Texas A&M Engineering News

Students work around the clock to design a more inclusive campus during the 2018 Diversity Hackathon

Wed, 07 Feb 2018 00:00:00 CST

With only 24 hours on the clock, students came together to design and develop ideas to help make the Texas A&M University campus more inclusive.

The 2018 Diversity Hackathon brought students from many disciplines at Texas A&M to the Langford Architecture Center on Feb. 2-3, where they worked overnight to help turn spaces on campus into more welcoming environments for all people.

Cecilia Giusti, associate dean for outreach and diversity in the College of Architecture and head of the Diversity Council, launched the Diversity Hackathon four years ago. The inaugural hackathon featured a partnership with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and the College of Engineering continues to play an important role in the event with a majority of the participants being engineering students.

“For 24 hours they talk about what it means to be diverse, what is an inclusive approach, and how to talk better about inclusion and diversity,” Giusti said. “[And] they actually create or produce something. Even if they don’t win anything, the whole exercise is fantastic—it’s magic.”

One team of general engineering freshmen worked to develop a tool to help the visually impaired better navigate campus. Team members prototyped a device that could slip onto the back of a pair of glasses and connect to a phone, which could then use the campus Wi-Fi to pinpoint the wearer’s location. The device would then communicate information through vibrations against the bone in the back of the ear.

“It would notify you of different obstacles around campus and different buildings or streets so that a person who was visually impaired would be aware of their surroundings and know which way to go without needing to look at a map,” said Jaxon Tucker.

There were six challenges teams could choose from provided by different programs across campus. The College of Engineering asked students to focus on the Zachry Engineering Education Complex and how to make it more accessible for students with hearing, visual or physical impairments.

“It’s going to be a world-class, state-of-the-art building, and I was hoping that students might come up with some concepts to ensure that all of our students are welcome and can participate at the same level,” said Debra Dandridge, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and engineering accessibility coordinator.

To help with the creation process, students had access to several resources, including 3-D printers and other tools provided by the College of Architecture. One team took up the challenge to create an open space for communication by developing an interactive screen to help people share concerns and ideas in a more accessible way.

“We’re going to have an interface for people to share their ideas through texts,” said junior computer science engineering student Muin Momin. “We have a phone number set up and people can text complaints or something they like about the space that they’re in, and that will display as a word cloud on the screen so everyone can see what’s going on and the owners of that space can get ideas on how to improve it.”

Being a part of the hackathon may also help students after graduation. Dr. J. Michael Moore, an instructional assistant professor in the computer science and engineering department, said industry is showing more interest in accessibility and expects graduates to be prepared to create these universally designed, accessible products.

“This hackathon is a fantastic opportunity for our students in engineering to not only try and do inventive ideas in a short period of time but also to be creative and innovative, and be ready and thinking that way, before they go out in industry,” Moore said.

Texas A&M Engineering and Alamo Colleges District co-enrollment program to begin offering classes fall 2018

Thu, 01 Feb 2018 00:00:00 CST

Texas A&M University, Chevron and Alamo Colleges District will enroll the first cohort of students for the Texas A&M-Chevron Engineering Academy at Alamo Colleges District in fall 2018. This innovative co-enrollment partnership was developed to address the state’s growing need for engineers. Qualified students will be admitted to the Texas A&M College of Engineering, complete the first two years of coursework at an Alamo Colleges District college and finish their engineering degrees in College Station, Texas. The program will begin accepting student applications March 1.

The Texas A&M-Chevron Engineering Academy at Alamo Colleges District allows students to remain close to home for their first two years while pursuing one of 19 majors within the College of Engineering at Texas A&M. This program is generously supported by Chevron.

“We are pleased to offer students in the Alamo Colleges District a unique pathway toward a first-rate degree from an engineering college ranked among the top 10 in the world,” said Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp. “Our goal is to attract the very best students to Texas A&M Engineering, even if circumstances require them to stay close to home for the first two years of college. These students will be Aggies in San Antonio from day one.”

“We are always eager to offer our students new opportunities for continuing their education once they graduate from one of the colleges of the Alamo Colleges District,” said Alamo Colleges District Chancellor Dr. Bruce Leslie. “Our latest partnership with Texas A&M University and Chevron will offer our students a pathway to a bachelor’s degree in a field with excellent job growth and high salaries, benefiting not only the students, but the state’s economy as well,” he added.

