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Electric Avenue: Vanderbilt alumni are helping steer General Motors—and the automotive industry as a whole—toward a future driven by electric vehicle sales
Oct. 7, 2021—By Michael Blanding All images courtesy of General Motors It was a declaration of war unlike any the world had ever seen before. The comedian Will Ferrell—in an online video that appeared several weeks before it ran as one of this year’s most well-received Super Bowl commercials—indignantly discovers that Norway sells more electric vehicles per...
Vanderbilt and University of Tennessee-Knoxville win Sustainable Regional Systems Research Network grant from National Science Foundation
Oct. 1, 2021—Jonathan Gilligan, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, and Janey Camp, research associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, have won a Sustainable Regional Systems Research Network grant from the National Science Foundation. With a grant of nearly $150,000, they and researchers from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville will work with involved entities to propose a large-scale research network...
WeGo Public Transit fall system changes take effect Oct. 3
Sep. 29, 2021—WeGo Public Transit has adopted a service plan change for fall 2021 that will expand pre-pandemic service levels in two phases. The changes reflect transit system customer feedback and include expanded hours and improved frequency of service with more buses on select routes. Vanderbilt community members had the opportunity to share feedback on proposed fall...
Tennessee flash floods are an example of climate change impacts to come
Sep. 15, 2021—The historic rain and flash flooding that swept central Tennessee on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, devastated the small city of Waverly, about 60 miles west of Nashville. A flash flood watch issued Friday quickly became a “flash flood emergency” Saturday. On Wednesday, Sept. 25, Humphreys County officials said 20 people died and all those missing had been accounted...
Vanderbilt University to host PARK(ing) Day 2021 Sept. 17
Sep. 15, 2021—Have you ever imagined what campus would be like with more green space? Vanderbilt University is hosting PARK(ing) Day, an annual global event competition where urban areas like parking lots are transformed into green spaces to promote sustainable designs, on Friday, Sept. 17 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will both celebrate the...
Vanderbilt, TDOT partner to test automated vehicles and improve traffic flow on I-24, soon the smartest roadway in the world
Sep. 7, 2021—Dan Work, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, leads the technical element in collaboration with Vanderbilt, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, and transportation consulting firm Gresham Smith to build the smartest roadway in the world along a six-mile stretch of I-24. The project, called I-24 MOTION, will use over 300 ultra-HD (4K) cameras to anonymously...
Campus Dining to offer Bongo Java coffee for 2021-22 school year
Aug. 25, 2021—Vanderbilt Campus Dining is pleased to announce a new partnership with Bongo Java to supply fresh roasted coffee for its network of residential dining halls and Munchie Marts. Starting this fall, students will be able to choose from a variety of custom-roasted blends including Commodore Blend medium roast, Vandy House Blend light roast, and Anchor Down Decaf...
Royal Society award gives international exposure to work in polar sciences, computational mechanics
Aug. 25, 2021—The School of Engineering’s work in polar and climate science, plus computational mechanics, will get international exposure with a two-year travel grant from the Royal Society, the independent academic society of the U.K., for a collaboration between a Vanderbilt professor and a professor in England. The project will establish new approaches for simulating fracture propagation...
Vanderbilt team first to win VentureWell E-Team Stage 2 Grant for tech-driven environmental monitoring startup Intelligent Systems
Aug. 3, 2021—Intelligent Systems, an indoor air quality monitoring startup founded by Tim Darrah, a Ph.D. student in computer science and a NASA fellow, has won a stage 2 grant from VentureWell. Intelligent Systems is the first Vanderbilt team to be accepted into this program. Formerly known as the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, VentureWell funds and trains...
$1.5M DOE grant targets engineering of cyanobacteria as biofuel production platform
Jul. 21, 2021—A new, $1.5 million Department of Energy grant brings together experts from three institutions to parse the metabolism of a blue-green algae that holds great promise for biofuel production. The team, led by Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Jamey Young, will take a systems biology approach to identify how cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green...