The Engineering Genesis Award for Multidisciplinary Research was presented to four Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) researchers and their research teams during the TEES External Advisory Board meeting November 18.
The award, which is presented to TEES researchers who have secured significant research grants of $1 million or more, was given to Dr. Nimir Elbashir, Dr. Shehab Ahmed, Dr. Raymundo Arroyave and Dr. Alvin Yeh.
Elbashir, who holds a joint appointment as a professor in the Chemical Engineering Program and the Petroleum Engineering Program at Texas A&M University at Qatar and is the director of the Gas and Fuels Research Center, was awarded a grant for $4.8 million from the Qatar National Research Fund for his proposal, “Design of Novel Catalysts and Processes for CO2 Conversion from Micro to Macroscale.”
His research team included co-PIs Dr. Konstantinos Kakosimos, Dr. Dragomir Bukur, Dr. Mahmoud El-Halwagi and Dr. Patrick Linke, all from chemical engineering. Their research seeks to develop new catalysts and novel technologies that scale the conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals and clean fuels, which could significantly impact gas processing technology and CO2 conversion worldwide.
Ahmed, an associate professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Program, was awarded a grant from the RasGas Company Limited for his proposal, “An Intelligent Open Hole Wireline Tool Conveyance System,” His co-PI is Dr. Hussein Alnuweiri (electrical and computer engineering). Their research is focused on developing an intelligent open hole wireline tool conveyance system to overcome challenges in deploying logging tools in deviated and horizontal wellbores. The proposed intelligent wireline system can potentially save significant rig and crew time, which contributes to a safer and more cost effective operation.
Arroyave was awarded $1.5 million from the National Science Foundation for his proposal, “DMREF: Accelerating the Development of High Temperature Shape Memory Alloys.” His co-PI’s are Dr. Ibrahim Karaman (Department of Material Science and Engineering), Dr. Edward Dougherty (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering); Dr. Dimitris Lagoudas (Department of Aerospace Engineering and deputy director of TEES); Dr. Amine Benzerga (aerospace engineering) and Dr. Theo Baxevanis (Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Houston). This interdisciplinary research project combines ideas from materials science, mechanics, computer science, machine learning and design to develop high-temperature solid-state actuators for the aerospace and automotive industries.
Yeh was awarded $1.1 million from the DHHS-NIH-National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for his proposal, “Imaging Dynamics and Interactions of Developmental Lineages in the Early Embryo.” His co-PI is Dr. Lekven Arne (Department of Biology). Yeh’s research is focused on developing the tools and methodology needed to understand the earliest events in brain formation using zebra fish. Understanding how the midbrain-hindbrain boundary (MHB) forms with zebra fish will probably provide insight into the development of the human brain, more specifically the tectum and the cerebellum.
Top photo, from left: M. Katherine Banks, vice chancellor and dean of engineering and director of TEES; El-Halwagi; Dr. Hassan Bazzi, assistant dean for research and TEES division head at Texas A&M at Qatar; and Lagoudas.
Bottom right: Banks, Dougherty and Lagoudas.