to do just that as a graduate student when she started working in the laboratory of Jamey Young, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Vanderbilt....
Chemical engineering senior named Fulbright Scholar
May. 3, 2018—Chemical engineering senior Marie Armbruster has received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award to Galicia, Spain, from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Armbruster will support the teaching of English in local plurilingual schools. Armbruster is one of more than 1,900 Americans who will conduct research, teach English,...