2013
Making waves: In the hunt for invisibility
Dec. 25, 2013—A new way of assembling things, called metamaterials, may in the not too distant future help to protect a building from earthquakes by bending seismic waves around it, similar to the principle applied to light waves in invisibility cloaks. Jason Valentine, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has developed such an invisibility cloak and is quoted. KEEP...
Biodegradable scaffold may spur wound healing
Dec. 19, 2013— From left, Scott Guelcher, Ph.D., Jeffrey Davidson, Ph.D., Christopher Nelson and Craig Duvall, Ph.D., showed that an enzyme-blocking molecule released by a biodegradable scaffold can enhance wound healing in a mouse model. (photo by Susan Urmy) Biomedical and chemical engineers at Vanderbilt University, working with a pathologist, have constructed a sponge-like, biodegradable tissue “scaffold”...
New device stores electricity on silicon chips
Oct. 22, 2013—Solar cells that produce electricity 24/7, not just when the sun is shining. Mobile phones with built-in power cells that recharge in seconds and work for weeks between charges. These are just two of the possibilities raised by a novel supercapacitor design invented by material scientists at Vanderbilt University that is described in a paper...
VUCast Extra: Blackberries, electricity, and high school students
Oct. 13, 2013—How do you get students excited about science? Try some blackberries, nanotechnology and solar cells mixed with Tennessee high school students at a Vanderbilt lab. Watch VUCast Extra now.
New faculty: John Wilson uses synthetic vaccines to further the fight against diseases
Oct. 7, 2013—Growing up close to nature in the small timber-and-fishing community of Gold Beach, Ore.—population 2,000—gave John Wilson an early interest in biology and biologically inspired design. That, combined with an aptitude for math and physics, drew him into the field of bioengineering. When Wilson sets up his lab at Vanderbilt in January, the new assistant...
VINSE Welcomes Leon Bellan
Oct. 4, 2013—Leon Bellan, assistant professor of mechanical engineering B.S., Caltech, 2003 M.S., Cornell University, 2007 Ph.D., Cornell University, 2008 Bellan’s research focuses on developing novel 3D microfluidic materials. A major focus of his lab is the production of biomaterials and biodevices—created with nontraditional, scalable fabrication techniques—that replicate and augment the functionality of natural tissue. He is currently...
Vanderbilt startup BioNanovations gets accelerated
Aug. 30, 2013—As a graduate student in professor Todd Giorgio‘s biomedical engineering laboratory, Charleson Bell played a central role in developing a novel nanotechnology system that can detect bacterial inflections within a matter of minutes, compared to current tests that take several days to complete. It was innovative and promising enough that Vanderbilt has applied for a patent. Being...
Deyu Li receives Chancellor’s Award for Research
Aug. 22, 2013—Deyu Li, associate professor of mechanical engineering, was one of five faculty members receiving a Chancellor’s Award for Research, which also recognizes excellence in research, scholarship, or creative expression. These awards are given for works presented or published in the preceding three calendar years. KEEP READING>
Size matters in nanocrystals’ ability to release gases
Aug. 6, 2013—More efficient catalytic converters on autos, improved batteries and more sensitive gas sensors are some of the potential benefits of a new system that can directly measure the manner in which nanocrystals adsorb and release hydrogen and other gases. The technique, which was developed by Vanderbilt University Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Rizia...
Project seeks to create ‘bioartificial’ kidney
Jul. 11, 2013—Nephrologist William Fissell IV, M.D., associate professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, is intent on creating and mass-producing an implantable bioartificial kidney that can transform quality of life and prospects for survival for people with chronic kidney disease who would otherwise be forced onto dialysis. Donor kidneys are in very short supply for the approximately...