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.

Petroleum engineering hosts annual student paper contest

Tue, 06 Feb 2018 00:00:00 CST

The Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering hosted its annual student paper contest this year at the Texas A&M University campus in College Station, Texas. The objective of the contest is to assist students in developing proficiency in presenting technical papers or research projects, both orally and visually, before a panel of experts.

Over 400 students ranging from juniors to doctoral level in petroleum engineering competed this year. The students gave 10 to 15 minute technical presentations throughout the day on Jan. 27 before judges from industry. The run-off competition on Feb. 3 brought the contest to completion by naming the top three winners in each of the four divisions—junior, senior, master’s and doctoral.

Junior winners (left to right in photo): Joshua Becan in first place, Magy Avedissian in second place and Megan Croy in third place.

Senior winners (left to right in photo): Miranda Jones in first place, Claire Fiorenzi in second place and Madison Jackson in third place.

Master’s winners (left to right in photo): Tian Liu in first place, Romain Lemoine in second place and Austin Lim in third place.

Doctoral winners (left to right in photo): Sheng Luo in first place, Rongqiang Chen in second place and Mehrdad Alfi in third place.

This time-honored event, over four decades old, has grown significantly in both the number of students participating, as well as industry support and sponsorship. Former students and personnel from companies that hire Aggie petroleum engineers volunteer their time and funding, saying they consider this contest to be one of the most important professional development opportunities the department provides its students.

First and second-place winners from the senior, master’s and doctoral divisions will advance to the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Gulf Coast North America Regional competition in Houston on March 31.

There are 14 regional student paper contests held globally and coordinated by SPE. At the contests, undergraduate, master’s and doctoral-level students compete against other students from their region for the opportunity to move on to the 2018 International Student Paper Contest, which is scheduled to take place during the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition this fall.

Texas A&M petroleum engineering students have an outstanding record of winning in both the regional and international contests. Since 1993, Texas A&M students have placed first at the regional contest 14 times in the undergraduate level, 14 times in the master’s level and 15 times in the doctoral level. Since 1999, Texas A&M students have placed first at the international contest three times in the undergraduate level, three times in the master’s level and three times in the doctoral level.

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.

Spath named new department head of petroleum engineering

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 00:00:00 CST

Dr. Jeff Spath, chief executive officer of the Texas Oil and Gas Institute (TOGI), has been appointed department head of the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University, and will take up his duties on May 1, 2018.

Spath is well-suited for both his new position with the department and working for Texas A&M. A dedicated Aggie, he has built his professional life with Texas A&M’s core values in mind.

“My philosophy in leadership and in achieving business and academic success throughout my career is to set clearly defined goals, develop a motivated staff, and push teamwork and collaboration,” said Spath. “My initial focus will be to inspire the students and to put their interests first in every decision, to develop a culture of transparency, ethics and integrity, and finally to grow and maintain extremely close ties to industry for purposes of building our resources, defining our research efforts and providing jobs to our graduates.”

In his capacity overseeing TOGI, Spath has initiated, staffed and directed its research in engineering and education endeavors, which benefit both The University of Texas and The Texas A&M University Systems. The institute performs upstream exploration and production research and engineering projects utilizing graduate-level interns from both universities, with a focus on optimizing production and maximizing reserves from approximately 9,600 producing oil and gas wells on university land.

Prior to TOGI, Spath had a 32-year career with Schlumberger Limited, where he worked in all regions of the world and under many titles. Before his retirement in 2015, he was part of the global executive management team responsible for 26,000 employees and a $14.5 billion annual revenue.

While vice president of industry affairs for Schlumberger, he held the full-time position of president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) from Sept. 2013–Oct. 2014. SPE is the oil and gas industry’s largest professional society, consisting of over 140,000 members in 180 countries. His presidential accomplishments included the implementation of a fundamentally new strategic plan for the society. He also strengthened petroleum engineering education and professional ties globally, and increased collaboration with related professional societies.

