February 2018

Dr. Luis San Andrés, Mast-Childs Chair in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M, works on multiple projects in the Turbomachinery Laboratory. His work in rotordynamics includes novel squeeze film dampers, which help reduce vibrations within a jet engine, creating more reliable equipment that is safer and more comfortable to the ears of passengers. The long-term project has been funded by Pratt & Whitney Engines since 2008.

Dr. Sam Mannan, executive director of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s (TEES) Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center and Regents Professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been appointed to serve on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee (HTAC).

Industrial distribution students recently took a trip to Austin to visit a food pantry and the Central Texas Food Bank in order to explore solutions to fight hunger in Texas.

Radiation detectors are deployed for many different uses in a variety of different field conditions, and many of these detection systems are mobile. Lt. James Falkner and Dr. Craig Marianno are working together to analyze the performance of mobile radiation detection systems with respect to how fast the systems are moving.

Dr. Kristen Maitland, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and director of the Microscopy and Imaging Center at Texas A&M University, has been promoted to Fellow of SPIE.

According to an article in Mashable, NASA’s 2019 budget proposal includes funding for a new X-plane, specifically a supersonic aircraft designed to travel faster than the speed of sound without generating a loud sonic boom. Dr. Dimitris Lagoudas, associate vice chancellor for engineering research at Texas A&M University and principal investigator for the project, leads a team of researchers that includes Dr. Rodney Bowersox and Dr. Darren Hartl from the Department of Aerospace Engineering.

With 48 hours on the clock, students from 14 universities set out to make an impact on the world this past weekend. In the end, more than 400 students in 10 different countries came up with solutions to problems facing the globe.

Riser gas behavior was a major factor in the Deepwater Horizon disaster in April 2010, where an uncontrolled blowout on the Macondo well caused explosions that killed 11 people, sank the offshore rig and led to a hydrocarbon release in the Gulf of Mexico, damaging the environment. To address the risks of riser gas in offshore drilling, Dr. Wesley Williams, a professional in residence at the Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering at Louisiana State University (LSU), and Dr. Jerome Schubert, an associate professor in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University, are heading a joint project focusing on gaps in the understanding of riser gas behavior.

Texas A&M Engineering is poised to become a national leader in advanced manufacturing. Helping cement that growing reputation, the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station has joined America Makes, the country’s leading collaborative partner in additive manufacturing and 3-D printing technology research, commercialization and education.

Dr. Vladislav Yakovlev, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has recently had a breakthrough with distinguishing atoms and molecules, Raman scattering. This new technique attains low-background coherent Raman scattering that is controlled by a tunable infrared laser. Raman scattering is the inelastic scattering of a photon by molecules.

In September 2016, four researchers at Texas A&M University were awarded a $1 million National Science Foundation grant to promote interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers. The funded project "Connected STEM - Promoting STEM Education through Connected Devices and Building Automation" is a three-year Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) grant focused on encouraging middle and high school students to learn about STEM and the types of careers paths those fields offer.

Students from all walks of life enter Texas A&M University in pursuit of degree. For some, they don’t even step into a classroom. Douglas Compton graduated last fall as the Department of Mechanical Engineering’s first graduate in the distance learning graduate program.

For her outstanding contributions to the understanding of the behavior of liquids and gases in motion as related to need in aeronautics and astronautics, Dr. Helen Reed, Regents Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been awarded the 2018 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Fluid Dynamics Award.

Dr. James Cross, professor at Auburn University and former doctoral student from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, was named a 2017 Distinguished Member of the Association for Computing Machinery.

Texas A&M University was awarded a $4.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation CyberCorps Scholarships for Service (SFS) program, the Texas A&M Cybersecurity Center will administer the Cyber Leader-Scholars Program in partnership with Houston Community College.

The Engineering Entrepreneurship Program at Texas A&M University is hosting the first Invent for the Planet — a 48-hour global design challenge that aims to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems. From Cambodia to New Mexico, 14 universities around the world are joining the challenge to invent for our planet.

At the November 2017 Aggies Invent challenge civil engineering master’s student Morgan Boudier and four other Aggies developed a specialized augmented reality software with the ability to tell engineering project teams if a project they are working is on track.

Rachal Thomassie, a former advisor in the Texas A&M University Department of Mechanical Engineering, is pursuing her master’s degree in interdisciplinary engineering at Texas A&M with the hope that she will be able to continue to help students in a whole new way.

Dr. Xingyong Song, assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution with a joint appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was recently presented the prestigious Doctoral New Investigator Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS) for his research on autonomous shale oil drilling.

Texas A&M University researchers are studying seal leaks in subsea and aging oil well production facilities with the potential to greatly increase the efficiency of multiple-phase pumping and compressors turbomachinery.

During the recent science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) 4 Innovation Conference, Spark!, Texas A&M Engineering’s education outreach program, launched their new mobile trailer designed to help Texas children get excited about STEM fields.