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March, 2020

Dean Paschal helps collect medical supplies locally to help fight pandemic

Mar. 31, 2020—Cynthia Paschal, Vanderbilt senior associate dean for undergraduate education and a biomedical engineering professor, volunteered March 29 at a Nashville drive to collect personal protective equipment for medical workers to use when treating coronavirus patients. The Project C.U.R.E. Nashville event at Nissan Stadium was promoted by the Tennessee Titans, and was reported by The Tennessean....

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Sophomore sets up volunteer grocery shopping and delivery service

Mar. 30, 2020—Connor Oltman knew he’d need activities beyond engineering classes and labs to keep him busy when he got home to Cypress, a small city in Orange County, California. Even as Vanderbilt’s residence halls were closing and the business of educating moved online, Connor put the word out – he was willing to buy and deliver...

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VU engineers and VUMC doctors team up for open-source ventilator design

Mar. 28, 2020—As COVID-19 continues to push unprecedented challenges on medical communities, one of the most pressing threats for hospital staff across the country is a dwindling supply of ventilators. Now, an interdisciplinary team of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center faculty is taking on the challenge by way of a fabricated, open-source ventilator design. Led...

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Engineering student makes face shields to help boost dwindling supply during coronavirus crisis

Mar. 26, 2020—When Vanderbilt University Medical Center resident Ashley Nassiri asked Katy Riojas how to get the School of Engineering involved in the coronavirus crisis, Riojas had an idea. “Vanderbilt is unique in that engineering faculty and students and clinicians are very intertwined and there’s a lot of feedback in both directions, which makes innovation really fun,”...

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BME class repairs medical equipment at 3 hospitals in Guatemala

Mar. 25, 2020—For a class of biomedical engineering undergraduates spring break was about frayed wires, disconnected connectors and malfunctioning monitors rather than sun, sand and surf. A dozen students spent the week in Guatemala repairing medical equipment at hospitals as part of a service learning class taught by Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Cynthia Paschal, associate...

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Baroud receives NSF Early CAREER Award to predict and inform community hazard response

Mar. 11, 2020—Hiba Baroud has received a 2020 NSF Faculty Early CAREER Development grant to boost community resilience and sustainability through a three-pronged project that starts with a better understanding of how people and infrastructures interact during hazards. The five-year, $500,000 grant, “Policy-Infrastructure-Community Interdependencies: The Next Frontiers in Dynamic Networks,” begins July 1, 2020. Baroud, assistant professor...

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Class project leads to a paper in peer reviewed international journal

Mar. 10, 2020—When a research idea is offered to a multidisciplinary class and it results in a journal paper that advances science and creates new scholars, that’s a terrific success. “And, it’s about as collaborative as you can get when graduate and undergraduate students in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and chemistry take on a project,” said Piran...

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Data Science: Next Generation Committee to advance computing at Vanderbilt

Mar. 4, 2020—A Data Science: Next Generation Committee has been formed to evaluate current computing expertise and resources at Vanderbilt University. Six engineering faculty will serve on the committee:  Doug Schmidt, Hiba Baroud, Xenofon Koutsoukos, Maithilee Kunda, Brad Malin and Gregor Neuert. The committee will assess future needs to strengthen the foundations of computing across campus, establish cross-disciplinary connections, and emphasize...

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