Spath received his undergraduate and master's degrees in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M, and a Ph.D. in reservoir engineering from the Mining University of Leoben, Austria. He is a distinguished member of the SPE, an active member of the National Petroleum Council and a distinguished graduate of the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering.

As he transitions into his role as department head, Spath is committed to keeping the department at the forefront of the field of petroleum engineering, with both academics and industry relations in mind.

“My overall vision is to ensure that the Texas A&M petroleum engineering department is clearly recognized as the best department globally, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels,” said Spath. “We need to develop and improve our department in several ways to ensure we are consistently number one nationally and internationally. Not simply for the sake of rankings, but for attracting and retaining the world’s best students, faculty and staff, and conducting relevant research to improve the finding, development and environmentally responsible production of oil, gas and water.”

Dr. Dan Hill will step down as head in January to pursue academic and research interests within the department, and Dr. Duane McVay, professor and assistant department head in academics, will serve as interim until the end of April.

Marathon Oil, Texas A&M partner on unconventional reservoir research program

Thu, 07 Dec 2017 00:00:00 CST

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and Marathon Oil Corporation have initiated an impressive research program to study advanced petroleum fluid flow processes and recovery techniques from unconventional resource plays in the U.S. The new research venture utilizes the work of professors from petroleum engineering, mechanical engineering and chemical engineering, as well as a team of Marathon Oil engineers, geologists and geophysicists. Information gained from the research will aid education for students and industry practices for recovering energy.

Dr. Ding Zhu (right) and master’s student Ryan Winner running a fracture conductivity experiment.

Dr. Dan Hill, current head of the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University, is the principal investigator of the program. Dr. Marcelo Laprea-Bigott, a professor of engineering practice in the department, will work with Hill as project manager.

“One thing that makes this a very unique research program is we are working very closely with Marathon Oil,” said Hill. “They will share current practices, seismic information, microseismic monitoring of fracturing, rock samples and well data. The benefits to the department are many. The more we learn, the more we can pass on to our students, graduates as well as undergraduates.”

Randy Johnson, Marathon Oil’s vice president of Integrated Performance, helped define the program and is on the program’s steering committee. Jude Nwaozo, a senior reservoir engineer at Marathon Oil, serves as program manager.

“At Marathon Oil, we’re actively pursuing advanced research and state-of-the-art techniques that will enhance well performance across our resource plays, and improve the understanding of fluid flow and geologic influences, particularly in emerging basins that are early in the development cycle,” said Johnson. “Texas A&M was selected because of their exemplary vision and capability to partner with us on this advanced technical research. Marathon Oil will provide subject matter experts from several disciplines to create a mutually beneficial knowledge sharing experience. This partnership will combine our practical work in the field with the talent and capabilities of this team from Texas A&M to study fluid flow and geologic influences in complex unconventional reservoirs.”

Total project funding includes $1.3 million per year from sources within TEES, Texas A&M and the petroleum engineering department. A significant portion of the funding will support 15 graduate students. Other research staff will also be needed, including two or three post-docs, one lab technician and a part-time administrative assistant.

The program’s scope is heavily tied to the research strengths of the engineering faculty at Texas A&M. The endeavor has been divided into a handful of main areas. Within each area are different projects headed by one or more faculty members who will guide graduate student researchers. Each of these projects will have a Marathon Oil representative assigned as the main liaison, or mentor, to ensure research focus and provide needed resources. Laprea-Bigott will coordinate meetings and foster communication among the project teams.

“I see this as a terrific model for future research direction,” said Hill, who will step down as department head in January. “We are excited and enthusiastic about getting started. We’re hitting the ground running.”

French Texas A&M master’s student wins Russian engineering competition

Wed, 22 Nov 2017 00:00:00 CST

This fall, Julien Bauer, a petroleum engineering master’s student, and his French team members won first place at the International Gas Forum of St. Petersburg competition.

It was a big moment for him, and Bauer was proudly representing Texas A&M University by wearing his Corps uniform throughout the presentation.

“A lot of people didn’t suspect that it was an American uniform, they thought it was a French uniform,” Bauer said. “I explained that it’s not French, it’s from my university in Texas. Some people learned about A&M that way.”

