Texas A&M Engineering News

Engineering students sweep Raymond Ideas Challenge competition

Mon, 08 May 2017 00:00:00 CST

Three engineering student teams took the top spots in the 2017 Raymond Ideas Challenge competition hosted by the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship at the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University.

The Raymond Ideas Challenge is an annual competition that challenges students to explain their “big idea” for a product or service through both a written and video submission. Finalists then pitch their ideas to an expert panel of judges; the top 40 competed in the live pitch night on May 3.

“We are incredibly proud of our engineering students and the creativity they have shown in these ideas,” said Rodney Boehm, director of the Engineering Entrepreneurship Program and professor of practice. “Taking these to the next step into actual products is what engineering entrepreneurship is all about.”

First place and a $3,000 prize went to The OxiScope, a senior capstone design project from the engineering technology and distribution department. Team members include David Delamater, Matt Kellogg, Adam McGaffin, Gustavo Ordonex and Nathan Wiatrek. The OxiScope is a non-invasive prototype to measure the oxygen saturation and pulse rate of an infant during labor to assist doctors in determining whether or not an emergency cesarean section is needed.

Philip Bowie (electrical engineering), Cole Fincher and Michael New (mechanical engineering), Wesley Kuehn (manufacturing and mechanical engineering), Isaac Pitblado (general engineering) and Jana Soares (Mays Master of Business Administration student) took second place and $2,000 for TOBOR. Their innovation is using 3-D printing to create high-value products using their proprietary filament with greater heat and strength tolerance. The team had previously competed at Aggies Invent and at Texas A&M Invents at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, where they took second place.

Hexamania, an arithmetic-based puzzle game geared toward practicing math for elementary-age students, took third place and $1,000. Team members include Ryan Alderink and Jack Clark (computer science and engineering), Grace Fan (general engineering), Alejandra Hernandez and Pulkit Jain (industrial and systems engineering), and Kendel Lipe (biomedical engineering). The team had previously competed in Aggies Invent: STEM Education.

Record numbers highlight 5th annual Engineering Project Showcase

Thu, 04 May 2017 00:00:00 CST

For the 5th annual Engineering Project Showcase, the work of more than 1,000 students was represented on April 29 in the Hall of Champions at Texas A&M University’s Kyle Field.

The Engineering Project Showcase provides students an opportunity to demonstrate and display their engineering projects, highlighting the ingenuity of engineers solving real-world problems.

“The showcase is one of the largest exhibits of student design projects in the country and a unique opportunity for industry to see the innovative skills of our students across all engineering majors,” said Magda Lagoudas, executive director for industry and non-profit partnerships.

The showcase has become the pinnacle event of the year and has nearly doubled in size since its inaugural event. This year hosted more than 180 engineering projects representing the work of more than 1,000 students. The event brought industry representatives and judges from nearly 70 companies to campus, providing students an opportunity to network and discuss potential collaborations for their innovations.

The awards ceremony at the end of the showcase recognized the top teams with more than $10,000 in prize money awarded. Baker Hughes, Emerson and Shell sponsored the showcase.

The $1,000 Baker Hughes Award went to High Heat Flux Two Phase CPU Cooling from the mechanical engineering department. Its team members included Nick Cangelose, Justin Feldt, Qijun Liu and Kevin Wu, and faculty advisor Noushin Amini. It was sponsored by DELL EMC- Kevin Mundt and Robert Curtis.

The $1,000 Emerson Award went to Texas Children’s Hospital - Pediatric Gynecology from the biomedical engineering department. Its team members included Hannah Pearce, Omar Wyman, Sydney Roach and Hannah Humbert, and faculty advisor Maurice Brewer. It was sponsored by Dr. Jennifer Dietrich and Dr. Julie Hakim.

The $1,000 Shell Award went to Turtle Rescue from the ENGR 289 – Engineering Creativity course. Its team members included Dustin Ladd, Logan Skipper, Michayal Matthew and Matthew Laux.

