Innovating for Health: Vanderbilt's Wond’ry Launches First Faculty BioMedical Ideator Cohort to Foster Medical Entrepreneurship
The Wond’ry recently hosted its first Faculty BioMedical Ideator cohort. The program curriculum was based around the Sullivan Family Ideator Program, which helps aspiring university-affiliated innovators (students, staff, faculty, and alumni) evaluate and develop their ideas by teaching an evidence-based approach to idea evaluation and offering expert mentorship and access to resources. Launched in January by Daniel Fabbri, PhD, director of Informatics Innovation at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), Mark Hilton, PhD, Program Manager of Entrepreneurship at the Wond’ry, Cameron Russ, Program Coordinator of Biomedical Entrepreneurship at the Wond’ry, and Destane Garrett, Program Coordinator of Biomedical Innovation at the Wond’ry, the program participants learned ways to evaluate the commercial value and tech-transfer potential of their research. Click here to read more.
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Aiding Physical Therapy: Vanderbilt Students Design Tool for Patients with Drop Foot
Three Vanderbilt students are making strides in the realm of physical therapy by designing a therapeutic tool aimed at assisting physical therapists in their work with individuals with Drop Foot, which is a general term for those who have difficulty lifting the front part of their foot. Click here to read more.
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The Wond’ry builds a climate-positive future with Climate Innovation Accelerator
The Climate Innovation Accelerator, a first-of-its-kind Nashville initiative that engages an inclusive network of local universities, minority-owned/led small businesses, and nonprofits to advance the city’s leadership initiatives toward a climate-positive future, held its second successful cohort with 75 participants. Click here to view this year's projects.
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Students Showcase Innovative Solutions in Social Changemakers Program Finale
The Social Changemakers program recently concluded its latest 12-week journey, showcasing a remarkable series of student presentations. Throughout the student led and co-created immersive course, participants applied human-centered design principles to develop innovative solutions tailored to the unique challenges faced by their community partners.
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UX Studio Pioneers Showcase User-Centric Design Breakthroughs
Wond’ry has once again distinguished itself as a leader of innovative design with its UX Studio. This semester participants were introduced to the complexities of UX design, culminating in a striking display of their final projects. With a hands-on application of user research, prototype development, and usability testing, each presentation was a testament to the transformative power of user-centric design—the very essence of the Wond'ry's mission to advance the future of design.
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The Wond'ry Hosts Over 80 Makerspace Workshops
The Wond’ry at Vanderbilt not only features advanced Making and Design (MAD) spaces, equipped with state-of-the-art tools to bring concepts to life, but is also a vibrant center of education and innovation. Over the past year, the Wond’ry hosted more than 80 workshops, engaging the Vanderbilt community in a diverse array of topics and skills, from traditional crafts like sewing and papermaking to high-tech skillsets such as soldering and laser cutting.
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IBM Enterprise Design Thinking Congratulations to all of the participants who completed the Spring IBM Enterprise Design Thinking program. This 10-week, no-cost certification program aims to provide a human- centered framework for problem-solving at the speed and scale of the modern enterprise, and this semester, teams explored how they can accelerate electronic vehicle adoption.
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Garrett Thorne Accepts Community Service Award on Behalf of Philip Butcher
In a prestigious ceremony at Music City Center, Garrett Thorne, Makerspace Manager at the Wond’ry, proudly accepted the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department’s Community Service Award on behalf of Philip Butcher. This award recognizes Philip’s instrumental role in the development of an innovative drone-control goggle mount, a project that has significantly enhanced the operational efficiency and safety of law enforcement officers, both nationwide and across the globe.
Mayor Freddie O'Connell and Chief of Police John Drake presented the award, underscoring the impactful collaboration between Vanderbilt and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. This groundbreaking initiative has not only achieved operational success but also set a precedent for accessible technology in law enforcement. You can read more on Philip's project here.
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Sam Stubbs: Discipline and Perseverance on the Road to Graduation and Beyond
As Sam Stubbs (HOD ’24) prepares to graduate and embark on a professional journey in Chicago, he reflects on the invaluable lessons learned from a disciplined life of sports and academia. Balancing his final semester at Vanderbilt with rigorous training, Sam's commitment culminated in a triumphant finish at the Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon. His story is not just about athletic endurance but also about nurturing deep-rooted values and connections that propel young entrepreneurs forward. Click here to read more.
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Internal Consulting Program runs a workshop for AdvancED
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VINES 48 Hour Launch
The Vanderbilt Innovation and Entrepreneurship Society's recent pitch competition, 48 Hour Launch was a huge success! 🚀 With 17 student groups showcasing their innovative ideas, this year marked the largest turnout in years, and everyone did a fantastic job pitching.
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Driving Innovation: AI Solutions for Customer-Centric Manufacturing at Nissan
The Wond’ry, in collaboration with graduate students from the Data Science Institute, successfully completed a project that applied advanced AI technologies to develop predictive modeling tools for Nissan’s Product Planning team. This initiative led to the creation of a sophisticated chatbot designed to assist Nissan in making informed, data-driven decisions.
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Student receives inaugural Wond'ry Design Doer Award
Congratulations to William Henderson for being the first person to ever receive the Wond'ry's Design Doer VandyPass badge. Participants engage in the Wond’ry programs where they are eligible to earn 25 different badges of varied competencies and levels in order to earn the Design Doer badge. "Pursuing my Design Doer badge has allowed me to reach a noteworthy level of competence in key skill areas through workshops and events at the Wond'ry," said William. "Even better, I had a fun time doing it!”