Bauer is completing a dual degree with Texas A&M and the French Petroleum Institute. The two schools have developed a program together that creates a unique opportunity for students like Bauer. He spent last fall at Texas A&M, his spring and summer semesters studying in France, and is now back at Texas A&M for two semesters.

Attracted at first to the partnership program, Bauer dove into research about Texas A&M to decide if it was the right school and program for him.

“This partnership is something that caught my attention when I researched A&M on the internet,” Bauer said. “Being an international student, I hadn’t heard about A&M before so I spent quite a bit of time on the website. To be honest, I looked also at the rankings. I saw that A&M has a very good engineering program, especially petroleum engineering.”

Being in the Corps this semester has shown Bauer even more of Texas A&M’s traditions, which is something he enjoys about the university.

“It’s rooted in tradition,” Bauer said. “There are a lot of traditions here, and I didn’t expect that coming from France. Right now I am in the Corps and I see all of these traditions like Muster and the different yells. All of these things are really interesting to me.”

Bauer does not even have a traditional undergraduate degree. Instead, he already has a master’s degree from MINES ParisTech. In France, he studied for two years in preparation math and science courses, then applied to many schools to complete his graduate engineering degree.

When Bauer was in France, he learned about the International Gas Forum of St. Petersburg, Russia. He decided to apply for the French team because there were not enough applicants to create an American team.

Bauer applied with a cover letter, resume´ and case study related to a liquefied natural gas strategy of a company. Based on this, five students were selected for each team. Bauer was the only engineering student chosen on his team, which consisted of several political science students and a business student. He believes this played a part in their success.

“I was the only engineering student. I think that gave us strength because we had all these different approaches,” he said. “I could understand the technical part, and the guys from the business school could understand the economics, and the guys from politics were more into the strategies. We were quite complementary and that is what I believe made the presentation good.”

Judges evaluated teams on their presentation about the global energy strategy of a gas company. Bauer’s team chose Shell, and they had 10 minutes to present no more than 10 slides. Next, they were asked questions by the jury and were judged by their responses.

The team then awaited the results with excitement and anxiety, as the Russian team had won the two previous years. When the judge announced the French team won, they were elated.

In addition to the honor of winning the competition, Bauer and his team won an all-expenses paid, two-week trip to Europe and Russia.

“It’s a really great opportunity,” Bauer said. “Of course petroleum engineering students can apply, but it is not just limited to students in engineering. I hope more U.S. representatives apply next year and compete.”

Engineering Academies student finds pathway to new perspectives in Zachry Leadership Program

Mon, 13 Nov 2017 00:00:00 CST

College is often considered a time for young students to grow and learn, experiencing new ideas, people and cultures. For petroleum engineering student Reggie Rodriguez, the organization that has influenced him the most has been the Texas A&M University Zachry Leadership Program that he began as a student while at the Texas A&M Engineering Academy at Blinn-Bryan.

“I know a few of my friends that completely dismissed A&M because they got into the academies program and thought it wasn’t a good deal,” Rodriguez said. “I understood that at the time, but the academy program is a great program and became a great experience for me.”

The Engineering Academies allow students to be co-enrolled at one of seven locations, as well as at Texas A&M, making them Texas A&M engineering students. There are Engineering Academies at the Blinn-Brenham and Blinn-Bryan campuses, plus the Chevron Academies with Austin Community College, El Centro College and Richland College in Dallas, Houston Community College and Texas Southmost College in Brownsville. The Alamo Colleges District in San Antonio starts classes in fall 2018.

When Rodriguez got into the Engineering Academy at Blinn-Bryan, he was initially a little discouraged. However, as time went on, he began to realize the opportunity he had been given.

“The Blinn teachers knew they were the ones teaching the academy kids and because of that they didn't hold back,” Rodriguez said. “They pushed us, knowing what we were trying to do and where we were trying to go, and I was glad that they did that for us. I never felt like I was getting it easier than the kids at the main campus.”

