‘John R. and Donna S. Hall Engineering Lecture’
MacArthur Fellow, Berkeley engineer to deliver March 17 Hall Lecture on robot learning and safety in avionics
Mar. 4, 2021—Claire Tomlin is a pioneer in hybrid control systems research, particularly aeronautical applications to address problems in aircraft flight control and collision avoidance. She has developed algorithms to help determine when unsafe conditions may arise as variables and interactions become increasingly complex. Her work includes issues of autonomous control of a team of unmanned aerial...
Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold creates new enzymes by following nature’s lessons
Sep. 17, 2020—Mixing chemistry, biology and engineering, Frances Arnold tweaks enzymes found in nature to perform new tricks by altering their DNA. Arnold, a Caltech chemical engineer with a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, scads more awards and honors, and research citations through the roof, delivered a rousing virtual lecture to some 700 listeners—almost twice. “You missed a...
Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold to deliver the Hall Engineering Lecture Sept. 15
Aug. 26, 2020—Nobel Prize-winning chemical engineer Frances Arnold will deliver the Vanderbilt School of Engineering’s fall John R. and Donna S. Hall Engineering Lecture Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 4 p.m. CT. Her lecture, “Innovation by Evolution: Bringing New Chemistry to Life,” is free and open to the public. It will be live streamed and registration is required. Arnold’s work centers on...
A path toward shapeshifting new materials—Engineering’s Hall Lecture Feb. 12
Jan. 24, 2020—Next-generation materials will be defined by their ability to adapt, change their properties, change their shape—shapeshifters. “We want to be able to make material that can flow when it wants to flow, that can be rigid when it needs to be rigid, that can appear one way or appear another way,” said Sharon Glotzer, John...
Visionary Italian architect, engineer to show how sensing technologies can reshape cities
Feb. 15, 2018—MIT Senseable City Lab Director Carlo Ratti to deliver Vanderbilt’s Hall Lecture Feb. 22 Carlo Ratti creates technological solutions that respond to citizens of cities. He makes cities senseable. “In the midst of rapid urbanization, the concept of smart cities — or senseable cities — as we prefer to call it, is simply the manifestation...
Notre Dame’s Brennecke to deliver Hall Engineering Lecture Nov. 29
Nov. 11, 2016—A highly recognized researcher and prolific writer dedicated to creating a better environment, Joan F. Brennecke will deliver the fall 2016 John R. and Donna S. Hall Engineering Lecture. Brennecke is the Keating-Crawford Professor of Chemical Engineering and the founding director of the Center for Sustainable Energy at Notre Dame University. The Hall Lecture is...
Tiny flying robots form teams, cooperate—Engineering’s Hall Lecture Oct. 12
Sep. 16, 2015—Vijay Kumar and his students at the University of Pennsylvania build small, agile flying robots that swarm, sense each other, and form ad hoc teams that could be used for search and rescue in large-scale disasters. Kumar, recognized around the world for his groundbreaking work on the development of autonomous robots and on biologically-inspired algorithms...
Simulating success in aerospace and automotive manufacturing
Mar. 31, 2015—The use of high-performance carbon fibers in the past 50 years has revolutionized product design and manufacturing – from airplanes and automobiles to golf clubs and skateboards. However, the barrier to expanding applications for the stalwart carbon composites and the advanced composite materials being developed now is an ‘outdated and overly conservative building-block approach’ to...