In addition to the top three overall awards, 17 awards of $500 each were given for best project in each competing category listed below, such as capstone within specific majors, AggiE_Challenge, design competition teams, other course projects and ENGR 112 (freshman engineering course project).

Biological and agricultural engineering
Cacao Pod Cracker — Weston Yap, sponsor. Dr. Rabi Mohtar, faculty advisor. Team members: Cecily Molina, Hilda Villarreal and Sreevidya Ghantasala.

Biomedical engineering
Texas Children’s Hospital - Pediatric Gynecology — Dr. Jennifer Dietrich and Dr. Julie Hakim, sponsors. Maurice Brewer, faculty advisor. Team members: Hannah Pearce, Omar Wyman, Sydney Roach and Hannah Humbert.

Computer science and engineering
Ghost Ship VR — Department of Computer Science and Engineering, sponsor. Dr. Bruce Gooch, faculty advisor. Team members: Thomas Sell, Cody Leuschner, Josh Hooton and Jacob Stafford.

Electrical and computer engineering
Vibration Navigation Team — Dr. Stavros Kalafatis, faculty advisor. Team members: Jordan Wenske, Cooper Rehn, Benjamin Jack and Karl White.

Engineering technology and industrial distribution
Autonomous Garden System— Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution, sponsor. Dr. Ana Goulart, faculty advisor. Team members: Benedict Dike, John Stockton, Anthony Mendiola, Samuel Herrera, Philip Kelly and Hector Rafael.

Industrial and systems engineering (top two teams)
San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC) Research Catalog — SAMMC, sponsor. Ricardo Villarreal, faculty advisor. Team members: Luke Hicks, Olufemi Bada, Stanley Chan and Travis Korry.

MD Anderson’s Molecular Diagnostics Lab: Determining Optimal Batch Size — MD Anderson and Dalia Farhat, sponsor. Dr. Guy Curry, faculty advisor. Team members: Katherine Klassen, David Corro, Magdalene Kramer, Carter Harvey and Benjamin Babcock.

Mechanical engineering (top two teams)
High Heat Flux Two Phase CPU Cooling — ASHRAE and Kevin Gardner, sponsor. James Thomas, faculty advisor. Team members: Elias Rosedahl, Matthew Pledger, Daniel Harris and Ty Williams and faculty.

Smart-Glove Stroke Hand Rehabilitation Device — Dr. Arun Srinivasa, sponsor. James Thomas, faculty advisor. Team members: Trey Torno, Aaron Graeve, Casey Fattig, Sean Sculley and Eric Redondo.

Other capstone design – chemical engineering
Sustainable and Self-Sufficient Production of Propylene through Oleflex Technology — Ineos Olefins and Polymers, sponsor. Dr. Debalina Sengupta, faculty advisor. Team members: Harry MacTough, Eric Fris, Christopher Riggs and John Mark Zimmerman.

Student design competition
TAMU Hyperloop — Engineering Advisory Council, sponsor. Dr. Adonios Karpetic, faculty advisor. Team members: Jordan Daly, Nathan Brunner, Kasper Egholm, Armando Gonzalez-Feuchter, Frank Malambri, Jakob Parnell, Bradley Petras, Gabriel Pirmez, McKenna Roberts and Austin Schneider.

Other course projects
Turtle Rescue — EPICS 289, sponsor. Magda Lagoudas, faculty advisor. Team members: Dustin Ladd, Logan Skipper, Michayal Matthew and Matthew Laux.

ENGR 112 (three awards)
ENGR 112-540 — Paul Koola, faculty advisor. Team members: Christopher Alexander, Ross Carpenter, Abigail Dougherty, Garrett Janda, Samuel Kuehnhold, Samuel Murley, Jaclynn Turnbaugh and Zachary Wilson.

ENGR 112-203 — Dr. Allen Godwin, faculty advisor. Team members: Michael Martin, Jacob Dewey, Alicia Morales, Erica Hall, Thomas Dane, Oscal Villarreal, Richard McCalley and Tate Banks.