This fall Rodriguez transitioned to full time at Texas A&M’s Department of Petroleum Engineering after two years. During his time co-enrolled at Texas A&M and Blinn-Bryan, Rodriguez joined the Zachry Leadership Program, which he says helped keep him grounded. A five-semester program built through the partnership of Texas A&M and Zachry Group to help develop leaders in engineering, the program begins during the students’ sophomore year and strives to teach them collaborative decision-making, confidence and familiarity with business principles.

“The program really helped me mature and bridge the gap for me of where I was and where I needed to be to be ready for engineering,” Rodriguez said. “It kept pushing me and allowed me to visualize my future and see myself succeeding. It was a compass for me.”

Rodriguez also appreciates that the Zachry Leadership Program helped him expand his entrepreneurship skills. Once he is established in his career, Rodriguez hopes to eventually help low-income college students by creating scholarships and giving them the resources to attend a quality university and not have to worry about the cost.

Rodriguez also believes the program helped make him a more marketable and well-rounded professional because it has given him the ability to see other perspectives and appreciate the importance of interpersonal communication in the workplace.

“You get to know the way other people think and you get to understand them,” Rodriguez said. “This program has helped me the most in this way, and it is equipping me to become a better engineer in the workforce.”

Rodriguez is looking forward to learning more within the Zachry Leadership Program, after his full-time transition to the College Station campus.

“I think the Zachry Leadership Program is one of the greatest things I've ever done,” Rodriguez said. “It keeps you motivated to work towards the future. You get to see how you need different kinds of people in your company and how everything works at the big picture. I’m excited to take what I’m learning here and apply it in the real world.”

Engineering students and donors recognized at awards banquet

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 00:00:00 CST

Engineering students were honored and donors recognized at the Texas A&M University College of Engineering Student Awards banquet Oct. 26.

The Craig C. Brown Outstanding Senior Engineer Award is the most prestigious honor bestowed on a graduating senior in the College of Engineering. The award is based on outstanding scholastic achievement, leadership and character.

Established in 2012, the Outstanding Graduate Student Award recognizes one master’s student and one doctoral student who have demonstrated excellence above and beyond usual levels of achievement.

The Craig C. Brown Outstanding Senior Engineer Award winners

Willie D. Caraway

Huntsville, Alabama

Mechanical Engineering

Caraway has a strong love of learning and loves synergizing disparate knowledge to create new solutions. Being named a University Scholar provided him with the opportunity to regularly interact with other highly motivated individuals to sharpen their skills in analytical thinking and synthesizing knowledge. He also had the opportunity to perform research with Dr. Henry Everitt at the Army Material Research, Development and Engineering Center, and Dr. Patrick Shamberger in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M. Caraway also participated in the Zachry Leadership Program, which helped him improve his leadership skills and business knowledge. He is also involved in many student organizations, including the Jordan Institute, Pi Tau Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi and the American Society of Engineers.

Kendal Ezell

Tomball, Texas

Biomedical Engineering

With the passion to help people with neurological diseases, Ezell has shown great promise to accomplish the goals she has set for herself. Through her undergraduate research in biomedical engineering and neuropsychology, involvement in extracurricular activities and coursework, she has excelled, maintaining a 4.0 GPA while in the engineering honors program. Not only has she represented Texas A&M in the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, but she has also received Phi Kappa Phi’s Outstanding Junior Award and the Peter Chaplinsky Memorial Scholarship. Most recently Ezell participated in the National Institute of Health’s 2017 National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Biomedical Engineering Summer Internship. Through her research she hopes to serve as an example to women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and encourage them to break barriers.

Kanika Gakhar

Katy, Texas

Aerospace Engineering

Gakhar’s passion for science and engineering have defined her outstanding academic career at Texas A&M. She regularly searches for opportunities in which she can build upon and strengthen her leadership and creativity. With these skills, she has helped design autonomous vehicles and build radio controlled aircrafts with heavy lifting capabilities. Gakhar aspires to create the next generation of bioinspired flying vehicles. She has presented conference papers at the 2017 American Helicopter Society Forum and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics student conference. In various leadership roles, she advocates for undergraduate research by helping her fellow Aggies find research opportunities that interest them. As a University Fellow, she has launched a workshop-based project aimed to empower the underprivileged and H.U.B., an initiative to reform entrepreneurship on the Texas A&M campus.

