Engineering and Technology
Advanced exoskeleton promises more independence for people with paraplegia
Oct. 30, 2012—A team of Vanderbilt engineers has developed a powered exoskeleton that enables people with severe spinal cord injuries to stand, walk, sit and climb stairs. Its light weight, compact size and modular design promise to provide users with an unprecedented degree of independence.
State’s high-tech challenge: Turn Tennessee Valley into a Silicon Valley
Oct. 29, 2012—Securing the future of Tennessee-based technology endeavors requires stronger appreciation and support for scientific research and development within the state, says Janos Sztipanovits, director of Vanderbilt’s Institute for Software Integrated Systems.
The Tennessean: Vanderbilt’s new engineering dean ready to tackle big societal problems
Oct. 22, 2012—As the new dean of the Vanderbilt School of Engineering, Philippe Fauchet sees his role as one that stretches far beyond the university.
Grant to develop battery to aid home energy use
Oct. 16, 2012—Peter Pintauro, H. Eugene McBrayer Professor of Chemical Engineering and chair of the chemical and biomolecular engineering department, has partnered with researchers from the University of Kansas and TVN Systems, Inc. on a three-year, $1.72 million grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a durable, low-cost battery capable of gathering power at off-peak hours and storing it for use during times of high demand.
Undergrads virtually manipulate model car for fast design changes
Oct. 5, 2012—The goal of the Adaptive Vehicle Make program is to develop software to test vehicle designs before they are built.
ISIS software project receives $17.2M contract from DARPA
Sep. 28, 2012—The Vanderbilt Institute for Software Integrated Systems has been awarded a $17.2 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to accelerate the Android Mobile Middleware Objects (AMMO2) project. The contract was announced Sept. 19.
Mechanical engineering team wins Wyss-IEEE award for robotic leg prosthesis
Sep. 20, 2012—Two mechanical engineering graduate students and their professor have received the Wyss Institute-IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Award for Translational Research for their work on a robotic leg prosthesis, selected from submissions by biomedical engineers and scientists from academic institutions worldwide.
Sustaining Tennessee: Challenges and opportunities for making good decisions
Sep. 17, 2012—The effects of climate change will have widespread impact on the state, but there are opportunities to offset it by incorporating “climate-friendly” and “climate-resilient” actions into routine management decisions, say scientists from Vanderbilt University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, University of Memphis and the Tennessee Department of Health in a new report.
Google Research Award goes to engineering team
Sep. 7, 2012—A novel approach to improve location information to centimeter scale accuracy using the global positioning system has earned a Google Research Award for an engineering professor and his team.
NSF funding boosts Vanderbilt climate change studies in Sri Lanka
Sep. 6, 2012—In 2010 the Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment began a unique interdisciplinary study of agricultural adaptation to water scarcity in Sri Lanka's Mahaweli River Watershed. Now a five-year, $3.7M grant from the National Science Foundation, through their Water Sustainability and Climate program, will further the study and its global best practices.
New data mining benefits learning science, earns award
Sep. 6, 2012—A new exploratory data mining technique for identifying important student learning behaviors and strategies is grabbing entrepreneurial interest and kudos from the international community.
Spinach power gets a major boost
Sep. 4, 2012—Vanderbilt researchers have combined the photosynthetic protein that converts light into electrochemical energy in spinach with silicon, the material used in solar cells, in a fashion thatproduces substantially more electrical current than has been reported by previous "biohybrid" solar cells.