ENGR 112-511 — Jacquelyn Huff, faculty advisor. Team members: Bailey Eberle, David Bleiler, John Klaerner, Angelina Garcia, Sarah Khan, Josh Regresado, Nick Lugo, Sarnia Alghazo and Samantha Wilson.

AggiE_Challenge (two awards)
Point-of-Care Health Informatics for Proactive Epilepsy Seizure Alert — Texas A&M College of Engineering, sponsor. Dr. Satish Bukkapatnam, faculty advisor, and Afrin, student mentor. Team members: Kyle Reagan, Alan Ngo, Bryan Arnold, Stefan Manoharan, Sagar Patel, Sandesh Reddy, Srujan Kancharia, and Ishan Vasandni.

Advanced Vapor Compression Desalination (AVCD) – Business and Administration Team — Texas A&M College of Engineering, sponsor. Dr. Mark Holtzapple, faculty advisor. Team members: Yndalecia Ojeda, Esteban Saba, Audrey Munson, Gene Markantonis, Regan Hess, Will Lipscomb, Daisy Enriquez, Sarah Mustafa, Myada Abdelrahman, Carolynn Van Zandt and Talon Page.

Further details on each project can be found here. The 2018 Engineering Project Showcase will be April 27, 2018 in the Hall of Champions at Kyle Field.

Interdisciplinary team works to 4-D print metals and alloys

Tue, 25 Apr 2017 00:00:00 CST

A team of researchers from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University is collaborating to 4-D print nickel-titanium shape memory alloys.

The research group is comprised of Dr. Ibrahim Karaman, department head and Chevron Professor I; Dr. Raymundo Arróyave, associate professor, materials science and engineering; Dr. Ji Ma, assistant research scientist, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station; and Dr. Alaa Elwany, assistant professor, industrial and systems engineering.

“Our goals are to achieve the ability to manufacture ‘smart’ monolithic metallic structures that will respond to stimuli over time and have a different location-dependent stimulus response within the same part,” Elwany said. “In our case, this is retaining their original shape upon being subjected to a temperature stimulus.”

The structures are considered “smart” because they can change their physical shape or properties on demand when a stimulus, such as a temperature change or magnetic field is applied.

“In this case, our material has a ‘remembered’ shape,” Ma said. “If you bend it out of shape, the material will go back to its original shape after being heated.”

While other work has been conducted in this area, the materials previously tested returned to the remembered shape after heating to one specific temperature. The team’s work now makes it possible for different parts of the same piece to return at different temperatures. This provides the ability to create devices that can assume multiple different shapes at different temperatures.

The team has also expanded on previous work by going beyond simple material shapes, such as wires, to more complex shapes due to the properties created from the various processing parameters used in the 3-D printing process. As a result of their research, this is the first time complex materials with multiple programmable shapes have been possible.

“The next step is to actually develop a framework for the design of shape and functionality and, from the design specification, determine the required materials and processing conditions,” Arróyave said. “This is a very, very hard problem that requires considerable development of new computational, experimental and statistical tools and we have the team to carry it out.”

“The team we put together to execute this challenging problem includes experts in shape memory alloys, materials processing, additive manufacturing, and computational materials and process design,” Karaman said. “By controlling the local properties of the structures and grading the functionality, we take the conventional 3-D printing processes converting them into ‘4-D printing’ technology.”

As a result of their work, in the space and aeronautics industry satellite solar panels will have the possibility of multiple stages of unfolding and deploying, instead of simply being on or off. In the medical industry, implants can have devices that deploy or change shape at different times or temperatures to allow more complex surgical insertions or placements. On smart locks or switches, more analog control is possible, such as a volume knob instead of a single on or off button.

The work was published in Scientific Reports, a Nature publication with an impact factor of 5.2. The original research publication can be found here.