Jonah Haefner

Roswell, New Mexico

Nuclear Engineering

Haefner is a dedicated and passionate leader in all aspects of his life. He is a member of the Corps of Cadets, and has spent the past year serving as first sergeant where he oversaw the day-to-day operations of 50 other cadets. He actively engages with faculty members and has worked in a thermal hydraulics laboratory for the past two years. Through the O.R. Simpson Honor Society, he helped freshman engineering students succeed in their first semesters at Texas A&M through mentorship and tutoring to prepare them for continued success. Over the last two summers, he split his time between shadowing naval officers on active duty warships and working at Los Alamos National Laboratory on projects for the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Carson Muscat

Seabrook, Texas

Petroleum Engineering

Muscat has a passion for engineering and a great enthusiasm for making a lasting impression on the local community and Texas A&M. He has revamped programs to help more than 3,500 engineering freshmen make informed decisions for their academic futures and aided in extending the reach to the Engineering Academies. He has served as an engineering student ambassador for three years and has talked to hundreds of prospective students about Texas A&M. Most recently, Muscat was the student leader for the Engineering Career Fair, the largest student-run fair in the nation. He has been awarded many academic honors, including the Dr. Dan Turner Engineering Leadership Award, the Academic Excellence Award, and being named a President’s Endowed Scholar and BP Student Scholar.

Dakota Plesa

Arlington, Texas

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Plesa is a first-generation college student who has made the most of his time at Texas A&M by not only focusing on academics, but also by forging lasting relationships with his fellow Aggies. He applied the skills he learned in the classroom to solving problems on campus, such as implementing a new organizational structure for the Memorial Student Center (MSC), and in international case competitions, such as at McGill University. Plesa was among the first non-business students to participate in the Mays Business Fellows Program, where he proved himself to be a highly effective member of his Fellows team and invested considerable time in developing relationships with his peers. He participated in the Jordan Institute, and served as vice president of programs and executive vice president of programs in the MSC.

Melissa Potts

Austin, Texas

Chemical Engineering

Potts attributes her success at Texas A&M to hard work. She balances membership in numerous activities and organizations with her studies. That dedication and persistence led her to success in Dr. Mark Holtzapple’s class— which at the time, she was the only freshman in the class. Through her determination and hard work, Potts was one of the few students who continued to work on a paper that would later be submitted to the Odebrecht Award for Sustainability. She continued working with Holtzapple the next year, spending about nine hours a week in the research lab on the MixAlco process, a technology that transforms waste biomass into fuels and industrial chemicals. Potts also shared her knowledge with her fellow Aggies, serving as a teaching assistant.

Kyle Wiggs

Weatherford, Texas

Mechanical Engineering

For Wiggs, engagement has been the key to his experience at Texas A&M. During his first year at Texas A&M, he was an active member in the Aggie Band, as well as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He has spent the last two years of his college career in leadership. As first sergeant of the 0.R. Simpson Honor Society, he created new events, such as “Dinner with your Major,” where cadets were instructed to eat dinner with other cadets within their major to encourage engagement between students of the same departments. Within ASME and his Corps unit, he has served as a mentor to other students, helping them find leadership opportunities and experiences.

2017 College of Engineering Outstanding Graduate Student Award

Joshua Harris

M.S. Candidate

Aerospace Engineering

Harris has proven himself to be an outstanding scholar and researcher. He is a master’s student in aerospace engineering, and works in the Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory at Texas A&M. His master’s research investigates a new theory and approach for intelligent control and integrated health management of complex systems, both manned and unmanned. Harris was awarded the 2017 Federal Aviation Administration PEGASAS General Aviation Center of Excellence Outstanding Student Researcher. He was also one of only 10 recipients of the National Defense Science Engineering Graduate Fellowships in 2014, in addition to the 2013 NASA Aeronautics Scholarship. Only 20 students nationally from all majors receive this NASA honor. Harris has authored or co-authored two conference papers and two journal papers.

