Grad Profiles - Vanderbilt Engineering

Overview
Vanderbilt is an independent, privately supported university, founded in 1873 by Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt "to strengthen the ties which should exist between all geographical sections of our common country." It cooperates with other local private universities and colleges (Fisk and Meharry) through the Nashville University Center, a consortium that permits cross-registration for courses and full credit exchange. The University is a member of the Association of American Universities and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Various undergraduate engineering curricula are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).

Last year, there were 5,022 graduate students and professional school students in the student body of 11,294 at Vanderbilt. Engineering enrollment was 1,330 undergraduate and 402 graduate students. Twenty-six percent of the engineering students were women. A total of 296 bachelor's degrees, 105 master's degrees, and twenty-six doctorates were awarded in the calendar year 2007.

The Location and Community
Vanderbilt is near the center of Nashville, a metropolitan area of 1.3 million people in the heart of the Tennessee Valley Authority lake country. The rolling hills and waterways of beautiful Tennessee have made Nashville a mecca for lovers of outdoor life. Nashville is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of the mid-South and is known as the "Athens of the South" and "Music City U.S.A."

Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The Graduate School offers advanced study leading to the degrees of Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in the following engineering fields: biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, environmental engineering, materials science and engineering, and mechanical engineering. Individualized, interdisciplinary programs of study leading to the master's and Ph.D. degrees are also possible for students with special goals that require combining courses in several disciplines.

Paralleling the research-oriented M.S. degree is the Master of Engineering, an advanced professional degree awarded by the School of Engineering. Practice-oriented, the degree stresses engineering technology and is offered in chemical engineering, civil engineering (including construction management), computer science, electrical engineering, environmental engineering, materials science and engineering, and mechanical engineering. Thesis and residence requirements are flexible, and either full-time or part-time enrollment can be arranged. Tuition is the same for the M.Eng. degree as for the M.S., but application for admission is made to the School of Engineering.

Facilities & Resources
Research facilities are housed in three engineering buildings: Featheringill Hall, Jacobs Hall, and Olin Hall. In addition, engineering students have access to exceptional support facilities in the Stevenson Science Center and the Vanderbilt Medical Center.

The Jean and Alexander Heard Library is one of the important research libraries in the South, with more than 2 million volumes in nine divisions and three special units. Access to materials is provided through its integrated, automated system-ACORN. The Sara Shannon Stevenson Science Library in the Stevenson Center contains more than 260,000 volumes in the fields of chemistry, engineering, general biology, geology, mathematics, molecular biology, and physics. The central computing facility provides enterprise-wide services, such as access to the World Wide Web, e-mail, dial-up access, Web publishing, and kerberos-based user authentication.

The computing facilities within the School of Engineering include 150 Sun workstations, 700 Pentium-based computers that primarily run either Windows NT or Linux, a large Beowulf cluster that functions as a multiuser facility, and smaller numbers of computers that each run one of the following: HP-UX, AIX, IRIX, CLIX, Windows 2000, or MacOS. An ATM backbone with switched 10/100 Ethernet at the edges connects all of the computers to the campus LAN.

Engineering facilities include laser instrumentation with excimer and YAG lasers for fluid flow studies and combustion dynamics employing Raman scattering, fluorescence, and flow laser tagging. Facilities are available for conventional and containerless melting, splat cooling, and directional solidification of metals, glasses, and ceramics, as well as state-of-the-art characterization employing SEM and TEM microscopy, X-ray, electron paramagnetic resonance, focused ion beam, dielectric measurements, potentiostat, ellipsometry, and tribological and mechanical testing. Materials modifications are undertaken employing CO2, excimer and free-electron lasers, and ion implantation with a 300-kV accelerator. Other resources of special note include an intelligent robotics laboratory; a physical acoustics laboratory; a structural laboratory with static and dynamic testing equipment; a computer-oriented transportation laboratory; a semiconductor parametric characterization lab; a diamond thin-films lab; a soil mechanics laboratory; environmental laboratories with equipment for measurement of organic and inorganic species, stable and radioactive isotopes, and comprehensive physical, thermodynamic, and mass transfer characteristics in environmental media; extensive materials processing equipment; subsonic wind tunnel; a visually integrated soft-arm robot; and facilities for cell cultures, cellular bioengineering, and quantitative physiology.