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Students host inaugural Vanderbilt Homeless Health Conference
Congratulations to Sophie Druffner, a judge and participant in the Social Changemakers community, for her pivotal role in organizing Vanderbilt’s inaugural Homeless Health Conference. Held on April 13, the event brought together local non-profits, medical professionals, and community stakeholders to forge alliances aimed at tackling homelessness in Nashville under the theme “Future Physicians as Advocates: Creating Collective Impact from Community Voice.” The conference not only highlighted the pressing issue of homelessness but also served as a platform for future physicians to engage with and learn from community voices. Special thanks also go to Social Changemakers team lead Hamza Salman and participant Sowmya Paritala, who shared their insights and contributions to the Social Changemakers initiative during the event. Their presentations enriched the discussions and showcased the importance of community-driven approaches to health care. The day was marked by thoughtful engagements, deep dives into the landscape of homelessness, and explorations of innovative solutions like street medicine, all aimed at fostering a robust network of advocacy and care for the unhoused in Nashville. Click here to read more.
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EndoShunt receives prestigious recognition at Harvard President's Innovation Challenge
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Students attend Nashville Schermerhorn Symphony's Annual Fashion Show
The Nashville Schermerhorn Symphony's Annual Fashion Show Development Committee invited four Vanderbilt students interested in careers in fashion, joining students from TSU, Belmont, and MTSU, to attend the gala event! Four Wond'ry Maker Techs from the FAB Lab and Mechanical Maker Space, members of Vanderbilt Fashion Week, attended the show. Jeremiah Crosswhite said about the evening "It was amazing! We networked with TSU students who want to collaborate with the Wond'ry on workshops and projects. Additionally, we gained new connections for Vanderbilt Fashion Week models and designers!" Trieu Vy Truong said, "Vanderbilt currently doesn't have a fashion program, but many students seek to pursue careers in corporate fashion after graduation. This was such an amazing, enlightening experience and it was great to connect with students from other schools as well as interact with Nashville's fashion community!"
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Upcoming Events: Our events are not only area-focused but also collaborative efforts with both campus-led and community partner initiatives.
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Innovation Open Mic: May 8The Wond’ry hosts a monthly Innovation Open Mic event, where aspiring innovators are invited to practice presenting their ideas and projects to a panel of entrepreneurial experts and mentors. Click here to learn more.
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Sullivan Family Ideator Program: June 4 - July 2The Sullivan Family Ideator Program at the Wond’ry helps aspiring university-affiliated innovators (students, staff, faculty, and alumni) evaluate and develop their ideas by teaching an evidence-based approach to idea evaluation and offering expert mentorship and access to resources. Applications for this program are now closed. Click here to learn more.
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Mid-South Hub I-Corps Info Session: May 15Join Mid-South Hub Director, Charleson Bell, to learn more about NSF's National Innovation-Corps, an immersive entrepreneurial training program and $50,000 grant for research commercialization! Click here to learn more.
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TN Maker Fest: Save the Date - Sept. 28This is a free indoor event with over 45+ exhibits ranging from art, to candle making, to fabrication, to robotics, and more. Click here to learn more.
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Life Science Showcase: July 18
The Industry Collaborations Division of OVPRI and CTTC invites you to attend the 2024 Vanderbilt University Life Science Showcase on Thursday, July 18th, 2024, 1 PM – 5 PM at the Student Life Center. Click here to learn more.
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Challenges and Opportunities:
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Join the Waitlist for Bloom Birth Control
Sign up for Bloom Birth Control's waitlist, a natural birth control app founded by a doctor-patient duo. Bloom is based on a clinically proven, scientific method which has been found to have similar efficacy to the birth control pill (99% effective with perfect use).
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Part Time Position: Mid-South National Science Foundation I-Corps Hub Assistant
The Mid-South Hub Assistant is an individual contributor who will support the day-to-day activities of the Hub Coordinator and will execute tasks such as coordinating microgrant processing, supporting cohort recruitment, organizing training logistics, facilitation activities, and workshops, and coordinating Hub reporting information. The chosen candidate will report to the Hub Director and work closely with all Senior Personnel and the Hub Leadership Team.
This is a part-time, on-site position, working up to 27 hours per week. The position is available for the term life of the grant, which expires in December 2027, with option of renewal.
Click here to apply.
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Mid-South REACH Product Development Grants Request for Applications
Cycle 1 Pre-application submissions are now open!
The Mid-South REACH (Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub) program is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded program that extends across four states: Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia.
The primary goal of this grant program is to accelerate the real-world impact of biomedical and health related innovations through education, mentorship, and financial support for aspiring entrepreneurs. The Mid-South REACH program is not a traditional grant program. It is focused on product development and requires milestone-based project management in six-month increments, renewable up to four times. Click here to read more.
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Do you want to share your project or story with us?
We would love to feature your projects, ventures, and ideas in future publications. If you feel you have a compelling story or update, feel free to reach out to us by filling out this form.
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Runway Ready Sustainable Fashion as Sculptural Art (ARTS 3891: Selected Topics)
Join Professor Alex Sargent Capps, in the exploration of the connection of the fast fashion industry to our global carbon footprint through figurative sculptural and wearable pieces made from recycled objects and deadstock fabrics.
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More Opportunities:
- SCET’s Summer Venture Lab Program- Learn More
May 20 - Jun. 28 | Deadline: May 12
- VentureWell Debut Challenge- Learn More
Aug. 26 | Deadline: May 31
- Collegiate Inventors Competition- Learn More
Oct. 16-17 | Deadline: Jun. 3 - Joy of Giving Something Fellowship- Learn More
Fall 2024 | Deadline: Jun. 5
- Nashville Entrepreneur Center InFlight- Learn More
Aug. - Oct. 2024 | Deadline: Jun. 7
- Techstars- Learn More
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Support Our StudentsBy making your tax-deductible gift to our Wond’ry Student Project Fund, you help us award students with the funding they need to turn their ideas into reality. Donate here.
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