Spring 2010
Fleetwood Honored With Olin Henry Landreth Chair in Engineering
Apr. 28, 2010—Daniel M. Fleetwood, professor of electrical engineering, has been named the Olin Henry Landreth Chair in Engineering by Vanderbilt University and the School of Engineering. This is a new chair within the school, made possible by a gift from an anonymous donor. Landreth was Vanderbilt’s first professor of engineering and its first dean of engineering....
Parker Participates in Peace and Science Conference at the Vatican
Apr. 28, 2010—Frank Parker, Distinguished Professor of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, traveled to the Vatican late in 2009 to discuss the role of science in furthering world peace. Parker, an internationally recognized expert in remediation of radioactively contaminated soil and water and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, spoke at an exclusive meeting at...
Patented Success
Apr. 28, 2010—If it doesn’t exist or it needs improvement, invent and innovate. These are just a few Vanderbilt University School of Engineering alumni who did just that.
Predicting Failure Leads to Success on Forbes’ Most Promising Company List
Apr. 28, 2010—Things break. Forbes magazine says breakage costs American manufacturers $30 billion a year in warranty payments. If manufacturers could predict breakage and adjust warranties, they could save more than double that amount—not to mention the other benefits they’d reap from improved reliability, performance and quality.
Adventures of an Entrepreneurial Engineer
Apr. 28, 2010—“I love being involved in fast-paced, high-risk, high-reward startups,” says Limp, BS’88, a successful entrepreneur and chief operating officer of BrightKite, a social networking Web site. Limp, who earned his degree in computer science from the School of Engineering, specializes in ventures in the high-tech arena. Good entrepreneurial ideas abound, he says. The tricky part...
From Startups to Success
Apr. 28, 2010—VUSE engineers thrive as entrepreneurs in businesses large and small. What do they have in common? Creativity and collaboration, a focus on giving people what they want, plus access to capital, savvy management and a singular passion for making great ideas reality.
Pushing to Improve
Apr. 28, 2010—Smaller. Less invasive. More flexible. Those aren’t just directives from physicians regarding medical devices—they’re the goals that Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Robert Webster III has set for his research and lab.
Quest for Knowledge Spurs Nanotechnology Entrepreneur Karen Buechler
Apr. 28, 2010—Curiosity led Karen Raska Buechler, BE’94, to Vanderbilt University School of Engineering for a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and on to graduate school in Colorado for her master’s and doctorate.
Calculating Risk, Increasing Reliability
Apr. 28, 2010—When you take a plane trip, drive across a bridge or ride the commuter train to work, you trust that those structures and systems are safe. Likewise, pilots flying combat missions depend on their planes and astronauts hurtling into space depend on the rockets propelling them.
A Changed Life
Apr. 28, 2010—Back when Fran Schwaiger Presley, BS’79, was a small-town Alabama girl, a full scholarship to the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering did more than crack a door to opportunity—it threw open the gates of resoluteness.