In Texas, the projected need for engineers in the workforce is 53,000 by 2024. To meet this need, universities and two-year colleges will need to work together to bridge the gap and attract and retain students who are interested in STEM fields. Engineering students in the Engineering Academy program enroll in math, science and core curriculum courses through Alamo Colleges District and have the unique opportunity to enroll in Texas A&M engineering courses taught by Texas A&M faculty at Northeast Lakeview College, part of Alamo Colleges District.

“Northeast Lakeview College is proud to be home for this program,” said Dr. Veronica Garcia, Northeast Lakeview College president. “This new program will help address the need for more programming in high-demand STEM fields and provide an opportunity for more students, in San Antonio and surrounding areas, to pursue engineering coursework.”

Chevron has donated $5 million to support Texas A&M-Chevron Engineering Academies across the state at Austin Community College; Houston Community College, Spring Branch in Houston; Texas Southmost College in Brownsville; El Centro and Richland Colleges in Dallas; and Alamo Colleges District in San Antonio.

“Chevron is committed to increasing access to, and the quality of, education around the world. We are proud to partner with Texas A&M on this important initiative to help ensure an educated and skilled workforce,” said Shariq Yosufzai, Chevron vice president of ombuds, diversity and inclusion and university and association relations.

“Our longstanding relationship with Texas A&M, through support of the Engineering Academy initiative, will help provide opportunities in the field of engineering for many underrepresented and first-generation college students,” Yosufzai said. “Partnering with Texas A&M, a top source of engineering hires for Chevron, to help provide opportunities in the field of engineering will support our efforts to help build the diverse workforce of tomorrow that will be required to meet the energy needs of the future."

Texas A&M Engineering Vice Chancellor and Dean Dr. M. Katherine Banks said the academies have the potential to reach beyond the typical pathways for access to a top-ranked engineering program.

“The academies, through our partnership with Chevron and the two-year colleges, provide new pathways to a first-rate engineering education,” Banks said. “Through this co-enrollment program, students can live at home for the first two years of college without postponing their participation in an engineering program that is highly regarded by employers across the country.”

For more information about how to apply and other details, visit /academies or email engineeringacademies@tamu.edu.

Local elementary students visit Texas A&M to learn about STEM careers

Fri, 19 Jan 2018 00:00:00 CST

Dr. Merrideth Holub, senior academic advisor for the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution (ETID), knows that motivating kids to pursue STEM careers has to begin early in their education.

Based on this understanding, she recently hosted a campus visit for 120 fourth grade students from Forest Ridge Elementary School to ETID at Texas A&M University.

The fourth graders spent two hours learning about what being an engineer is all about and taking part in a number of different experiential learning activities.

All four of the ETID academic programs took part in the visit to help inspire students to think seriously about STEM education and careers.

“Because all of our undergraduate programs are hands-on, ETID is a great place for elementary school students to really get to see what being an engineer is all about,” said Holub. “The students were subdivided into four groups with each group spending 30 minutes with each of our programs.”

Charlene Bandfield, Liz Adams, Lauren Given, Andrea Prcin, Martha Snider and Sara Swetish were the teachers who arranged and conducted the visit for the students, who are part of the Falcon Leaders Inspire Program (FLIP) at Forest Ridge.

Dr. Behbood Zoghi represented the electronic systems program andprovided insight into the importance of engineers developing leadership skills and team dynamics. Teams were given 10 minutes to brainstorm and then provided characteristics of a great team. These included:

Leadership
Teamwork
Communications ( especially listening)
Trust
Perseverance
Fun

Following this activity, the students validated these characteristics by participating in a team exercise to lower a helium (lightweight) rod. As shown in the figure, students lined up in two rows and had to keep the stick horizontal as they lowered it to the ground while making sure that everyone’s fingers remained in contact with the rod. Awards were given to the best team in each group.

Bob Borsh from industrial distribution took each group of fourth graders through the supply chain necessary to transition a “toy” from its raw materials to a finished product delivered to the end user. All of the students were intrigued with how this happens and asked a number of questions to learn more about the processes and how engineers played important roles in the creation of the toys.

Adam Farmer from the manufacturing and mechanical program toured each group of students through the program’s advanced machining labs. He also demonstrated how additive manufacturing and product design are used in prototyping and product development.

The students learned about 3-D printing, making and using molds, and other manufacturing processes necessary to move an idea to finished product.

The newest ETID program is multidisciplinary engineering technology with a focus in mechatronics. Robots are used in a number of the new program’s courses, so that was what the four groups of fourth graders were introduced to during their visit.