Texas A&M launches inaugural Grand Challenge Scholars Program

Thu, 13 Apr 2017 00:00:00 CST

The Grand Challenge Scholars Program (GCSP) at Texas A&M University is a selective three-year program offered to sophomore students with the intent to attract, retain and graduate future leaders who are equipped to solve engineering grand challenges facing our society today and in the future. While achieving in-depth understanding of their chosen research areas, Grand Challenge scholars will also be prepared to be global leaders in academia, government and industry.

“The Texas A&M Grand Challenge Scholars program provides students with a truly unique experience, combining research on one of the 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering with coursework or other activities providing the scholars with competence in interdisciplinary work, entrepreneurship, service learning and global perspective,” said Dr. Nancy M. Amato, GCSP director.

A group of 24 scholars from various engineering departments were selected to participate in the inaugural cohort of the program. These students include aerospace engineering students Eghosasere Alao, Milton Garza and Kanika Gakhar; biological and agricultural engineering student Zhoucheng Li; biomedical engineering students Hector Linares Garcia and Luke Oaks; chemical engineering students Agnes Aina, Victoria Hicks, Ricci Seguban and Alex Strasser; civil engineering students Alyssa Ornelas, Brian Welsh and Samantha Wilson; computer engineering student Josiah Coad; computer science and statistics student Jusung Lee; electrical engineering students Andrew Allen, Millie Krel, Bryton Praslicka, Jorge Vasquez and Stephanie Wilcox; industrial engineering student Lorenzo Riddle; and mechanical engineering students Andy Alcantar, Melissa Burket and Yuming Zhao.

During their first year in the program, Grand Challenge scholars work with faculty mentors to plan their customized GCSP curriculum. During their second year, they are actively engaged in the research for the GCSP thesis and make progress on achieving the other components of the GCSP. During their final year in the program, Grand Challenge scholars complete their program requirements and mentor other participating students. There are five components of the curriculum, including research related to one of the engineering grand challenges, multidisciplinary, entrepreneurship, global experience and service learning.

For her research thesis, junior aerospace engineering student Kanika Gakhar is working with Dr. Moble Benedict, aerospace assistant professor, to improve the design and efficiency of his robotic hummingbird.

“Spending endless hours next to a setup that mimics a hummingbird’s flapping motion reminded me of how close we were to understanding the aero-elastic relationship between the shape of the wing and the interdependent aerodynamics associated with it,” Gakhar said. “This helped me realize that I wanted to engage in the Grand Challenge Scholars Program and help contribute toward engineering tools for scientific discovery. Moreover, I was so inspired by this research experience that I decided to encourage other students to engage in undergraduate research. As an undergraduate research ambassador and executive leader for the Council of Undergraduate Research in Engineering, I currently work on helping students gain valuable research experience.”

The GCSP program will also provide students with unique and exciting opportunities to grow as students and individuals. Five students will attend the upcoming Grand Challenge Summit this summer in Washington, D.C.

Amato, who is also senior director of the Engineering Honors Program and Unocal and Regents Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, said, “We are very excited to launch the Texas A&M Grand Challenge Scholars Program. We have selected an amazing set of students for the inaugural cohort and I'm really looking forward to seeing what they will achieve.”

Texas A&M selected for GM and SAE International AutoDrive Competition

Thu, 06 Apr 2017 00:00:00 CST

General Motors (GM) and SAE International announced Wednesday that Texas A&M University has been selected as one of eight North American universities to compete in the AutoDrive Challenge over the next three years.

GM will provide each team with a Chevrolet Bolt EV as the vehicle platform. Strategic partners and suppliers will aid the students in their technology development by providing vehicle parts and software. Throughout the AutoDrive Challenge competition cycle, students and faculty will be invited to attend technology-specific workshops to help them in their concept refinement and overall autonomous technical understanding.

The AutoDrive Challenge is a three-year challenge to develop and demonstrate a fully autonomous passenger vehicle. The competition’s technical goal is navigating an urban driving course in an automated driving mode by year three.

