Listen to IMS Alum, Chinmay Soman’s Podcast – Robots in Your Fields by FOCUS on Agriculture
Dec. 15, 2021—Check out this podcast with Interdisciplinary Materials Science at Vanderbilt University alum Dr. Chinmay Soman (PhD 2008). Dr. Soman is the co-founder of EarthSense, Inc., an ag startup that is developing teams of robots which can collect data on every individual plant in a field. It may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but is...
Spotlight Publication: “Alkyl Selenol Reactivity with Common Solvents and Ligands: Influences on Phase Control in Nanocrystal Synthesis” published in Nanoscale
Dec. 15, 2021—“Alkyl Selenol Reactivity with Common Solvents and Ligands: Influences on Phase Control in Nanocrystal Synthesis” published in Nanoscale has been selected as a VINSE spotlight publication. About the authors: In his honors project in the chemistry laboratory of Assoc. Prof. Janet Macdonald, undergraduate Eric Ho examined the synthesis of copper selenide nanocrystals. Eric closely looked...
Spring 2022 Faculty Research Highlights
Dec. 13, 2021—Spring Newsletter 2022 Faculty Research Highlights: Cynthia Reinhart-King, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering, President-Elect of the Biomedical Engineering Society Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the US, and mortality is largely caused by the spread of a primary tumor to secondary sites. The Reinhart-King Lab studies how cancer cells get from the...
Meet Our Graduates: Rayni Jules
Dec. 13, 2021—Rayni Jules received his B.E. in Electrical Engineering in 2019 from Vanderbilt University. As an undergraduate, Rayni was part of the inaugural VINSE Technical Crew where he learned valuable skills in process development, photolithography, and deposition. Rayni’s concentration was on using Electron Beam Lithography to create fine structures on thin surfaces. Rayni currently works as...
Spring 2022 Graduate Student Research Highlights
Dec. 13, 2021—Spring Newsletter 2022 graduate student research highlights: Ella Hoogenboezem, 5th year graduate student in the Duvall lab Short interfering RNA (siRNA) is a powerful gene silencing platform that has the potential to silence tumor-driving genes. However, siRNA medicines for tumor delivery have remained clinically elusive. In their native form, siRNAs are rapidly cleared by...
Meet Our Graduates: You Zhou
Dec. 10, 2021—You Zhou earned his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Materials Science in August 2020 under the supervision of Prof. Jason Valentine. You Zhou’s PhD research is to address the current trend towards miniaturization of photonic devices and nanophotonic systems. In one key advance, You developed 3D cascaded flat optics as a pathway for adding complexity and functionality to...
Spotlight Publication: “Contact Thermal Resistance between Silver Nanowires with Poly (vinylpyrrolidone) Interlayers” published in Nano Letters
Dec. 8, 2021—“Contact Thermal Resistance between Silver Nanowires with Poly (vinylpyrrolidone) Interlayers” published in Nano Letters has been selected as a VINSE spotlight publication. About the author: Matthew is pursuing his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering under the direction of Dr. Deyu Li and is studying the role of interfaces and their impact on the flow of heat...
Meet Our Graduates: Brandon Jacome-Mendez
Dec. 8, 2021—Brandon Jacome-Mendez received his B.A. in Chemistry with a minor in Psychology from Vanderbilt University in May 2021. As an undergraduate, Brandon worked on the VINSE tech crew during the academic year and mainly focused on process development for various cleanroom services. These included photolithography, soft lithography for microfluidics devices, and material characterization using profilometry, ellipsometry, and Raman...
Meet Our Graduates: Amy Ng
Dec. 6, 2021—Amy Ng earned her Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry at Vanderbilt University in December of 2014 under the supervision of Sandra Rosenthal. In the research team, Amy synthesized, fabricated, and characterized nanocrystalline-polymer photovoltaics. Her passion in electron microscopy opened an opportunity to work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory under the guidance of Stephen Pennycook. ...
Engineering Professor Yaqiong Xu was a gifted scholar and devoted mentor
Dec. 2, 2021—Yaqiong Xu, associate professor of electrical engineering and physics, has died after a long-term illness. She died Oct. 30 in China, where she had returned to be with her family. Yaqiong Xu A celebration of her life will be held Friday, Dec. 3, from 4 to 5 p.m. in the School of Engineering’s Jacob’s Believed in Me...