Undergraduate students Austin Carter, Mitch Martinez and Matt Seago demonstrated some of the robotic technology being developed by the program and then invited the students to compete in five-person teams in a mobile robotics race of champions using the articulated suspension Digital Systems Teaching and Research (DSTR – pronounced “Disaster”) on the race course set up in front of Fermier Hall.

All in all, the fourth graders had a great time and saw multiple aspects of what engineers learn and do. Organizers are hoping some of these fourth graders are now thinking that they may want to join the Class of 2030 engineers by coming to Texas A&M for their undergraduate education.

Holub is already thinking about repeating the experience for other groups of elementary school students in the future.

Student-run industrial distribution career fair attracts record-breaking 80 companies

Mon, 04 Dec 2017 00:00:00 CST

The student organization Professional Association for Industrial Distribution (PAID) recently hosted its annual career fair at Texas A&M University’s Hall of Champions.

A record-breaking 80 companies from all over the world came to recruit students for those majoring in the industrial distribution program within the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution.

Created and ran for students, the event is one of only two career-specific career fairs at Texas A&M. The career fair is able to provide hundreds of opportunities for students seeking careers in the distribution world.

PAID is one of the largest student-run organizations at Texas A&M with more than 700 members. It was formed in 1983 to serve as a link between industrial distribution students and industry. For more than 30 years, PAID has played a key role in providing internships and job opportunities for industrial distribution students.

Cole Willbanks, senior industrial distribution major and PAID president, says that this year’s career fair was a success thanks to the hard work of everyone involved.

“Putting this event on with a team of 12 student officers is all about being proactive. Planning really starts years in advance. For instance, we already have our dates set and venues booked through 2019.”

“Recruiting starts six months in advance for companies, and we are continually finding ways to add value and make this the best overall experience for our students and industry partners alike. It's basically a full-time job without a paycheck. Just as much work that goes into the event itself goes into the building of our team,” Willbanks said. “We wouldn't be able to do this without a truly cohesive team so we spend a lot of time working together and building that bond.”

PAID is advised by industrial distribution lecturer Evan Vestal and instructional associate professor Dr. Norm Clark.

“Congratulations to PAID officers, committee members, volunteers, faculty and staff for making today’s career fair an incredibly successful and valuable event,” said Vestal.

“We appreciate your commitment and drive. Thank you to our students for engaging and interacting with our industry partners in a professional manner. You all represented the industrial distribution program well.”

Master of Industrial Distribution students visit Poland for global education

Mon, 27 Nov 2017 00:00:00 CST

Graduate students from the Master of Industrial Distribution (MID) program at Texas A&M University recently visited Poland as part of a global distribution course that involves experiential learning with live projects.

The 58 students are working professionals from various companies, each with an average of 13 years of work experience. Brenntag Poland and RS Components were two sponsor companies that hosted nearly 30 students each at their facilities in Zgierz and Warsaw.

Brenntag provided a presentation, lab and warehouse tour, and participated in a Q&A. RS Components had their team from Poland and the U.K. present to the students and engage in meaningful discussions. The students are split into 12 teams that are currently working to provide solutions for six project case studies for Brenntag Poland and RS Components, and will make their final recommendation presentations in November.

Additionally, executives from various companies participated in a panel discussion with the students and professors in Warsaw. The panel discussion focused on customers, suppliers and trends in the distribution business.

Globalization influences all distribution channels. International firms face many challenges and opportunities, and even local distributors are challenged with international sourcing and global competitors. The global distribution course examines global competitive issues in sourcing, operations and sales.

Global networks of facilities, human resources, inventories and supplier relationships are examined, together with legal issues and logistics. The course features "real-time" case studies with distributors and their suppliers providing a problem environment for students to work on supply chain solutions. An international trip to the supplier's and/or distributor's operation is included in the course.

Past trips have involved Mexico, China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Brazil. Each year, new case studies are prepared for a new location with new problem environments to reflect the changing challenges facing global distribution.

The MID program is a 21-month distance education graduate program specifically designed for working professionals. The program is designed to serve the needs of working professionals who require flexibility in their schedules and location. Courses have been developed specifically to maximize web-based learning advantages.

The program dramatically increases the participant’s ability to think globally, integrate trends, acquire knowledge and act strategically. The rigorous and interdisciplinary degree ensures that students are well equipped to handle both the demands of daily business as well as the unique challenges of doing business in a global economy. The MID program is the largest distance based graduate program at Texas A&M University College of Engineering.

Engineering Honors showcases undergraduate research opportunities

Tue, 07 Nov 2017 00:00:00 CST

Texas A&M University’s Engineering Honors recently held it’s first Undergraduate Research Showcase & Opportunities Fair for all undergraduate members.