Jonathan Gigax

Ph.D. Candidate

Nuclear Engineering

Gigax is a well-rounded scholar: intellectually curious, hardworking and supportive of his colleagues and fellow Aggies. Over the past five years, Gigax has published 26 journal papers, while maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average. He has made significant contributions in radiation materials science toward materials development for high-performance nuclear reactors. He established standard procedures in accelerator testing, which significantly influenced other labs. Due to his findings, other labs (including University of Michigan, University of Tennessee and University of Wisconsin in Madison) have changed their testing procedures to follow the Texas A&M method. Gigax has also made significant contributions in developing radiation tolerant materials having nanoscale features and inclusions, including nanograined materials, multilayered composite materials and nanoprecipitate alloys.

The College of Engineering also recognized the following newly endowed scholarships:

Angela and James Hambrick ’78 Endowed Scholarship in the College of Engineering

Carolyn and A. Damon Gowan ‘58 Endowed Scholarship

Dana and James R. Heinze ‘83 Scholarship Elsie and Vance Fairchild ’89 Endowed Scholarship

ExxonMobil Aggies Engineering Endowed Scholarship

Jimmie and Geoffrey Pope Endowed Scholarship

Jo and Mike Hunn ’59 Scholarship

Marilyn ’99 and Stewart ’99 Robinson Scholarship

Michelle ’88 and Todd Steudtner ’87 Scholarship

Richard W. Burr ’62 and Charity B. Burr Scholarship

Shah Smith & Associates Scholarship

Sue Nobles and Elmer Eldridge Goins Engineering Scholarship

Terri and Keith Hawkins ’79 Scholarship

Texas A&M Engineering rises in rankings to 7th in newest US News & World Report undergraduate rankings

Thu, 14 Sep 2017 00:00:00 CST

Texas A&M Engineering climbed to seventh among public engineering schools offering a doctorate and 14th overall in the 2018 U.S. News and World Report Best College Rankings for undergraduate engineering programs released this week. The college rose two places overall from 16 to 14 and one place among public institutions from eight to seven among its peers.

The Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering and the Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering, which is part of both the College of Engineering and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M, moved up to the top spot in the individual program rankings.

Five more departments, aerospace engineering (7th), civil engineering (8th), computer engineering (8th), industrial & systems engineering (8th) and mechanical engineering (7th) ranked in the top 10 among public institutions and top 15 overall.

Texas A&M petroleum students win 2017 Drillbotics competition with impressive rig

Wed, 30 Aug 2017 00:00:00 CST

Imagine designing and building a machine to perform a task it cannot see its way through, only feel. You must program it to solve problems and adjust its own speed and progress to avoid hazardous situations and failure. Once your machine is started, you have to trust it to function all on its own.

Three graduate students, Tyrell Cunningham, Ibrahim El-Sayed and Enrique Zarate Losoya, from the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University won the 2017 Drillbotics Competition this summer by doing just that. They designed and built a miniature automated drilling rig that uses sensors and computer logistics to drill a vertical well in a test formation of unknown composition without any human intervention.

Aggie Drillbotics team (left to right): Tyrell Cunningham, Enrique Zarate Losoya and Ibrahim El-Sayed

What is Drillbotics?

The annual Drillbotics competition originated when several Society of Petroleum Engineering members established the Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section (DSATS) to accelerate the use of automation in the drilling industry. The goal of DSATS is to link surface machines to downhole machines, tools and measuring systems to create an automated system that improves drilling safety and efficiency. The group thought student competitions were the perfect way to introduce the topic.

DSATS reached out to several universities to see if their students could create and manage the multi-disciplinary teams needed to succeed. Confident the idea would work, DSATS held the first Drillbotics competition in 2015, and Aggies have been present from the start.

The Aggie team

Teams from Texas A&M placed second in the first two years of competition. This year, when more teams entered and Drillbotics upped the difficulty level, the Aggies pulled out all the stops and took first place.

