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‘Materials Science’

“First principles insights into stability of defected MXenes in water” published in Nanoscale, selected as VINSE spotlight publication

Feb. 9, 2024—Haohong Song is a third year Ph.D. student from Interdisciplinary Materials Science program. His PI is Prof. De-en Jiang. They report on the interfacial chemistry between water and defected Ti3C2O2 MXene at room temperature using first principles molecular dynamics simulations. They investigate how defects such as O vacancy, Ti vacancy, F terminal groups, and Ti–O...

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Vanderbilt engineering professor Joshua Caldwell elected SPIE Fellow

Feb. 9, 2024—Joshua Caldwell, a professor of mechanical engineering and director of Vanderbilt’s Interdisciplinary Materials Science (IMS) graduate program, has been elected to the grade of Fellow of SPIE. Fellows are Members of distinction who have made significant scientific and technical contributions in the multidisciplinary fields of optics, photonics, and imaging. Dr. Caldwell is honored for his technical achievement and for his service...

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Researcher Highlight: Owen Meilander

Jan. 23, 2024—Owen Meilander, 2nd year Interdisciplinary Material Science PhD student in Dr. Mona Ebrish’s Lab in the Electrical Engineering department.   Summary of Research: My work focuses on the fabrication and characterization of gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor devices. GaN devices offer many benefits for high power and high frequency applications. It will allow for more efficient...

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3 Materials Science alumnae participate in the 2nd annual Women in Engineering Panel and Mentorship Meet and Greet

Nov. 7, 2023—On Thursday Nov 2nd, the Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Materials Science at Vanderbilt University hosted the second annual Women in Engineering Panel and Mentorship Meet and Greet. The panel hosted 8 Female Vanderbilt Alumni from the Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Materials Science (IMS) Graduate Program to meet with our female undergraduate and graduate students and...

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Harrison Walker receives an Oak Ridge National Laboratory scholarship for two years

Nov. 2, 2023—Harrison Walker, a 2nd year Ph.D. candidate in the Interdisciplinary Materials Science at Vanderbilt University, has received a scholarship from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to work across several projects for the next two years. This unique opportunity enables him to advance his research in Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy, a technique pivotal in probing low-energy...

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Vanderbilt engineering professor Joshua Caldwell elected Optica fellow

Nov. 2, 2023—Joshua Caldwell, a professor of mechanical engineering and director of Vanderbilt’s Interdisciplinary Materials Science (IMS) graduate program, has been elected to the 2024 Fellow Class of the Optica Society. Optica, formerly the Optical Society of America, is the preeminent professional society in the field of optics and photonics, with 22,000 members from 180 countries and...

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IMS graduate student KP Arnold awarded NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity Fellowship

Oct. 26, 2023—Kellen P. Arnold, a 4th year Ph.D. candidate in the Interdisciplinary Materials Science program, was awarded a fellowship by the NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity (NSTGRO) in June 2023. Kellen is a member of the Sharon Weiss Group and received the award for his work studying nanoscale design in advanced integrated photonics and identifying...

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Meet Our Graduates: Anna Douglas

Jun. 22, 2023—While at Vanderbilt, Anna began her studies developing nanostructured materials that can improve the performance of energy storage devices including lithium and sodium ion batteries. During her graduate studies, Anna co-invented a novel electrochemical synthesis method to produce high quality carbon nanotubes from carbon dioxide, and subsequently spun out a startup company called SkyNano in...

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6 VINSE members named 2023 NSF Graduate Student Research Fellows

Jun. 14, 2023—The National Science Foundation has selected 28 Vanderbilt students for its 2023 Graduate Research Fellowship Program, 6 of which are VINSE members. The NSF GRFP supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, STEM education and NSF-backed social science disciplines.  Fellows receive a...

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Caldwell collaboration wins prestigious Office of Naval Research MURI grant

Apr. 21, 2023—Josh Caldwell, director of the Interdisciplinary Material Sciences program and professor of mechanical engineering, has been awarded a grant from the Office of Naval Research’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative. The five-year grant, which provides up to $1.5 million in funding annually, will be shared among Vanderbilt University, the University of Iowa, the University of Minnesota and Stanford University to...

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