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December, 2020

Engineering Triple ’Dore selected for 2020 Student Media Hall of Fame class

Dec. 17, 2020—A Vanderbilt Television pioneer-turned-rocket scientist is one of five newest members of the Vanderbilt Student Media Hall of Fame. Patrick Taylor, credits his 12 continuous years of working in student media with helping launch his career at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation and Missile Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Taylor, a Triple ’Dore who...

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Neuroengineer joins School of Engineering Jan. 1, 2021

Dec. 16, 2020—Christos Constantinidis has been appointed professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering beginning Jan. 1, 2021. At Vanderbilt, he also will be a member of the university’s Brain Institute and the Vision Research Center. He joins the School of Engineering from the Wake Forest School of Medicine. Constantinidis’ research focuses on uncovering how neuronal activity...

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Engineering alumna Kimberly Robinson named U.S. Space & Rocket Center Executive Director and CEO

Dec. 15, 2020—Kimberly Robinson, a 31-year NASA veteran, has been named the executive director and CEO of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. The Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission said she will begin her new role Feb. 15, 2021. “I look forward to joining the remarkable team at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center to inspire our...

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Computer science team wins global contest with AI model that translates English to code

Dec. 14, 2020—IBM will use Vanderbilt model as end-user scripting assistant in its open-source Command Line AI Project One day, a deep learning model will translate the sentence you type in English to computer code that will accomplish what you stated in the sentence. A team of Vanderbilt computer scientists has shortened the distance with a top...

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Engineering school’s three new endowed fellowships support researchers, faculty recruitment

Dec. 8, 2020—Through a Faculty Fellowship Challenge, donors have established endowments that will support rising faculty talent in the School of Engineering. Sally Baker Hopkins, BE’78, and David L. Hopkins, Caroline and Jack P. Williams Jr., BE’86, and Laura J. and William W. Hoy Jr., BA’64, have provided support for faculty fellowships that will receive a match...

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Michael Goldfarb elected Fellow of National Academy of Inventors

Dec. 8, 2020—Michael Goldfarb, H. Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors. The NAI Fellows Selection Committee chose Goldfarb, also, a professor of electrical engineering and physical and medical rehabilitation, for demonstrating “a highly prolific spirit of...

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Clark Foundation establishes Vanderbilt engineering school endowment

Dec. 7, 2020—The A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation has established a $1 million endowment at the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering to support its faculty. This investment honors Courtney Clark Pastrick’s service on Vanderbilt’s Board of Trust from 2010 to 2020. The A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation Faculty Endowment will enable the creation of...

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Researchers develop unique process for producing light-matter mixture

Dec. 7, 2020—Discovery provides insight for developing next generation optoelectronic and infrared devices In groundbreaking new research, an international team that includes a Vanderbilt engineer has developed a unique process for producing a quantum state that is part light and part matter. The discovery provides fundamental new insights for more efficiently developing the next generation of quantum-based...

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