Texas A&M Engineer 2016

from the

DEAN’S DESK

In January 2013, Texas A&M Engineering announced an ambitious and unprecedented enrollment initiative known as 25 by 25, with a goal to reach 25,000 engineering students by 2025. Since then, we have successfully increased our enrollment to 17,441 students while significantly enhancing our educational programs. Our faculty has also grown and includes more than 400 research active professors.

However, 25 by 25 is not only focused on increasing the number of students. The three principles of this initiative are to enhance engineering education, increase access and deliver a high-quality program in a cost-effective manner. Consequently, 25 by 25 is designed to improve all aspects of our engineering college, including graduate education, our research portfolio and productivity.

To support the expansion of our research activities, we are investing in the creation of over 500,000 sq ft of new space. These state-of-the-art facilities will support our research in the areas of materials, autonomous vehicles, robotics, process safety, logistics, advanced manufacturing, engineering medicine, energy and infrastructure renewal. In addition, we committed $175 million to faculty hiring, startup packages and research equipment over the last four years. Through programs such as the Chancellor’s Research Initiative and the Governor’s University Research Initiative, we have recruited top scholars to our campus. Although we celebrate many largest, best and first-place accolades, our primary focus continues to be on excellence in research, teaching and service.

This publication includes just a small sample of the exciting things happening at Texas A&M Engineering.

I hope you enjoy it...

M. Katherine Banks, Ph.D., P.E. Vice Chancellor and Dean of Engineering Director, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station Harold J. Haynes Dean’s Chair Professor

CONTENT CREDITS Vice Chancellor and Dean of Engineering

M. Katherine Banks

Senior Assistant Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communications

Marilyn Martell

Director of Strategic Communications

Pamela S. Green

Director of Communications

Brian Blake

Associate Director of Communications

Barbara Mendoza

Editorial Manager

Timothy C. Schnettler

Editorial

Kristina Ballard

Ryan A. Garcia

Lorian Hopcus

Jan McHarg

Rachel Rose

Victor Salazar

Shraddha Sankhe

Robert “Chris” Scoggins

Deana Totzke

Cover Design

2 Bridging the gap

Tanner Konarik

4 Students test innovative radiator in reduced gravity pplying the mechanics 5 A of birds’ wings to aircraft 6 Brain-on-a-chip designed to test drugs used for neurological diseases

14 Researchers tackle advanced manufacturing challenges 15 Treating contaminated water with activated iron 16 Identifying atmospheric particles to address air pollution 17 Cultivating entrepreneurship in the petroleum industry 18 Chemical reaction rates key to counteracting weapons of mass destruction

6 Improving oral cancer screenings through fluorescencebased imaging

8S mart start-up 10 Taking a new tack on thin film structure

19 Designing systems to thwart cyberattacks

10 New alloy developed for scoliosis treatment

19 Students learn deal-winning sales techniques through gamification

12 The future of the roadway

20 Optimizing wind energy production at sea

Graphic Design

Wendy Herrick

Rachel Mayor

Photography

Brooke Amador

Igor Kraguljac

Shraddha Sankhe

Clay Taylor

Online & Interactive Design

Donald St. Martin

Production & Distribution

Jennifer Olivarez

engineering.tamu.edu/research/2016

1

Bridging the gap

New technology at Texas A&M could enable smart devices to improve lines of communication by recognizing and interpreting sign language.

He presented his research at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 12th Annual Body Sensor Networks Conference this past June. The technology was among the top award winners in the Texas Instruments Innovation Challenge this past summer.

Exploring the tenets of wearability The technology, developed in collaboration with Texas Instruments, represents a growing interest in the creation of high-tech sign language recognition systems (SLRs). But unlike other recent initiatives, Jafari’s system forgoes the use of a camera to capture gestures.

“Video-based recognition can suffer performance issues in poor lighting conditions, and the videos or images captured may be considered invasive to the user’s privacy,” he explains.