Expenses and Aid
Tuition for full-time study (12 semester hours) is $15,550 per semester.

Financial Aid:
Financial support is available to qualified graduate students pursuing an engineering major. Assistantships, fellowships, and traineeships offer tuition grants and/or a salary varying from $10,000 to $26,000 per year. Most carry teaching or research duties. Vanderbilt University is a member of the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science, Inc. Fellowship programs are available to members of minority groups who are pursuing master's and Ph.D. degrees.

Housing/Living Expenses:
Although ample, privately owned rental accommodations are available in the area, graduate students may apply for housing in University apartments. There are accommodations for both single and married students, with studio and bedroom units ranging from $2,800 to $3,900 per semester. Food service is available for approximately $300 to $1,500 per semester.

How to Apply
Applicants should submit complete credentials electronically via the Graduate School's online application listed below prior to January 15. Late applications are reviewed as space and time permit. Qualified graduates with a bachelor's degree from an ABET-accredited or equivalent curriculum who have maintained at least a B average in undergraduate work are considered. Applicants are required to take the GRE.

Who to Contact
School of Engineering
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee 37240

615-322-2762

School of Engineering Web Site

Graduate Programs and Directors

The faculty of the School of Engineering consists of 149 full-time and 20 part-time members with professorial rank. Of the full-time faculty, 99 percent hold doctorates and 15 percent are registered engineers.

Major fields of study and areas of concentration are listed below. Directors of graduate studies named in each area may be contacted for further information.

• Kenneth F. Galloway, Dean
• K. Arthur Overholser, Senior Associate Dean.
• David M. Bass, Associate Dean for Development and Alumni Relations.
• Katy Brandt, Associate Dean for Administration.
• George E. Cook, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies.
• John R. Veillette, Associate Dean for Preparatory Academics.

Biomedical Engineering
• Professor Thomas R. Harris, Chair; Robert J. Roselli, Director of Graduate Studies.
• Areas of study: Quantitative physiology of the cardiopulmonary, musculoskeletal, and neurological systems; biomaterials; biomedical optics; cellular bioengineering; physiological transport phenomena; medical imaging; vision research; and techology-guided therapy.

Chemical Engineering
• Professor M. Douglas LeVan, Chair; G. Kane Jennings, Director of Graduate Studies.
• Areas of study: Advanced materials, nanoscale engineering, molecular electronics, molecular simulations and computational nanoscience, semiconductors materials processing, biochemical engineering and biotechnology, biopharmaceutical processing, the environment, atmospheric aerosol modeling, adsorption and surface chemistry, chemical reaction engineering, and process modeling and control.

Civil Engineering
• Professor David S. Kosson, Chair; P. K. Basu, Director of Graduate Studies.
• Areas of study: Reliability analysis and engineering, structural engineering, multi-scale systems analysis, continuum and damage mechanics, computational micromechanics, infrastructure network analysis and optimization, intelligent transportation systems, nano-structural composite materials, structural health monitoring, transportation management and operations, management and delivery of complex health-care projects, project delivery systems, project life cycle cost analysis, schedule reduction techniques, construction contract law and safety, trenchless construction, and risk assessment.

Computer Science
• Professor Daniel M. Fleetwood, Chair; Jeremy P. Spinrad, Director of Graduate Studies.
• Areas of study: Cognitive neuroscience, discrete-event systems, distributed systems, embedded systems, fault-adaptive control, hybrid systems, middleware, model-integrated computing, neural networks, artificial intelligence, machine learning, model-based reasoning, qualitative reasoning, intelligent tutoring systems, database theory, database systems, knowledge-based systems, design and analysis of algorithms, graph theory, computational complexity, graphics and animation, operating systems, performance evaluation, parallel and distributed computing, computer networks, fault diagnosis, supercomputers, numerical software, atomic structure software, image processing, medical imaging, concurrency/parallelism, software engineering, parallel architectures, and program testing.

