At the 2018 Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) Annual Research Conference, researchers came together to create 11 multi-institution collaborations and pitched them to a panel of judges at the end of the conference. TEES awarded $20,000 for the first place collaboration and provided $2,500 in seed funding to each of the additional 10 collaborations.
$20,000 Award
CIRI: Community Infrastructure Resiliency Index
Principal investigator: Hua Zhang, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Team members: Ed Brickley, Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service; Lee Clapp, Texas A&M University-Kingsville; William Kitch, Angelo State University; Emmanuel Nzewi, Prairie View A&M University
The Community Infrastructure Resiliency Index (CIRI) will provide a decision support system allowing communities to both identify projects and quantitatively determine the ability of the given project to improve community resilience and guide capital investments.
$2,500 Awards
Adaptive Coatings for Extreme Environments
Principal investigator: Samir Aouadi, University of North Texas
Team member: Jeff Cunion, Tarleton State University
The team will create a smart composite material whose surface chemistry changes depending on the environment to reduce friction and wear in extreme environments.
Advanced Vehicle Technologies
Principal investigator: Annette von Jouanne, Baylor University
Team member: Prasad Enjeti, Texas A&M University; Kwang Lee, Baylor; Le Xie, Texas A&M University; Alex Yokochi, Baylor
This project will research extreme fast charging of electric vehicles (350KW or higher) where multiple vehicles are charging simultaneously at a single charging station of at least 1 MW with a focus on local energy storage and direct connections to the MV distribution grid.
Aggie System Swarmers
Principal investigator: Burchan Aydin, Texas A&M University-Commerce
Team members: Dale Cope, Texas A&M University; Suxia Cui, Prairie View A&M University; Michael Starek, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and Junefei Xie, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
The team will innovate real-time remote sensing of static and dynamic objects using swarm technology for geospatial intelligence. They will also intelligently manage and distribute a swarm of unmanned aircraft systems to acquire data and then merge and process the data in real time.
This team will continue the work of the 2017 Fire Busters team to extend the remote sensing capabilities for real-time intelligence.
Aqua Smart
Principal investigator: Fawad Rauf, Texas A&M University-Texarkana
Team members: Tianxing Chu, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; Jun Kameoka, Texas A&M University; Mohamed Morsy, Texas A&M University-Texarkana
The team will design and develop a smart water control system using wireless, self-powered, autonomous sensors with four specific project milestones:
- Design of component.
- System level integration.
- Real environment testing.
- Commercialization.
Cybersecurity Curriculum Development
Principal investigator: Sarhan Musa, Prairie View A&M University
Team members: Paula deWitte, Texas A&M University; Camille Gibson, Prairie View A&M University
This collaboration will develop a curriculum based on the human aspects of cybersecurity resulting in a well-trained cybersecurity workforce for the state and nation.
FESI: Free Emission Smart Infrastructure
Principal investigator: Marty Yaqub, Texas A&M University-Commerce
Team members: John Attia, Prairie View A&M University; Eddy Oh, Texas A&M University-Commerce
This team will provide a solution with state-of-the-art photovoltaic (PV) technology for PV roof material and LiOn battery storage and grid integration with an ultimate goal of providing energy that is integrated with the grid with no reliance on subsidies.
P-GAMA: Forwarding Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Diagnosis through Linking Mechanical and Genetic Markers
Principal investigator: Nabila Shamim, Prairie View A&M University
Team members: Ariful Bhuiyan, Prairie View A&M University; Aniruddha Datta, Texas A&M University; Bridgette Kirkpatrick, Collin College and Carole Twichell, Collin College
The research team will analyze samples of cervical-vaginal secretions from patients with and without Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) using the flow metric die swell ratio to determine elasticity.
The samples will then be assayed for PCOS-specific gene expression using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The team will attempt to correlate gene expression levels with viscosity in the hope this method will lead to an effective and non-invasive diagnosis of PCOS.
Real FIT
Principal investigator: Jose Baca, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Team members: Melissa Grunlan, Texas A&M University; Christopher Kocmoud, TEES Texas Center for Applied Technology and Shannon Ydoyaga, Del Mar College
This team will explore different ways to motivate rehabilitative patients to follow therapy routines and exercise programs through mixed reality technology so patients maintain their fitness levels.
SWAP: Sea Water Advanced Plastics
Principal investigator: Gary Stading, Texas A&M University-Texarkana
Team members: Gina Chiarella, Prairie View A&M University; Greg Gammon, TEES Turbomachinery Laboratory and Nedal Shheber, Del Mar College
The team will develop a biodegradable polymer that uses the acidic pollutants in seawater as a catalyst of decomposition.
Transformative Metals for the Next Century
Principal investigator: Sundeep Mukherjee, University of North Texas
Team members: Amine Benzerga, Texas A&M University and John Vickers, NASA
This team will develop fracture-resistant alloys. High entropy alloys (HEAs) represent a new paradigm of structural alloy design and are based on multiple principal elements, showing unique properties and processing abilities. HEAs are potentially transformative for structural applications, but damage and flaw tolerance are not well understood.
