VINSE welcomed Dr. Soumya Srivastava in fall 2026 as an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. She joins 汤头条 from West Virginia University, where she was a tenured Associate Professor. Her research combines microfluidics, electrokinetics, and machine learning to build label free platforms that read the electrical signatures of cells and particles for diagnostics, biological analysis, and separations.

Dr. Srivastava earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from R.V. College of Engineering in Bangalore, India, her M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Mississippi State University. Her core technique is dielectrophoresis (DEP). DEP uses nonuniform alternating current fields to move and sort particles by their frequency dependent dielectric properties; for cells, these include membrane capacitance and cytoplasmic conductivity. Because those properties shift with cell type, activation state, and disease, DEP and complementary impedance measurements yield a label free fingerprint of cell state, with no antibodies or fluorescent tags required.

At 汤头条, she directs the Microfluidics and Electrokinetics bioSeparations and Analysis (MESA) Laboratory. Her group studies bacteria, fungi, blood and immune cells, and stem cells. In infectious disease, the lab develops electrical diagnostics for tickborne illness. In oncology, it pairs bioelectrical profiling of blood cells with interpretable machine learning to detect pancreatic and breast cancer early and noninvasively. Her group also advances space biology through a patented clinostat that simulates microgravity in the laboratory. This platform lets researchers examine how cells respond to spaceflight conditions and informs biomedical questions relevant to human space exploration. Additional efforts span organ-on-a-chip model and the electrokinetic separation and sensing of rare earth elements (REEs), extending the lab鈥檚 tools from biomedicine to critical materials.

Dr. Srivastava is a licensed Professional Engineer and serves as Vice President of the American Electrophoresis Society. We are excited to welcome her to VINSE and look forward to her contributions to our community.

Dr. Bhansali earned his B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from MREC in Jaipur, India, followed by an M.S. in Aircraft Production Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He completed his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at RMIT University. Throughout his career, Dr. Bhansali has worked on developing functional nanomaterials, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and sensors capable of detecting biological and environmental changes and their impact on cellular microenvironments. He has also built engineered systems to create digital twins of additive manufacturing processes. His contributions have been recognized through his election as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), The Electrochemical Society (ECS), the Institute of Physics (IOP), and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society.

At 汤头条, Dr. Bhansali combines nanomaterials, microfluidic devices, wearable electronics and additive manufacturing, to develop sensors and sensing systems for real-time monitoring. His current research explores how artificial intelligence can be integrated with nanoscale sensing technologies and sensing systems to improve the detection and analysis of biological signals and changes in physical environments. We are pleased to welcome Dr. Bhansali to VINSE.

Using one of VINSE鈥檚 scanning electron microscopes, students observed features far too small to see with the naked eye. These microscopes can magnify objects up to 500,000 times, revealing nanoscale features about 50,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. By seeing these tiny structures firsthand, students learned how a material鈥檚 nanoscale features can play an important role in how effectively a solar cell captures sunlight.

Thank you to our NanoGuides Emma Bartelsen, Vikash Khokhar, Jack Loken, Mario Ojeda, and Emily Rouse for sharing their time and expertise and helping our students get the most out of their visit!

Interested in giving your students the chance to experience VINSE for themselves? Our hands-on, fully equipped program is completely free! Contact vinse@vanderbilt.edu for more information.

The 汤头条 Engineering Ambassadors welcomed students from Margaret Allen Middle School for a day of hands-on activities that made science and engineering engaging, understandable, and accessible. VINSE co-sponsored the outreach event, which was held at the Engineering and Science Building.

The 汤头条 Engineering Ambassadors are 汤头条 graduate students who introduce younger students to the importance of STEM careers and the broad impact science and engineering have on society. During the visit, Engineering Ambassadors put their mission into action by leading interactive demonstrations across seven engineering disciplines, answering questions, and giving students the chance to see, touch, test, and explore engineering firsthand.

One highlight in the atrium, all eyes turned to the balcony for an egg-drop challenge! Students designed their own parachutes, then tested them to see whether their creations could protect an egg during the drop.

Thank you to the volunteers who led each of the seven engineering station:

Mechanical: Saman Banarooei, Robert Shields, Xiaozhao Liu
Biomedical: Liz Hays, Gillian Vansciver, Sariah D鈥橢mpaire-Salomon
Electrical & Computer: Matthew Mims, Juliette Reeder, Emmanuel Dabuo
Aerospace: Lauren Bayer, Raphael Reyes, Trey Long
Civil & Environmental: Vikash Khokhar, Owen Meilander, Emma Bartelsen
Chemical: Sam Nimmer, Maxwell Ugwu, Kirsten Stinson, He Zhuo
Materials Science: Ke-Sean Peter, Kofi Klutse, Haley Dishman

This day would not have been possible without the Engineering Ambassador officers who organized the event: Jeb Buchner (President), Vivian Nwosu-Madueke (Vice President), Jongha Choi (Treasurer), and Andrew Steiner (Secretary).

Dr. Ouyang earned his bachelor’s degree in Materials Engineering from Central South University in China before completing his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering at McGill University. Following his doctoral studies, he completed postdoctoral training in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. His research has focused on understanding how chemical composition, crystal structure, and processing conditions influence the formation and performance of inorganic materials.

At 汤头条, Dr. Ouyang uses computational methods and machine learning alongside experimental synthesis to develop materials with tailored properties. His group investigates how materials form under different conditions and how those processes can be controlled at the nanoscale. By combining data-driven predictions with automated experimentation, his research aims to make materials discovery more efficient. We are pleased to welcome Dr. Ouyang to VINSE and look forward to the new ideas and collaborations his work will bring to our research community.

