Mechanical Engineering

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

Falling is no joke when you're a senior citizen or have other balance issues. Vanderbilt engineers are working on a 'smart cane' that could help physical therapists spot and treat problems sooner. Read More

New clues to Alzheimer's disease, helping kids deal with stress, understanding why our universe is three-dimensional and—of course—electric eels all appear in this year's look back on the research stories that were visited the most frequently on Vanderbilt's website in 2017. Read More

A fundamental advance in the quality of an optical material used to make hyperlenses makes it possible to see features on the surface of living cells in greater detail than ever before. Read More

Seven outstanding Ph.D.’s with diverse backgrounds and experiences have come to Vanderbilt to pursue postdoctoral training with an eye toward academic careers. Read More

Collaboration between a mechanical engineer at Vanderbilt University and a pulmonologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has resulted in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 grant that will be used to develop a steerable robotic needle to safely biopsy hard-to-reach lung nodules. Read More

"Performance-boosting super suit" hidden under clothing can be activated by a double tap to save users' backs. Read More

A new energy harvesting system developed at Vanderbilt University can generate electrical current from the full range of human motions and is thin enough to embed in clothing. Read More

Johnny Hall Dunlap, a Vanderbilt University alumnus and professor emeritus of mechanical engineering known for his devotion to students, died June 17 in Nashville. He was 85. Read More

Leon Bellan made a dissolving circuit board that, so far, just turns on an LED light. Its potential applications are far more promising. Read More

Vanderbilt engineers have designed a “granular jamming cap” filled with coffee grounds that can improve the accuracy of the sophisticated “GPS” system that surgeons use for nose and throat surgery. Read More

An interdisciplinary materials science graduate student has been selected for a prestigious entrepreneurship program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to scale and commercialize a revolutionary method of carbon nanotube production. Read More

For ten straight years, Vanderbilt has soared to success with innovative rocket designs and payloads, and this year is no exception. Read More

Nashville nonprofit Thistle Farms teams up with The Wond'ry to design a custom wick-setting tool for eco-friendly wooden wicks. Read More

The Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Innovation Hub will promote robotics in small and medium enterprises and in critical manufacturing sectors like aerospace, automotive, electronics and textiles. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers who “MacGyvered” high-performance batteries from junkyard scraps are featured in a new webpage on energy research created by the Association of American Universities. Read More

Artificial kidneys, gay-straight alliances and junkyard batteries captured readers' attention in 2016. Read More

Expect the unexpected when you walk into Kit Parker’s biophysics lab at Harvard. From cuttlefish skin camouflage to cotton candy machines used for wound dressings, his science is anything but ordinary. In fact, the young scientists inside are just as likely to be playing with crayons to visualize solutions… Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered how to make high-performance batteries using scraps of metal from the junkyard and household chemicals. Read More

Bioengineer Nabil Simaan is taking robotic surgical tools to the next level by making them incredibly flexible and situationally aware. Read More