engineeringVanderbilt SPRINGFALL 20102009 From Startups to Success VUSE engineers thrive as entrepreneurs in businesses large and small I n s I g h t ◦ I n n ovat I o n ◦ I m pac t s m honors and awards Vanderbilt Volume 51, Number 1, spring 2010 Editor Nancy Wise Designer engineering Chris Collins Assistant Art Director Michael Smeltzer Art Director Donna Pritchett 2 from the dean Contributors Joanne L. Beckham (BA’62), Brenda Ellis, 6 cover story Mardy Fones, Becky Green, David Kosson, Laura Miller, Sandy Smith, Fiona Soltes, From Startups to Success: VUSE Susan Starcher, Mary Ellen Crowley Ternes Engineers Thrive as Entrepreneurs (BE’84), Jennifer Zehnder in Businesses Large and Small Photography Neil Brake, Tom Cherrey, Kerry Dahlen, Daniel Dubois, Steve Green, Peyton Hoge, 12 on campus Jenny Mandeville, John Russell, Zach Student Developer Draws Sales Goodyear Photography Web Edition Design and Development with iPhone Apps Lacy Tite 14 next Administration Pushing to Improve Dean Xenofon Koutsoukos, associate pro- Kenneth F. Galloway fessor of computer science and com- Senior Associate Dean Julie Adams, assistant professor puter engineering, participated in the 18 in the field K. Arthur Overholser of computer science and computer National Academy of Engineering’s Associate Dean for Development and W. Wesley Eckenfelder, Distin- Quest for Knowledge Spurs engineering, has been awarded a first Frontiers of Engineering Educa- Alumni Relations guished Professor of Environmental Nanotechnology Entrepreneur David M. Bass Department of Defense program tion symposium. He was chosen from and Water Resources Engineering, Karen Buechler grant to support her work in the area a highly competitive pool of appli- Associate Dean for Research and emeritus, has published WWE (W. Graduate Studies of human and robotic teams. cants nominated by fellow engineers Wesley Eckenfelder/Wastewater George E. Cook or deans. 20 feature Extraordinaire)–The Life of an Envi- Associate Dean for Outreach Calculating Risk, Increasing Reliability Gautam Biswas, professor of ronmental Pioneer. The memoir fol- Stacy S. Klein-Gardner lows Eckenfelder from his student Senior Aide to the Dean computer science and computer The Department of Chemical and days to his more than 20 years at Christopher J. Rowe engineering, has received a National Biomolecular Engineering has been 26 feature Vanderbilt and up to the present day. Information Officer Science Foundation award for re- awarded a U.S. Department of Educa- A Changed Life Brenda Ellis search regarding intelligent learning tion grant to fund graduate fellowships environments. in the area of advanced materials. The NSF has awarded Aniruddha Visit the School of Engineering on the web at The grant is part of the Graduate www.engineering.vanderbilt.edu Gokhale, assistant professor of com- Assistance in Areas of National Need 3 just the facts puter science and computer engi- Vanderbilt Engineering, the Vanderbilt Benoit Dawant, professor of electrical (GAANN) program, and will be University School Of Engineering magazine, is neering, a nearly half-million dollar 4 digest engineering and biomedical engi- directed by Associate Professors Clare published twice yearly in cooperation with the award for his work with distributed neering, has been named an IEEE McCabe and G. Kane Jennings. 11 unforgettable Office of Development and Alumni Relations Fellow by the board of directors of real-time embedded systems. This Communications for alumni, parents of current is in addition to his CAREER award 22 ask an engineer students, faculty and other friends of the School the Institute of Electrical and Elec- of Engineering. Editorial offices are located in announced in 2009. 24 impact tronics Engineers. The IEEE board Assistant Professor of Computer the Loews Vanderbilt Office Complex, 2100 honored Dawant for his contributions Engineering and Computer Sci- 28 celebrating alumni West End Ave., Suite 820, Nashville, TN 37203. to biomedical image analysis and ence Yuan Xue has been awarded Visit Vanderbilt’s alumni publications on the image-guided medical interventions. a Department of Defense program web at www.vanderbilt.edu/alumni/magazines grant regarding the science of inte- Please send news items and changes of address to the editor at: PMB 407703, 2301 Vanderbilt gration for networked systems. On the cover: Alumni Robert Tryon, PhD’96, and Place, Nashville, TN 37240-7703. Animesh Dey, MS’94, PhD’96, of VEXTEC, named Vanderbilt University is committed to principles of equal America’s most promising company by Forbes opportunity and affirmative action. ©2010 Vanderbilt University from the dean just the facts Patented Success Charles M. Krutchen, BE’56 Entrepreneurial Engineers Krutchen has more than 33 process patents DANIEL DUBOIS registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark t is widely believed that, to strengthen we do, and the professional networks we have If it doesn’t exist or it needs Office. The chemical engineer worked for Mobil as our economy, we need new ventures, created—as evidenced by students, alumni