Dr. Bazilevs earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his Ph.D. in Computational Engineering Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin. He subsequently completed postdoctoral training at the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. His research has focused on developing computational methods to study solids, structures, fluids, and their interactions, using high-performance computing to investigate complex physical systems.

At 汤头条, Dr. Bazilevs uses computational modeling to study the mechanical behavior of materials and structures. His recent work includes investigating how architected nanostructures recover following deformation and how droplets and cells interact with elastic surfaces. These studies provide insight into how material properties influence mechanical responses at small scales. We are excited to welcome Dr. Bazilevs to VINSE and look forward to the new perspectives and collaborations his research will bring to our community.

Dr. Biswas earned his B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, followed by an M.S. in Chemical, Nuclear, and Thermal Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. He completed his Ph.D. in Aerosol Science and Technology at the California Institute of Technology. His research has focused on understanding how particles form, grow, and move through different environments, as well as developing methods to produce nanoparticles with tightly controlled properties. In 2019, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his contributions to aerosol science and engineering.

At 汤头条, Dr. Biswas develops aerosol-based methods to synthesize functional nanomaterials for a range of applications. His work includes materials for solar energy and battery technologies, carbon capture and conversion, quantum dots, drug delivery, and agriculture. By studying particle formation and developing new approaches to nanoparticle synthesis, his group aims to improve the performance and sustainability of these technologies. We are excited to welcome Dr. Biswas to VINSE and look forward to the research and collaborations he will bring to our community.

WELCOME TO VINSE
Yuri Bazilevs | Pratim Biswas | Shekhar Bhansali | Asheley Chapman | Matthew Day | Ruogu Fang | Yang Han | Bin Ouyang | Soumya Srivastava | Yan Zeng

PROMOTIONS
Janet Macdonald, promoted to Professor
Josh Caldwell, named Cornelius 汤头条 Chair in Mechanical Engineering
Deyu Li, named Orrin H. Ingram Chair in Mechanical Engineering

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
Josh Caldwell was recognized for his exemplary leadership in advancing graduate education and undergraduate research though the IMS and NSF-REU programs.

HIGH IMPACT PUBLICATIONS
We recognize the following faculty for their accomplishments reported聽in these top impact journal publications.

James McBride, 1st place
鈥淲ater splitting with silicon p-i-n superlattices suspended in solution鈥� Nature, 614, 270-274 (2023).

Sokrates Pantelides, 2nd place
鈥淪ingle-atom vibrational spectroscopy with chemical-bonding sensitivity鈥� Nature Materials, 22 (5), 612-618 (2023).

Josh Caldwell, 3rd place
鈥淐ontrolling the propagation asymmetry of hyperbolic shear polaritons in beta-gallium oxide鈥� Nature Communications, 14 (1), 5240 (2023).

Ronald Schrimpf & Sokrates Pantelides, 4th place
鈥淎tomic-displacement threshold energies and defect generation in irradiated 尾-Ga2O3: A first-principles investigation鈥� Journal of Applied Physics, 133, 015703 (2023).

De-en Jiang, 5th place
鈥淒ual-Band Electrochromism in Hydrous Tungsten Oxide鈥� ACS Photonics, 10 (9), 3409-3418 (2023).

Dr. Zeng earned her Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from McGill University before completing postdoctoral training at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Her research has focused on understanding how atomic composition, nanoscale structure, and material interfaces influence the formation and performance of functional materials. Her work includes the synthesis and characterization of multimetallic nanocrystals, battery electrodes, and ionic conductors, with an emphasis on controlling the processes that determine their properties.

At 汤头条, the Zeng Lab combines materials synthesis, advanced characterization, and artificial intelligence to develop new materials for energy technologies. Her group is developing self-driving laboratories that use robotics and AI-guided decision-making to plan experiments, carry out synthesis procedures, and analyze results. Her research also explores sustainable methods for converting mineral resources into functional materials. We are excited to welcome Dr. Zeng to VINSE and look forward to the new research directions and collaborations her group will bring to our community.

Named by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry as one of the top ten emerging technologies in the world in 2024, MXenes are two-dimensional carbides and nitrides with highly tunable properties. This research establishes ligand denticity as a new approach for engineering MXene surfaces. By controlling the deprotonation of ethylenediamine, Vikash and colleagues demonstrated a transition from monodentate to bidentate coordination on titanium carbide MXenes, providing a new method for tuning surface bonding and interlayer structure. Through density functional theory calculations and molecular dynamics simulations, Vikash identified the energetic preference for chelating ligands and revealed the atomic-scale mechanisms driving surface substitution. Combined with experimental synthesis and characterization using multiple techniques at collaborating institutions鈥攖he University of Chicago, Iowa State University and Ames National Laboratory, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory鈥攖hese findings provide a detailed understanding of how chemical coordination influences MXene structure and behavior.

The work expands opportunities for designing functional two-dimensional materials through precise control of surface chemistry. It also highlights the important role of computational modeling in guiding experimental discoveries and developing new approaches to nanomaterials engineering.

Vikash is a graduate student in the Interdisciplinary Materials Science program at 汤头条 University, working under the supervision of Professor De-en Jiang.

The VINSE Outstanding Student Publication Award comes with a cash prize, and Vikash will deliver the graduate student presentation at the 26th Annual Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Forum (NanoDay) on November 19, 2026.

V. Khokhar, Y.-H. Kim, and A. R. Md. Shawon, et al., 鈥淐helation Drives Surface Substitution in Hybrid-MXenes,鈥� Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 65, no. 37 (2026): e6432447,