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 The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s (TEES) External Advisory Board held its spring meeting May 20 at the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing building in College Station, Texas.

Advisory board members shared updates from their subcommittees and also heard updates from TEES administrators about plans for future growth and new research initiatives being pursued by the agency. 

M. Katherine Banks, vice chancellor and dean of engineering and director of TEES, presented TEES current initiatives.  Banks also emphasized the importance of receiving input from the board and industry regarding the development of the RELLIS Campus, a research and development campus which will help companies move ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace while also offering students a new path toward a college degree.   

 Three presentations highlighted some of TEES’ current initiatives.

 Dr. Sam Mannan, director of the Mary K. O’Connor Process Safety Center (MKOPSC), talked about the growth of his center from starting with funding over $200,000 at its inception to an annual budget of over $4 million last year. The MKOPSC will continue to expand with the development of the RELLIS Campus where the center will have new facilities.

 John Barton, assistant vice chancellor for strategic initiatives, presented TEES’ work with autonomous and connected vehicles. Barton detailed the ways in which Texas A&M University is positioned to be a leader in the field including new testing facilities at the RELLIS Campus, and a campus initiative to increase collaboration across departments and disciplines.

Dr. Satish Bukkapatnam, director of the Institute for Manufacturing Systems, gave a presentation that detailed the center’s ongoing effort to be a national leader in advanced manufacturing, emphasizing what he called an unmatched range of expertise in several facets of the subject.

The spring meeting concluded with a tour of the recently announced RELLIS Campus.  The three primary tenants at the new campus are TEES, the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI).  Each agency currently has facilities at the current Riverside Campus with plans for new construction. 

The next advisory board meeting will be held in November.