improvement, invent and innovate. a plastics engineer and developed several systems Inew enterprises, new businesses and new and faculty who start their own ventures. for polymer and polystyrene resin foam extrusions. industries. What, then, is an appropriate role In this issue of Vanderbilt Engineering, you These are just a few Vanderbilt His work shows up in insulation, for schools of engineering and engineering will read about just a few of our engineer- shipping materials, foam cups, meat University School of Engineering I St O trays and snack food containers. educators? Can you teach entrepreneurship? ing graduates who have launched success- c K alumni who did just that. Ph O Or are some individuals just born entrepre- ful businesses. They credit their Vanderbilt PhOtOS cOUrtESy Of thE ALUmNUS, UNLESS OthErwISE NOtED. t O .c O neurs? Are engineers entrepreneurial? engineering education for laying the ground- m/S A number of the key entrepreneurial work for entrepreneurship—from honing USAN m c personality traits mirror engineering com- creative problem-solving skills to rigorous William H. Armistead, BE’37, MS’38, PhD’41 gIN petencies necessary for a 21st century career. multidisciplinary design projects to courses As an inventor and leader of R&D for Corning ty At the Vanderbilt University School of Engi- in engineering management. These entre- Inc., Armistead was responsible for more than neering, we are fortunate in having successful preneurs will tell you career success, while 50 patented glass innovations. He launched entrepreneurs among our graduates, students often dependent on technical expertise, also Corning into the eyeglass market (think Photogray lenses that change in response and faculty. depends on your ability to sell an idea and to Moenes Zaher Iskarous, MS’92, PhD’95 to UV rays) and television glass. He Many of our alumni mix a strong techni- manage your time, yourself and others. Iskarous works at Intel Corp., where he participates in helped develop Corning’s popular cal skill set with mastery of time management Ken Morse, the former head of MIT’s research and developed several patented computer and cO glass product, Corelle, and r and organizational skills, understanding team Entrepreneurship Center, thinks entrepre- NIN electrical engineering projects. He holds three patents Dean Galloway g I later became Corning’s vice N and leadership dynamics, ambitious profes- neurs are made, not born. Thus in addition to c. and has three more in progress. An early patent AND chairman. provided an efficient method to sional goals, and an alert eye for opportunity. providing a solid technical base, engineering wO r Our faculty members encourage students educators have a responsibility to teach prin- LD retrieve video images stored in K I to ask challenging questions, prepare them ciples of product development and project tch computer RAM. Where would EN to work well under pressure, help them to management, to encourage creative problem , LL computers be without him? c communicate their ideas, and nurture a resil- solving and to nurture innovative thinking. ient attitude to failure and setbacks. Some of To that end, a Vanderbilt engineering educa- the key principles of entrepreneurship are tion has and will continue to launch entre- I N instilled by the classes we teach, the research preneurial career paths. t EL cO r P W. Robert Clay, BE’54 . Transformers, generators, computers, photocopiers and even microwave ovens use Bob Clay’s work. Clay spent 10 years developing O Was f St. L f St. h and marketing paper made with DuPont’s Nomex IN gt OUIS Michael E. Polites, PhD’86 ON aramid fiber (he holds one of the U mA NIVE One of NASA’s most decorated engineers, Polites g earliest patents for the paper). The A z r INE SI holds four patents that make possible low-power, Kenneth F. Galloway electrical insulation product keeps ty reaction-less scanning of experiments in air and Dean motors, generators and transformers space. Because of their importance, he was running even under extreme heat. selected NASA– Marshall Space Flight Center D U P ON Inventor of the Year and t ™/N received the NASA Research O m E and Technology Award. x® Polites was a key designer of the pointing systems for a number of successful NASA spacecraft, including the NASA Hubble Space Telescope. 2 Spring 2010 I n s I g h t ◦ I n n ovat I o n ◦ I m pac t s m Vanderbilt Engineering 3 digest St ager and safety officer for civil and EVE nologies and too many systems,” Schmidt reported. The brief- g Fleetwood Honored With Olin Henry r Students Work for Clean Water environmental engineering. EEN ing, Defense Basic Research: Critical to National Security and Landreth Chair in Engineering Over the years, Morris has been Economic Security, was held in conjunction with the Coalition acknowledged in countless student for National Security Research. Daniel M. Fleetwood, professor of electrical engineering, has dissertations for generously pro- been named the Olin Henry Landreth Chair in Engineering by viding her time and for her con- Vanderbilt University and the School of Engineering.