History

TEES enriched Texas A&M Engineering’s 25,000 students by 2025 (25by25) goal with a yearly venture competition enabling Texas A&M researchers, post-docs and students to learn how to navigate commercialization methods and pitch ideas to potential industry sponsors. TEES also encouraged faculty retention by providing research opportunities with senior faculty mentorship and industry collaboration.

• Focused on applied research, including health care, infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, autonomous vehicles and smart grid reliability
• Hosted the inaugural Texas A&M New Ventures Competition to provide seed funding for Texas companies with high-growth potential and innovative product development ideas
• Moved its headquarters to Texas A&M RELLIS
• Opened a new nanofabrication, materials characterization and energy research building 

New centers and institutions established

• National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing (2010)
• Wind Energy Center (2010)
• Water Conservation & Technology Center (2012)
• Center for Emergency Informatics (2012)
• Smart Grid Center (2012)
• National Corrosion Center (2013)
• Institute for Engineering Education and Innovation (2013)

TEES expanded its global and technological footprint by establishing new aerospace and nuclear research institutes, leading energy efficiency programs, and helping launch a pioneering branch campus.

• Helped form a new smart materials research institute for aerospace vehicles
• The Energy Systems Lab (ESL) implemented the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) and validated hundreds of energy-saving retrofits, successfully managing multimillion-dollar statewide projects
• Supported the launch of Texas A&M University at Qatar in Doha, extending its engineering research and education programs to the Middle East
• Increased engagement with U.S. national labs and military labs

New centers and institutions established

• Biomedical Imaging and Sensing Engineering Center (2001)
• Intelligent Bio-Nano Materials & Structures for Aerospace Vehicles Institute (2002)
• Texas Institute for Intelligent Bio-Nano Materials & Structures for Aerospace Vehicles Institute (2002)
• Dynamic Systems & Control (2002)
• Space Engineering Institute (2003)
• Aerospace Design, Safety/Security & Integration Center (2003)
• Center for Large-Scale Scientific Computing (2006)
• Nuclear Security Science & Policy Institute (2006)
• Institute for National Security Education & Research (2007)

TEES earned research and discovery acclaim when it was recognized by the R&D 100 Awards for inventions that demonstrated multidisciplinary capabilities and won other prestigious honors, such as the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for innovative technologies that benefit the environment.

• Funded programs encouraging women and minorities in engineering, math and science
• Increased focus on multidisciplinary and applied research
• Partnered with Sandia National Laboratories and UOP Co. to create a material that cleans radioactive waste
• Invented a digital feed monitor (manufactured by GE) that detects broken overhead power lines
• Found a method to turn waste into animal feed, industrial chemicals and fuel

New centers established

• Center for Electronic Materials, Devices and Systems (1990)
• Center for Mechanics and Control (1990)
• Environmental Excellence Center (1991)
• Innovation and Design in Engineering (1992)
• Mechanics of Composites (1992)
• Nanostructure Material and Quantum Device Fabrication (1992)
• Thermodynamics Research Center (1992)
• Sustainable Enterprise Institute (1992)
• Manufacturing Systems (1992)
• Scientific Computation (1992)
• Center for Oil Spill Technology (1992)
• Center for Asphalt and Material Chemistry (1992)
• Polymer Technology Center (1993)
• Infrastructure Engineering (1993)
• Center for Telecommunications Technology Management (1993)
• Texas Center for Applied Technology (1994)
• Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center (1995)
• Center for the Study of Digital Libraries (1995)
• Ergonomics Center (1996)
• Telecommunications and Information Technologies (1997)
• Analog and Mixed Signal Center (1998)
• Spacecraft Technology Center (1998)
• Aerospace Vehicle System Institute (1998)
• Center for Community Support (1999)

Although it continued to focus on regional needs, TEES began expanding its scope to address worldwide engineering research problems with a budget of $36 million and the addition of five new divisions and 11 new centers.

• Developed a computer program that teachers could use to make detailed lesson plans and track student performance
• Identified $20 million in annual savings opportunities at state agencies
• Partnered with The University of Texas at Austin to create the TEES-managed National Science Foundation (NSF) Offshore Technology Research Center; most of the deepwater structures planned or installed in the Gulf of Mexico were tested in the center’s wave basin.
• Officially recognized as a statewide research and technology agency
• Became a space-grant institution

New centers established

• Marine Geotechnical Engineering (1980)
• Crisman Institute for Petroleum Research (1984)
• Space Research Center (1985)
• Center for Electrochemical Systems & Hydrogen Research (1985)
• Center for Space Power (1987)
• Center for Studies of Clusters and Microparticles (1987)
• Thomas A. Read Center for Distribution Research (1987)
• Hazardous Waste Research Center (1987)
• Hazardous Reduction and Recovery Center (1988)
• Space Power Institute (1989)
• Offshore Technology Research Center (1989)

New divisions established

• UT Arlington
• UT El Paso
• UT San Antonio
• Texas A&I University
• Lamar University

TEES researchers were among the 300,000 individuals who spent millions of hours to ensure U.S. progress in space research during the 1960s.

• Contributed to the success of the 1969 moon walk
• Established the Space Technology Division

While pollution, energy shortages, world hunger, fierce economic competition, and transportation problems plagued the 1970s, the decade also saw an increase in bioengineering studies.

• Studied prosthetics, bone grafts and modified vehicles for quadriplegics
• Developed a voice and breath-controlled wheelchair

New labs, center and divisions established

• Space Technology Division (1962)
• Electric Power & Power Electronics Institute (1964)
• Remote Sensing Center (1968)
• Highway Safety Research Center (1968)
• Center for Dredging Studies (1968)
• Coastal Engineering Lab (1968)
• Solid-State Electronics Lab (1969)
• Food Protein Research and Development Center (1971)
• Texas Occupational Health and Safety Institute (1971)
• Turbo Machinery Lab (1971)
• Center for Urban Programs (1973)
• Prairie View Engineering Research Center (1979)

After gaining access to a permanent university fund for land-grant colleges, the Agricultural and Mechanical College spent $3 million on capital improvements between 1929 and 1937. During construction, TEES conducted studies on building foundations, materials, heating and ventilation systems, air conditioning equipment, water supply and sewage treatment facilities. These findings were shared with other schools across the nation.

• Incorporated within the Texas A&M University System
• Developed a crop dusting, spraying, seeding and fertilizing aircraft with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
• Became involved in advanced technology and computers
• Constructed the first of two nuclear reactors (the first for training and research into isotopes and radiation safety fields; the second for agriculture, industry, veterinary and human medicine research)

New facilities established

• Cotton Fiber Testing Lab (1937)
• Fan Testing Lab (1939)
• Energy Systems Lab (1939)
• Nuclear Science Institute (1958)
• Texas Transportation Institute (1959)
• TEES Data Processing Center (1959)

TEES’s initial mission was to undertake research that would produce answers to urban and rural problems and share that information to enhance the quality of life in Texas.

• First problem: U.S. car numbers increased from 15,000 in 1901 to 3 million in 1916, but only 10% of the nation’s 2.6 million miles of road were surfaced.
• First solution: Volunteer researchers produced bulletins on best practices for building highways, culverts and bridges – information widely used by the Texas Department of Highways and Public Transportation.
• Created the first research center – later named the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI)
• First received state funding in 1921