Mechanical Engineering

Vanderbilt’s Aerospace Design Laboratory again earned top honors in NASA’s 2019 National Student Launch Competition, the Space Agency announced today. This is the lab’s sixth national championship, winning the top spot in the last seven years: 2019-2018 and 2016-2013. “The 2019 project has been one of our most complex experiments to date. The challenges—both imposed... Read More

Dean Philippe Fauchet announced May 7 the promotions of two engineering faculty members at the final faculty meeting of the 2017-2018 academic year and presented four awards at a reception following the meeting. Craig Duvall and Jamey D. Young have been promoted to the rank of professor. Duvall’s promotion to full professor of biomedical engineering... Read More

Postdoctoral scholars Samantha Yohn and Anneke Sanders and ophthalmology professor Rebecca Sappington were honored by the Graduate School at the 13th Annual Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Association Symposium on April 9. Read More

Army Futures Command and Vanderbilt University signed an agreement April 9 that links creative, innovative soldiers with top-tier Vanderbilt University experts so that ideas quickly can become useful products. Leaders from the two groups say this five-year education partnership agreement is a potential model for military-academic collaboration across the nation, not only on research and... Read More

Kelsey Hatzell, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development grant. Read More

From an Alternative Spring Break trip to renovate houses with Habitat for Humanity, to a Home Depot–sponsored web-coding hackathon, to a semester of study abroad that took him to cities such as Madrid, Marrakesh and Istanbul—Robby Perry’s time at Vanderbilt exemplifies just how much you can pack into four years. Read More

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. Read More

Connor Morency, a senior from Wheaton, Illinois, studying mechanical engineering, has been named to the 2019-20 class of Luce Scholars. As a Luce Scholar, he will gain new perspectives through immersive living and professional work experiences in Asia. Read More

Working with an orthopedic specialist who advises the NFL Players Association, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Karl Zelik discovered that sensors only measuring the impact of the foot hitting pavement tell users little about the forces on bones that lead to stress fractures. Read More

The R&D 100 Awards are an international competition that recognizes the 100 most exceptional innovations in science and technology from the past year. Read More

A serious injury inspired senior student-athlete Sara Tsai to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering and a future in helping others. Read More

Kelsey Hatzell studied the performance of a promising electrolyte for solid-state lithium batteries under real-world conditions. Read More

Rising junior Jillian Bremner is steering beyond her academic focus this summer to explore her passions for scuba diving and ocean conservation, with the aim of eventually combining engineering with a marine career. Read More

Imagine a box you plug into the wall that cleans your toxic air and pays you cash. That's essentially what Vanderbilt University researchers produced after discovering the blueprint for turning carbon dioxide into the most valuable material ever sold – carbon nanotubes with small diameters. Read More

The Vanderbilt Student Launch team won the NASA University Student Launch Competition for an unprecedented fifth time—following up on their eighth Payload Design Award—the space agency announced Friday. Read More

Nabil Simaan’s Advanced Robotics and Mechanism Applications Laboratory at Vanderbilt leads the way in advancing several robotics technologies for medical use, including miniature robots for single small-incision, cochlear implant and minimally invasive throat surgeries. Read More

As a high school student, Josh Fleck knew he wanted to research and develop robotic prosthetic devices. At Vanderbilt, the mechanical engineering major has spent the past three years in Assistant Professor Karl Zelik’s Biomechanics and Assistive Technology Lab immersing himself in research. Read More

Elizabeth Lee identifies as many things. She’s a mechanical engineering major, a proud Asian American, and a woman working in the STEM fields. To give a clearer voice to these identities, Lee created a web comic called “Existing Quietly, Living Loudly.” Read More

Engineering students in the Vanderbilt Aerospace Design Laboratory will demonstrate their solution to a common rocket dilemma at the 2018 NASA Student Launch Competition on April 7. Read More

The first annual LaryHacks, a competition to design innovative devices, apps or methods to assist laryngectomy patients who have had their voice boxes removed, has been set for Thursday, April 12, 5 to 8 p.m., in the Wond’ry, 2414 Highland Ave. in the Vanderbilt University Engineering and Science building. Read More