The team’s rig is so impressive it has been used by two National Science Foundation-funded undergraduate students this summer to conduct research into drilling parameters and vibrations on wellbore patterns and their effect on drilling dysfunctions.

“Tyrell, Ibrahim, and Enrique put in a lot of work and it showed,” said team advisor Dr. Sam Noynaert, assistant professor in the department. “They were up against the largest group of schools the competition has seen. The things they were able to accomplish in terms of sensors, machining and design were very impressive. The presentation they made to the judges was extremely well done and was likely a key reason for their win.”

Most teams are made up of students from several engineering disciplines. This was the first year all the Aggie members were petroleum engineering majors, but because they were familiar with mechanical, computer and petroleum engineering disciplines, they succeeded.

Automated drilling rigs

Crafting an automated two-meter tall drilling rig is no small feat. Students are given two semesters, fall and spring, to accomplish the task. During the fall semester students must research automated drilling and draw up their designs. During the spring semester the teams construct their machine and deal with purposely introduced challenges similar to what industry engineers encounter in the field.

“The design phase’s main challenge is actually afterward, in the transfer from design to implementation,” said Noynaert. “They ran into issues with the control algorithms, data handling, sensors and sensor communication, and the need for significant custom machining and manufacturing.”

Because of cost and time constraints, as well as the highly specialized nature of what they needed, the team machined a variety of custom top-drive parts themselves. Department staff member John Maldonado spent time with the student on this, providing advice and patience.

“These parts were necessary to allow a wired downhole sensor to send high rates of vibration data to the surface while drilling, all while the drillstring was rotating at over 1,500 rpm (revolutions per minute),” said Noynaert. “They were able to solve each problem on time and under budget.”

Teams were purposely limited on equipment in some areas, especially the drillpipe.

“The pipe is intentionally thin-walled and weak, making it difficult to transfer weight and rpm to the bit without breaking the pipe,” said Noynaert. “This makes the control system’s recognition and response to drilling dysfunctions critical since an incorrect response could cause a catastrophic equipment failure.”

The competition

Judges from DSATS visit each university after the spring semester ends, grading team presentations and observing each rig’s performance. They provide each team with a “formation” for the rig to drill, a block sealed with concrete containing unknown compositions that include one or more drilling hazards.

“This year’s sample had varying strengths of formations, from sandstone to asphalt to even a layer of rubber, all intended to cause drilling dysfunctions that would either result in an equipment failure or slow down the drilling significantly,” said Noynaert. “This year they had to overcome severe whirl (downhole bit and drillstring vibrations) and some stick-slip (variations in torque and rpm).”

The team can only use two buttons during the competition: start and stop. The rig must do everything else on its own.

“This is an automated rig, meaning there is no fixing a problem by hand or allowing a person to make a real-time decision for the rig,” said Noynaert. “It must do it all on its own, meaning any failure in any system results in an overall failure in the final test.”

Rigs are graded on drill speed and borehole straightness and quality. Teams are scored on their ability to present and explain their work, including safety measures, budget and design choices. Judges are looking for creativity, innovation and reliability.

The results

Ten universities submitted designs for the 2017 competition and seven progressed to the finals. Texas A&M took first place, with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in second, and the University of Stavanger and the University of Oklahoma tied for third.

“Through two semesters you have learned things that are not in the textbooks,” wrote Fred Florence, chair of the Drillbotics committee for DSATS, to the participants. “You experienced the thrill of invention followed by the intense effort necessary to develop your innovation into a working prototype. All of you experienced times when things did not go as planned, yet you found ways to keep moving forward. Congratulations to all of you.”

Though the team was funded by the department and was provided three faculty advisors and one staff member for guidance, Noynaert was quick to point out that Cunningham, El-Sayed and Zarate Losoya did the majority of the work without assistance. They spent countless hours and late nights on the challenge, earning only three hours of class credit.

“What they accomplished is not just amazing relative to what one would expect from a student, but is actually comparable or even better than what a group of practicing engineers in industry would produce,” said Noynaert. “What they and the other schools’ teams are doing will have an impact on the industry.”