“SAE International is excited to expand our partnership with GM to build the future STEM workforce through the AutoDrive Challenge™,” said Chris Ciuca, director of Pre-Professional Programs at SAE International. “Building on our success through programs like Formula SAE, the AutoDrive Challenge™ launches a new platform to engage industry and academia in working toward a common goal of preparing the brightest young minds for the future of autonomous technologies.”

Throughout the three-year competition, students will focus on autonomous technologies and allow for modification and testing. They will work with real-world applications of sensing technologies, computing platforms, software design implementation and advanced computation methods such as computer vision, pattern recognition, machine learning, artificial intelligence, sensor fusion and autonomous vehicle controls.

“GM is very excited to work closely with these eight universities over the next three years,” said Ken Kelzer, GM vice president of Global Vehicle Components and Subsystems. “The students and faculty at these schools bring deep knowledge and technical skills to the competition. We are proud to help offer these students the hands-on experience necessary for them to make an immediate impact on the automotive world when they graduate.”

The Texas A&M College of Engineering has been leading autonomous vehicle research in several departments and programs. For this competition, the college will assemble a multidisciplinary team that includes students and researchers from the departments of civil, computer science, engineering technology and industrial distribution (ETID) and mechanical engineering.

The announcement was made at WCX 17: SAE World Congress Experience in Detroit, and assistant professor Dr. Alireza Talebpour was among the contingent of Texas A&M researchers on hand for the announcement.

"This is a very exciting opportunity for our engineering students to work closely with leaders like General Motors and SAE International and do meaningful work in a cutting edge field like autonomous vehicles," Talebpour said. "This is also another big step in Texas A&M's continuing effort to lead in autonomous and connected vehicle research."

Dr. Srikanth Saripalli added that the AutoDrive Competition will add another level to the college’s opportunities for undergraduate students to get experience working in this increasingly popular area.

“We are also in the process of deploying autonomous shuttles on campus at Texas A&M along with continuing to develop and testing our autonomous vehicles at the nearby RELLIS Campus,” Saripalli said. “This competition enables us to get even more undergraduate students interested and excited about autonomous systems and vehicles”

The Chevrolet Bolt provided by GM will be the fifth vehicle in the Texas A&M Engineering autonomous research fleet, joining a Kia Soul (civil engineering), a Lincoln MKZ and Polaris GEM e4, (mechanical engineering) and a Ford F-150 (ETID).

The other universities that will be competing in the AutoDrive challenge are Kettering University, Michigan State University, Michigan Tech, North Carolina A&T University, the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo and Virginia Tech.

Photo provided by General Motors.

Social networking materials

Fri, 31 Mar 2017 00:00:00 CST

Networks of people, materials and logistics can be found everywhere in life. While they are very common, they can be used to represent interactions between entities in many important complex systems including social, biological, telecommunication, transportation and energy.

Dr. Sergiy Butenko, professor in the Department of Industrial and System Engineering at Texas A&M University, is collaborating with a group of materials scientists to identify groups of mutually substitutable elements that could be used in critical technologies, such as faster, more powerful computing devices.

While attending the annual meeting of the Mathematical Modeling and Optimization Institute in 2015, Butenko had the opportunity to visit with Dr. Marco Buongiorno-Nardelli from the University of North Texas. Their conversation led to Butenko’s involvement with the project, MURI: Topological Decompositions and Spectral Sampling Algorithms for Element Substitution in Critical Technologies.

“I felt that network-based modeling could be helpful in addressing some of the problems he discussed and shared some of my ideas with him,” Butenko said. “This seemed to have gotten his attention, as several months later, he invited me to join an interdisciplinary team of researchers.”

Other universities involved include Duke University, Central Michigan University and the University of Maryland.

“We propose to essentially treat the materials as a ‘social network,’ where individual materials are thought of as ‘people’ and two materials are ‘friends’ if they share something in common,” Butenko said.

This new treatment of materials provides a convenient way of navigating the complex materials databases. Similar to the way online retailers help customers explore products by suggesting comparable products to view, this approach will allow the researchers to suggest similar materials to an interested user in the online database, AFLOWLIB.org.