Students were encouraged to learn about the research of their fellow scholars and be inspired for their own research that is required for Engineering Honors students. Students were also able to learn about research opportunities that are available to all undergraduate students. Students from ten engineering departments presented their research to fair attendees.

Prizes were awarded best EH poster to the students who presented their research in the poster competition.

Select engineering faculty members judged the posters and ranked them based on specific criteria including novelty, utility, difficulty, and verbal and written presentation.

Ten departments represented were the following: aerospace engineering, biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, petroleum engineering, electrical engineering, nuclear engineering, engineering technology & industrial distribution, and computer science and engineering.

Student posters displayed research with topics such as motivating STEM participation through ‘making as a micro-manufacturing’ model, optimized solar harvesting system for residential applications using high frequency GaN devices and design of a self-contained SMA-based deployable space habitat.

Research opportunities through departments were vast, and included subjects such as groundwater sustainability--assessing conservation technologies and their impacts on ecosystems, building a more secure Google Chrome web browser and modeling and simulations of plasma dynamics of in-space propulsion devices.

The winners of the competition included three runners-up including interdisciplinary engineering student Luke Oaks for development of an essay for detecting an oral cancer biomarker using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, computer science engineering student Ankit Ramchandani with studying accessibility of ligand binding sites with motion planning and computer science and computer engineering student Diego Ruvalcaba with workplace skeleton tools for motion planning.

Antara Dattagupta from chemical engineering won the grand prize on her poster detailing her research in elucidating the mechanisms underlying Salmonella virulence
inhibition by micro biota metabolite Indole.

This event will be reoccurring. For information about future events like this, please visit Engineering Honors.

Texas A&M graduate students win the Excellence in Societal/Technical Impact Award

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 00:00:00 CST

Two graduate students working for the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution recently won the Excellence in Societal/Technical Impact Award at the 2017 Global Grand Challenges Summit (GGCS) in Washington, D.C. The biennial GGCS, is jointly organized by the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, U.K. Royal Academy of Engineering and Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Rana Soltani-Zarrin and Amin Zeiaee, mechanical engineering doctoral students in the Texas A&M University College of Engineering, presented their research poster at the competition, titled “Virtual reality enhanced intelligent upper-limb exoskeleton for rehabilitation of stroke patients.”

The project aims to help stroke patients relearn motor skills they have lost and regain abilities to perform activities of daily living using an intelligent upper limb robotic device.

The device provides assistance and resistance to patients with various levels of disability to increase strength, flexibility and range of motion of their upper-limb, making it a more effective recovery as an alternative to labor-intensive, limited-time manual therapy. Furthermore, training developed in augmented and virtual reality environments can be used as additional features to provide more entraining and motivating therapy for patients.

Originally a proposal from the Laboratory for Control, Robotics and Automation, directed by Dr. Reza Langari, department head in the engineering technology and industrial distribution department, Soltani and Zeiaee began their research to bring the idea into reality in 2015.

Using a combination of electrical, mechanical and mechatronic engineering, Soltani and Zeiaee have been developing a prototype for clinical settings that will hopefully one day be provided as a home-based exoskeleton for rehabilitation.

Only 37 graduate and 49 in undergraduate level students were selected for this competition among more than 150 submitted abstracts from United States, United Kingdom and China. There were three awards for each category (graduate and undergraduate). The winners were selected for societal/technical impact of the research, the novelty of research or the poster design. Judges were professionals from academia, government and industry.

Soltani and Zeiaee’s research was selected as the winner of the societal/technical impact award. Each winning team was awarded a certificate and a cash prize of $2,000, by the National Academy of Engineering. Among the six winners, one was from China, one from the United Kingdom and four winners from the United States.

Texas A&M faculty awarded National Science Foundation grant to enhance Texas teachers’ knowledge and skills in manufacturing

Mon, 02 Oct 2017 00:00:00 CST

Two faculty members from the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M University were recently awarded a $554,678 National Science Foundation grant to enhance the knowledge and skill level of Texas teachers in manufacturing to promote the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) career interest for middle and high school students.

Manufacturing is a billion-dollar industry giant that has a shortage of workforce availability in Texas. This project seeks to meet the increasing demand for a qualified manufacturing workforce by training public school educators, paving the way for more hands-on manufacturing school programs, opportunities and student-led activities.

