Engineering and Technology
Cellular soldiers designed to kill cancer cells that get loose during surgery, stop metastasis
Jul. 24, 2019—Cellular soldiers created using the body’s own defenses can track down and kill escaping cancer cells during surgeries, preventing metastasis and saving lives, a Vanderbilt University biomedical engineer has discovered, particularly in cases of triple negative breast cancer.
Vanderbilt engineers tripped people 190 times, but it was for a good cause
Jun. 19, 2019—The automatic stumble response, so natural for most people, is virtually impossible for those who use prosthetic legs, simply because even state-of-the-art prosthetics cannot adapt to stumbling.
Quick DNA test for malaria drug resistance is life-saver, holds promise for other diseases
Jun. 12, 2019—Doctors formerly had to extract the malaria parasite’s DNA first, virtually impossible to do in rural, low-resource areas.
iPhone plus nanoscale porous silicon equals cheap, simple home diagnostics
Jun. 11, 2019—A Vanderbilt University electrical engineer has combining her research on low-cost, nanostructured thin films with a device most American adults already own to create a diagnostic tool.
Vanderbilt wins NASA’s 2019 Student Launch Competition, sixth in 7 years
May. 16, 2019—Vanderbilt’s Aerospace Design Laboratory again has earned top honors in NASA’s National Student Launch Competition, the lab’s sixth national championship and second consecutive win in 12 years.
Road test proves adaptive cruise control can add to traffic jam problem
May. 7, 2019—For the experiment, the team put seven different cars from two manufacturers on a rural highway and simulated actual driving conditions.
Lippmann awarded NSF CAREER grant to study mechanics of blood-brain barrier
Apr. 12, 2019—Ethan Lippmann, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development grant.
Hatzell awarded NSF CAREER grant to expand research on lithium-ion batteries
Apr. 12, 2019—Kelsey Hatzell, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development grant.
Duddu awarded NSF CAREER grant to better understand Antarctic ice sheet fracture
Apr. 4, 2019—Ravindra Duddu has been awarded a $555,000 NSF CAREER grant to analyze Antarctic ice sheet fracture, improve models for ice mass loss and reduce uncertainty in long-term projections of average sea level rise.
Find Your Impact: Student empowers women through tech
Mar. 27, 2019—Vanderbilt engineering student Miti Joshi took a leap of faith when declaring her major. She ended up falling in love with computer science and launching Vanderbilt Women in Computing.
Like racecars and geese, cancer cells draft their way to new tumor sites
Mar. 25, 2019—The finding gives a boost to the field of metabolomics, the next big thing in fighting cancer. It can complement immunotherapies, which use the body’s natural defenses to kill cancer cells.
New low-profile ankle exoskeleton fits under clothes for potential broad adoption
Mar. 22, 2019—Developed by Vanderbilt mechanical engineers, the device is believed to be the first ankle exoskeleton that could be worn under clothes without restricting motion. It does not require additional components such as batteries or actuators carried on the back or waist.