“This approach could lead to the discovery of cheaper materials with desirable properties, which could replace their more expensive counterparts in various devices and products,” Butenko said.

The commonality of networks makes them an attractive topic of theoretical and algorithmic research, but close collaboration with domain experts is crucial to ensure the results are meaningful when it comes to specific applications of the methods developed.

“Working with this group rekindled my enthusiasm and belief in a fruitful, interdisciplinary collaboration,” Butenko said.

The project, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, will end in the summer of 2018. The team of interdisciplinary researchers are currently testing different network models with the aim of identifying groups of materials that could be further examined in the experimental setting.

Increasing productivity to allow better use of passions and talents

Wed, 25 Jan 2017 00:00:00 CST

Within the last 100 years, a shift in the United States economy has occurred. Previously, the workforce was comprised of predominantly farmers. Today, less than 3 percent of the workforce is in the agricultural sector. To accommodate this shift, manufacturing productivity must increase.

Dr. Andrew Johnson, associate professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University, is looking for ways to increase productivity in manufacturing and other historically important sectors to allow those needs to be met more efficiently.

“The huge productivity improvements in the agriculture sector allowed people to reallocate their efforts to other endeavors,” Johnson said. “All of those people who used to be farmers can now make music, study science, or cancer.”

Johnson began his research with a focus on the technical and mathematical issues related to estimating production functions to measure efficiency and productivity and found challenges in the data sets while testing the methods.

“For example, the U.S. Census Bureau, sends out a survey to facilities that do some form of manufacturing,” Johnson said. “This is to get a sense of just how manufacturing is growing or doing in the U.S.”

The Census Bureau conducts a Census every five years in which every manufacturing facility in America is surveyed. Then, in the four years in between, the bureau takes 15 percent samples of the manufacturing industry. While this is done randomly, bigger facilities are sampled more heavily.

“We are trying to help them understand if the survey of 15 percent is large enough,” Johnson said. “The first question is: if what you're interested in is population characteristics for the census, is 15 percent enough to give an accurate characterization?”

The Census Bureau gathers the data from manufacturers, large and small, and requires a security clearance for academic institutions to use the data. This helps assure companies that the information collected will only be used in confidential research studies.

“It's not only that you need a security clearance, but if you are going to access the data, you have to go to a Census Bureau Data Center to do the research,” Johnson said. “When you're done doing your analysis, someone within the facility evaluates whether it is acceptable to let out for publication or let out for public consumption.”

About three or four years ago, the Census Bureau research data center was opened on West Campus at Texas A&M. Prior to that time, the closest data center was located in Chicago, Illinois.

“It has been my goal for four years or so to get a project through this security clearance process,” Johnson said. “Since the data centers are largely driven by economists and my research focuses have been a little bit different, it has been a challenge to match my proposals to their research needs.”

Johnson decided to begin his research in countries where similar data is also being collected to better understand what he could offer to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Chile makes their information publicly available to the world and I have a joint appointment with a university in Japan that gave me access to Japan’s Census data,” Johnson said.

Johnson and his graduate students began using the data sets from Chile and Japan to prove their ideas and the questions they could answer for the U.S. with the data from the U.S. Data Center.

“By looking at the Japanese data and Chilean data, we’re answering the question in those data and indicating to the U.S. Census that we could provide similar insights for their data too,” Johnson said.

In addition to determining if a 15 percent sample is adequate, Johnson is also personally interested in determining if the productivity improvements drive competition or if they help current establishments’ survive.

“One of the hypothesis we are testing is the economics theory that says that when competition goes up, productivity should also increase,” Johnson said.

Due to his work in Japan and Chile, Johnson attracted the interest of researchers in Colombia and Mexico.

“One collaborator is working at the central bank of Mexico and has access to these two data sets,” Johnson said. “So now, we’re starting some collaborative projects between my laboratory and her group.”