Electrical Engineering
• Professor Daniel M. Fleetwood, Chair; Benoit Dawant, Director of Graduate Studies.
• Areas of study: Computer engineering, intelligent systems, robotics, control systems, microelectronics, radiation effects and reliability, solid-state theory and devices, diamond-based electronics, carbon nanostructures, VLSI design, solid-state sensors, signal processing, systems and circuits, hybrid and embedded systems, electronic materials, artificial intelligence, expert systems, automatic control, and innovative computer test methodologies.

Environmental Engineering
• Professor David S. Kosson, Chair; James H. Clarke, Director of Graduate Studies.
• Areas of study: Air quality management, contaminated site restoration, environmental forensics, environmental risk assessment, management and communication, environmental policy and security, long-term environment stewardship, molecular and multi-scale contaminant fate and transport, nuclear environmental systems, and waste-management systems design.

Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Materials Science
• Professor James E. Wittig, Program Director and Director of Graduate Studies.
• Areas of study: Analytical electron microscopy, biomaterials, colloid and polymer science and engineering, composite materials, containerless processing, crystal growth, CVD precursors, development of superconducting materials, diamond films, direct fabrication, dynamics of drops and bubbles, electronic materials, interaction of radiation with matter, interface science, ion beam analysis, ion implantation and laser modification of glasses, laser-solid interactions, liquid crystals, living cell encapsulation, materials characterization, microelectronics, microscale heat transfer and fluid dynamics, molecular electronics and magnetism, molecular engineering, nanocomposite materials, nanostructures, non-linear optical materials, optoelectronic materials, organic-based devices, phonon dynamics, physical acoustics, prediction of properties, radiation effects on optical properties, radiation effects, secondary emission, semiconducting nanocrystals, semiconductor/dielectric interfaces, semiconductors, sol-gel processing, solidification, solid-state mass spectroscopy, sputtering and desorption, structure of glasses, structure of liquid alloy surfaces, surface analytical techniques, surface modification, surface science, theory of materials, thin film processing, and transmitting conducting oxides.

Mechanical Engineering
• Professor Robert W. Pitz, Chair; Kenneth D. Frampton, Director of Graduate Studies.
• Areas of study: Acoustics; active noise and vibration control; actuation systems and devices; adaptive and nonlinear control; aeroelasticity; biomechanics; boundary element methods; dynamics; CAD/FEA interface; chaotic advection; combustion in gas turbines and diesel engines; computational fluid dynamics; continuum mechanics; controls; cooling of electronics; crystal growth dynamics; dimensional analysis; direct energy conversion; distributed systems; emotion and robotics; encapsulation of living cells and drugs; experimental fluid dynamics; fault tolerance control; finite element analysis; float zone processing and solidification; fluid mixing; fluid/structure interactions; fundamental combustion science; glass ceramics; glasses in hostile environments; haptic interfaces; intelligent mechatronics; inverse computational methods; laminar and turbulent combustion; laser diagnostics of combustion and fluid flow; meso-, micro-, and nano-scale energy conversion; microfluidics; microgravity science and engineering; microrobotics; microscale and nanoscale heat transfer; molecular-tagging velocimetry; nanoengineering; optical techniques for pollution monitoring in coal-burning furnaces and exhaust stacks; oxygen-enriched combustion; robotics; robot design and control; rolling contact studies; safety of solid propellants and explosives; sensing, modeling, and control of welding processes; sensor networks; solid mechanics; smart material-based systems; smart structures; surface-enhanced convection; telerobotics; theoretical and applied mechanics; variational mechanics; vibrations; vortex dynamics; and welding automation.