About Us
Who we are
The Design Studio opened in the fall of 2013 with a handful of mechanical engineering students serving as the first mentors. Since then, it has quickly grown to become an integral part of Featheringill Hall. Students from every engineering discipline and from the whole Vanderbilt campus visit the studio to build projects both for class and to satisfy their own interests.
Student mentors volunteer to assist other students in using the studio’s tools, manage the studio’s resources, and make sure everyone stays safe. Mentors also work together to maintain the printers, order supplies, work on advertising, and build special projects to benefit the studio. Our officers shape the vision for the studio, lead the mentor community, and choose new mentors.
The design studio is operated under the faculty supervision of Dr. Thomas Withrow and Dr. Ken Frampton.
Who we support
The design studio is open to all Vanderbilt students and faculty.
Many Vanderbilt courses use the design studio in their curriculum. These courses include:
- ME 1153: Computer Aided Design
- ME 2160- Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Design
- ME 2171- Instrumentation
- ME 2600- Mechatronics
- ME 3890- Cyber Physical Modeling
- ME 4275- Heat Transfer
- ME 4950/4951- Senior Design
Our resources
We’re constantly looking to expand the resources we offer for student projects. On this website you can find a list of the tools and supplies we offer and some how-to guides to get started using them.
Our connections
Sometimes you’ll need tools or supplies that aren’t available in our studio. If that’s the case, our mentors can connect you with other resources, like the Vanderbilt machine shop, the laser cutter in the senior design lab, or local and online part vendors.
What we don’t do
- We don’t currently have storage space, so we’ll insist that you take your projects with you when you leave the studio.
- Painting and laser cutting are a little too noxious for us.
- We want to make sure everyone can share our tools, so we ask that all tools stay in the studio. Bring your work here.
- Mentors will help you learn to use our tools and suggest resources, but they won’t do projects for you. We want to see what you create!