Johnson recently visited Yale University to present his results for Japan and Chilean. He and the director of the New Haven Census Bureau Data Center identified similarities in the data used in projects recently performed at the New Haven Data Center as potential for integration and collaboration opportunities in the future.

Johnson is currently going through the security clearance process and hopes to begin his project on Texas A&M’s campus in the Fall of 2017. Meanwhile, his laboratory continues to develop insights related to Japan and Chile. To follow his research, please visit his laboratory’s website at www.andyjohnson.guru.

Fightin’ the good fight: former student overcomes adversity to be a successful industrial engineer

Tue, 24 Jan 2017 00:00:00 CST

Overcoming poverty, adversity and obstacles in life, Israel Escamilla Jr., a graduate of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University, earned a place in the 2017 Twelve Under Twelve Young Alumni Spotlight sponsored by The Association of Former Students.

As a freshman, Escamilla had no idea where his career and life would lead him.

“When I first started college, I had and continue to have an overall vision versus a dream job,” Escamilla said. “At the end of the day, I ensure that my actions of today are ones that my future self will thank me for.”

His vision is to pursue the highest professional and personal development and growth that will enable him to be the best leader possible. Escamilla recalls his first exposure to industrial engineering during his freshman year in an introductory engineering course.

“The professor asked for those going into industrial engineering to raise their hands,” Escamilla said. “Five out of the class of 70 students raised their hands. The professor then went on to say that these individuals would be the people the rest of us would most likely be reporting to. That was when my industrial engineering career began.”

A born leader, Escamilla diligently committed himself to his studies and the relationships developed during his time on campus. Aggie ring day finally arrived in November 2010, which is his favorite tradition due to the rite of passage into the powerful Aggie Network once the piece of gold is placed on the finger.

This special day became extra special to Escamilla four months later.

“I did not know this at the time, but this would be the last picture and celebration I would share with my dad before he passed from cancer the following March,” Escamilla said. “I am grateful that, through this amazing Texas A&M tradition, I was able to share this unforgettable moment with my dad. My Aggie ring and this memory will always carry incredible significance in my life.”

While many special memories were created while he called Aggieland home, Escamilla’s favorite was his graduation day because it marked the glory achieved from reaching the top of a very challenging climb.

“I remember celebrating with my loved ones and closest friends, reminiscing about the many stories we shared and knowing that this was a result of constantly persevering through extreme adversity,” Escamilla said. “This was a game-changing moment for me and my family. It was a moment that set the trajectory for my career and the quality of life for the future Escamilla generations.”

After graduation, Escamilla began his career with P&G Gillette|Venus brands as a supply chain manager. He was responsible for delivering North America results enabled through managing a global supply chain.

“In addition to gaining critical supply chain skills and knowledge, I learned that a portfolio of great advocates will trump a portfolio of powerful brands any day,” Escamilla said. “This role shaped my perspective on my most important factor when accepting an assignment – whose leadership I’m under. For me, ‘getting on the right bus,’ is the difference between the value I bring to my company being recognized and rewarded versus not.”

The young professional still holds tightly to his family roots and remains true to his background growing up as an immigrant from Mexico. Among numerous other traits and accomplishments, Escamilla is the first-born son, eldest of four, first generation English speaker and Aggie graduate.

“My greatest accomplishment is being a game-changing pioneer for my family,” Escamilla said. “I have followed my vision of developing myself as the best servant leader possible, focused passionately on building relationships and learning from great people, and I move forward in life with a growth mindset.”

His employer did not overlook his servant’s heart, positive attitude and work ethic. Escamilla received both the P&G CEO Award and the Emerging Leader Award in the same year. The awards positively reassured Escamilla that he was moving in the right direction to achieve his vision.

“My two managers at the time, Matthew McClish and Erene Karras, enabled me to receive these honors by greatly advocating on my behalf,” Escamilla said. “I am blessed and thankful to be surrounded by leaders who are the best of the best and who consistently set an example of professional excellence that inspires me to be better and achieve more.”