Principal investigator Dr. “Wayne” Ngyuen Hung and co-principal investigator Dr. Mathew Kuttolamadom will begin their project in summer 2018. The funded proposal is entitled “RET Site: Enhancing Teacher Knowledge & Skills in Modern Manufacturing.”

Hung and Kuttolamadom will be working on the funded project, alongside Dr. Satish Bukkapatnam from the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Dr. Bruce Tai from the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

The Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) site will host 12 teachers at the Texas A&M campus for six weeks each summer for three years. Teachers will take part in manufacturing-focused capsulated technical sessions, complementary lab practice, tours, seminars and guided research projects within a design-thinking framework.

The program will engage the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and local industries for support, as well as leverage the existing infrastructure at Texas A&M, such as the Enrichment Experiences in Engineering program and the annual P-12 Teachers Summit and Leadership Forum.

The on-site experience will be supplemented with follow-up visits to the teachers’ home institution, and they will be required to provide regular status updates for a year.

The program’s success will be measured by tracking the participation of students in science/engineering clubs at participating schools, as well as the number of students entering STEM programs and competitions during/after high school.

Teachers from four Texas independent school districts in Bryan, College Station, Houston and Pharr will begin participating in summer 2018.

Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution former students receive 2017 Texas A&M University Distinguished Alumnus Award

Tue, 19 Sep 2017 00:00:00 CST

Two Texas A&M University former students, John M. Yantis ’53 and General (Ret.) William M. Fraser III '74, were recently selected to receive a 2017 Distinguished Alumnus award from the Association of Former Students.

Both Yantis and Fraser graduated with a degree from the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution. Yantis received a Bachelor of Science in industrial technology in 1953, and Fraser received a Bachelor of Science in engineering technology in 1974.

The Distinguished Alumnus Award is the highest honor bestowed upon a former student of Texas A&M, awarded since 1962 to only 271 of Texas A&M’s 469,000 former students.

Presented jointly by the university and The Association of Former Students, this award recognizes Aggies who have achieved excellence in their chosen professions and made meaningful contributions to Texas A&M and their local communities.

Yantis founded the San Antonio construction firm Yantis Co. in 1965, and was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 1988. He is deeply involved in philanthropy and service in San Antonio and at Texas A&M; he established a student assistance fund with The Association; and has served on the 12th Man Foundation board.

Fraser has served as vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and commander of Air Combat Command and U.S. Transportation Command. He has served Texas A&M in numerous positions, including as a member of the President’s Board of Visitors.

“I am humbled and honored to have been selected,” says Fraser. “I am still awed when I see what others have done to be selected as a distinguished alumnus and never expected to be recognized this way.”

Yantis and Fraser will receive their awards from University President Michael K. Young at the annual Distinguished Alumni Gala on September 29.

New Master of Engineering Technical Management degree program launches fall 2018

Mon, 11 Sep 2017 00:00:00 CST

Texas A&M University’s College of Engineering will be offering a new online degree, Master of Engineering Technical Management (METM), beginning in fall 2018. METM is a 21-month, part-time program designed for working professionals.

The METM curriculum is tailored to meet the needs of engineering and technical professionals looking to enhance their technical management skills, business acumen, personal leadership effectiveness and project management skillset. Classes are taught by veteran industry professionals and professors with industry experience. Courses will focus on business concepts such as data-driven decision making, engineering finance, project management and new product development, while building a foundation in leadership utilizing emotional intelligence. METM differs from a traditional Master of Science degree in engineering by concentrating on current industry best practices rather than research, and differs from a traditional MBA by emphasizing the technical and engineering context of business decisions.

METM students will begin each academic year by completing a week in residency in College Station, Texas. Throughout the week they will work side by side with faculty, hear from executive speakers and create a lifelong network with the people they meet. The week in residency provides students an opportunity to immerse themselves in the program, creating a foundation of leadership they can build upon throughout the year.

During the second year of the program, students will focus on a capstone project. Capstone projects will be customized to each student with a focus on their industry and position. Students are encouraged to select a project from their current line of work, allowing them to directly apply the knowledge gained throughout the program. Working with METM faculty, students will create a project and develop a strategy to resolve real-world problems. Capstone projects will bring both students and employers a tangible return on investment from participating in the METM program.

To conclude the program, METM students will come together in College Station for one final session. During this three-day session, students will present the results of their yearlong capstone project to faculty and classmates and reflect on the knowledge they have gained. On the third day, METM students celebrate with their cohort by participating in graduation ceremonies alongside on-campus students.

For more information, including upcoming information sessions, visit the METM website. If you have additional questions, contact Jordan Sass at jsass@tamu.edu.