Engineering And Technology

Some of the most ideal building blocks in technology are 100,000 times thinner than a human hair. An international collaboration involving co-principal investigator De-en Jiang could result in a new class of these “2-D” materials for use in electronics, energy storage and other applications. Jiang, H. Eugene McBrayer Professor of Chemical Engineering, leads the Computational Chemical Sciences and Materials Laboratory. Read More

The Human Language Analysis Lab directed by H. Andrew Schwartz, which just moved to Vanderbilt’s new College of Connecting Computing, is running a key part of the annual worldwide artificial intelligence test, SemEval, which will evaluate how well current AI text systems understand human emotion. Read More

David Hyde, assistant professor of computer science at Vanderbilt University’s College of Connected Computing, has received a $1.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a new, open-source software platform for “physical intelligence,” which is the combination of traditional physics simulation algorithms with artificial intelligence for addressing complex real-world applications. Read More

Jack Noble, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is working with clinical colleagues to develop and validate an augmented reality vision guidance system to help surgeons place cochlear implants more precisely. The guidance system leverages emerging artificial intelligence technology and uses inexpensive, commonly available equipment, making it practical for many operating rooms. Read More

The Vanderbilt Biophotonics Center, led by Professor Anita Mahadevan-Jansen, developed a device called the PTeye that can help surgeons see patients' parathyroid glands—which have unpredictable locations—better during neck surgery by making the tissue glow! A large, multicenter clinical trial has provided evidence of its effectiveness, which the team hopes will improve the accuracy of endocrine neck surgery and improve patient outcomes. Clinical implementation of the device was pioneered by Dr. Carmen Solórzano, director of Vanderbilt Endocrine Surgery at VUMC. Read More

The Vanderbilt Center for Sustainability, Energy and Climate has a new director—Hussam Mahmoud. Mahmoud, professor of civil and environmental engineering, joins Vanderbilt from Colorado State. VSEC's mission is to investigate energy, infrastructure, climate and systems to address the grand social and scientific challenges to ensuring a sustainable planet. The center was established in 2024 as a part of Discovery Vanderbilt; Associate Professor Hiba Baroud was the inaugural and interim director. Read More

Xiaoguang Dong, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has been awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER Award that will support research on magnetic miniature soft robots for precision medicine that could facilitate early disease detection and treatment. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have received a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a smart microscope system that uses artificial intelligence to help scientists better understand how cells behave, particularly in diseases like cancer. Read More

Just like electrical stimulation of heart muscles can restore a regular heartbeat, new research led by Thilo Womelsdorf suggests that "electroceutical" intervention in the brain can improve memory and other cognitive functions wrought by behavioral health disorders and diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Womelsdorf, professor of psychology and biomedical engineering at the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, said, “For these cognitive disabilities, brain-computer interfaces promise to become next-generation electroceutical treatment options.” Read More

In this episode of Quantum Potential, Gen. Nakasone, former NSA director, founding director of Vanderbilt’s Institute of National Security, Distinguished Research Professor of Engineering Science and Management, and special advisor to the chancellor, joins Provost C. Cybele Raver to discuss the challenges of national security in the 21st century and academia’s role in training the next generation of multifaceted national security professionals. Read More