While he is honored to have been selected to receive the awards from his employer, Escamilla is most proud of his deep understanding of where he came from, who he has become, why he does what he does, and his faith that there is someone much greater than him at work in his life.

“Knowing that I have worked as hard as I could to attain my goals, that I have humbled myself to accept the wisdom and mentorship from those who have come before me and that I have stayed true to my faith through the toughest trials and tribulations in my life is what I am most proud of,” Escamilla said.

These qualities cannot be defined by career success, awards received, resumes or LinkedIn profiles, but rather in one’s perseverance through the tough times and their dedication to the ones that mean the most to them.

Escamilla is thankful to have had many influencers and mentors in his life, but credits David and Claire Northcut as being among the greatest. The pair supported Escamilla’s dreams, believed in him and encouraged him through the toughest times in his life.

“They have been a special part of my life since I was allowed out of the English as a second language (ESL) class and into normal English speaking classes back in elementary school,” Escamilla said. “They taught me the importance of building a sound faith foundation and getting an education which would enable me to reap exponential benefits and knowledge that would remain with me for the rest of my life.”

As a result of his strong admiration for the Northcut family, Escamilla developed a desire to serve the underprivileged youth in Cincinnati and champion their success. He became involved in the YMCA Black and Latino Achievers Program and was awarded the YMCA Achiever Award as a result of the Northcuts championing his success while he was growing up. Escamilla now serves as chairman of the board for the Cincinnati YMCA where he represents P&G and continues advocating for the youth.

Escamilla believes that enduring through adversity, as difficult as it may seem at the time, is the greatest indicator of character.

“I remember that pain is only temporary and that the steeper and more challenging the climb, the higher the view and greater the glory,” Escamilla said. “My encouragement to all my beloved Aggies is to keep on fightin’ the good fight.”

Inaugural winter study abroad program drawing attention in Middle East

Tue, 24 Jan 2017 00:00:00 CST

Students in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University embarked upon an adventure to Egypt during the winter break as part of the college of engineering’s study abroad program. The trip was the first during the winter semester that included all departments from the college of engineering.

Led by Dr. Alaa Elwany, assistant professor in the department, 14 Aggies spent 18 days hosted by the industrial and management engineering department at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology, located in Alexandria, Egypt.

In addition to studying the ISEN 370 – Production Systems Engineering course, the Aggies interacted with local students from the institute and visited multiple historical sites in Alexandria (the second largest city) and Cairo (the capital). Students met with the president of the host institute, the dean of the engineering school, the department head of industrial engineering and the director of international programs.

Highlights of the trip included visiting the Great Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx, the Library of Alexandria, Egypt’s Antiquities Museum hosting King Tut’s treasures and 180,000 ancient Egyptian artifacts, the Royal Gardens of Montazah and the Royal Jewelry museum. Students also had a unique opportunity to visit old Cairo, which hosts the intersection of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The visits have been featured in five daily newspapers, including Al-Ahram Newspaper, the oldest daily newspaper in the Middle East, which was established in 1875. They will also be featured in Al Youm Al-Sabe, the daily newspaper ranked by Forbes as the best media outlet in the Middle East for three years in a row.

Bennett, Curry, Goodson recognized as most helpful by recent veteran graduates

Wed, 11 Jan 2017 00:00:00 CST

Each year, the Texas A&M University Veteran Resource & Support Center polls graduating student veterans for the one faculty or staff member who helped them the most during their time on campus. In December, three members from the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering were recognized.

Dr. G. Kemble Bennett, vice chancellor and dean emeritus and senior professor in the department, Dr. Guy Curry, professor emeritus, and Jeana Goodson, academic adviser in the department were among those recognized for being an inspiration, mentor, confidante and a positive influence to the student veterans.

“Every time a student veteran takes a seat in my office, I find myself admiring their level of dedication and determination to earn their degree and provide for their families,” Goodson said. “It is a great honor to be recognized as someone who has helped a person that has and continues to sacrifice so much for our freedoms.”