News

Jacob “Jake” Grayson Graduate Student, Physics & Astronomy Richard Haglund Research Group My research focuses on harnessing optical phase-change materials to enable new forms of active control in nanophotonic devices. In particular, I have been working to integrate vanadium dioxide (VO₂)—a material that undergoes a dramatic, reversible metal–insulator… Read More

Sk Md Ali Zaker Shawon Graduate Student, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Shihong Lin Research Group As a Ph.D. candidate in Chemical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, my research in the Lin Research Group advances membrane and electrochemical separation technologies to enable more sustainable chemical processes. I develop high-performance pervaporation… Read More

VINSE is pleased to announce the promotion of four outstanding members of the Tech Crew in recognition of their contributions to research, education, and cleanroom operations. Senior Tech Crew Promotions Ella Dzialowski has been promoted to Senior Tech Crew for her extensive troubleshooting on the photoplotter tool, work on… Read More

VINSE welcomes Andrea Locke, who joined the institute in August 2025. Locke leads the Locke Biosensing Lab, which develops optical biosensing platforms to address clinical diagnostic challenges at the point of care. The lab integrates nanoplasmonic structures into paper- and microfluidic-based systems to create rapid, user-friendly diagnostic tools. Current projects… Read More

Are you interested in gaining hands-on experience in a cutting-edge lab environment? This is an excellent opportunity to be an integral part of maintaining a clean and efficient lab space within the VINSE cleanroom, supporting high-quality research, education, and outreach. What You’ll Do: Lab Maintenance: Ensure clean floors, surfaces,… Read More

Dr. Jason Valentine, VINSE Deputy Director, will play a key role in a research initiative recently awarded $1.2 million in funding by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The project “Intelligent Cyber Microscopy System for Long-term Microscope Imaging” seeks to develop an Intelligent Cyber Microscopy System (iCMS) by introducing a cutting-edge, AI-powered… Read More

VINSE has implemented a real-time safety monitoring system in the VINSE Cleanroom. This system displays a live roster of individuals currently inside the Cleanroom-visible from both within the lab and the Pregown area. Utilizing the barcodes on the back of existing user nametags, the… Read More

When precise control of dielectric film thickness is required, plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD) may be a solution.  ALD is a chemical vapor deposition technique available within the VINSE Cleanroom core facility on the Picosun R-200 Advanced tool.  The major advantages of ALD compared to other deposition techniques are thickness… Read More

VINSE has recently added a JA Woollam M-2000DI spectroscopic ellipsometer to the Cleanroom core facility, providing an additional option for users to quickly characterize thin films when developing recipes for deposition, etching, and spin coating processes.  This instrument complements the existing JA Woollam M-2000V ellipsometer in the VINSE Analytical Lab. … Read More

Congratulations to Dr. Marjan Rafat, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, biomedical engineering, and radiation oncology, on receiving a Seeding Success internal grant. This award will support her project, “Developing Novel Extracellular Matrix Hydrogels to Study the Impact of Obesity on Breast Cancer Recurrence,” research at the intersection of… Read More