What’s more, because these systems require a user to gesture in front of a camera, they have limited wearability – and wearability, for Jafari, is key.

“Wearables provide a very interesting opportunity in the sense of their tight coupling with the human body,” Jafari says.

“Because they are attached to our body, wearables can be used to gather data about us and provide valuable feedback.”

W

hile close to 500,000 Americans are deaf and use American Sign Language, far fewer people who are not deaf are sign language literate. New wearable smart technology could soon bridge the communication gap between people who are deaf and those who don’t know sign language.

A brainchild of Roozbeh Jafari, associate professor in the university’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, the prototype

2

smart device features two sensors that are strapped to a wearer’s right wrist. The sensors measure hand and arm movement as well as muscle activity and send that data via wireless Bluetooth® technology to an external laptop. Complex algorithms interpret the sign and display the correct English word for the gesture.

“Although the device is still in its prototype stage, it can already recognize 40 American Sign Language words with nearly 96 percent accuracy,” notes Jafari.

To enhance the wearability of the device, Jafari is working on refining its components to a point where it would be indistinguishable from a watch. The technology currently uses an accelerometer and gyroscope combined as an inertial sensor. This sensor responds to the wearer’s hand orientations and hand and arm movements during a gesture to discriminate between different signs.

It works in tandem with a surface electromyography sensor (sEMG) that measures muscle activity.

The combination of muscle activation detection with motion sensors, coupled with other applications, is a new and exciting way to understand human intent.

“Certain signs in American Sign Language are similar in terms of the gestures required to convey the word. With these gestures, the overall movement of the hand may be the same for two different signs, but the movement of individual fingers may be different,” he explains.

For example, the respective gestures for “please” and “sorry” and “name” and “work” are similar in hand motion.

The sEMG distinguishes hand and finger movements for a more accurate interpretation of the sign.

Jafari envisions the device collecting the data produced from a gesture, interpreting it and then sending the corresponding English word to another person’s smart device so that he or she can understand what is being signed. In addition, he is working to increase the number of signs recognized by the system and expanding the system to both hands.

“The combination of muscle activation detection with motion sensors, coupled with other applications, is a new and exciting way to understand human intent,” says Jafari. “In addition, it has application for enhancing other SLR systems, such as home device activations using contextaware wearables.”

Featured Researcher: Dr. Roozbeh Jafari Departments: Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering; Electrical and Computer Engineering Title: Associate Professor and Affiliated Faculty, Center for Remote Health Technologies and Systems Email: rjafari@tamu.edu Phone: 979.862.8098 Website: jafari.tamu.edu Prototype technology distinguishes hand and finger movements for better sign language interpretation.

3

DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

Students test innovative radiator in reduced gravity A Texas A&M University researcher and a trio of undergraduate researchers have completed a successful flight test experiment of an advanced radiator system. Dr. Cable Kurwitz and students Aldo Sosa, Juan Duran and Victor Ibarra participated in a test program, which included a test and demonstration of a variable heat rejection (DoVR) system on board NASA’s reduced-gravity aircraft. The group tested a gas/liquid separator technology in a reduced-gravity environment. Development of the novel DoVR system will allow spacecraft to handle a wide variety of thermal loads and conditions. Kurwitz has been carrying out thermal fluid experiments related to this technology for more than 25 years. The technology was developed at Texas A&M, and the undergraduate student researchers involved in the project are part of an undergraduate enrichment program sponsored by the Nuclear Power Institute.

Featured Researcher: Dr. Cable Kurwitz Title: Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station Associate Research Engineer and Senior Lecturer Email: kurwitz@tamu.edu Phone: 979.845.6126 Website: itp.tamu.edu

This flight is a major step toward future suborbital testing aboard Virgin Galactic’s first research flight.

To read the full stories featured in this magazine, please visit engineering.tamu. edu/research/2016.

4

DEPARTMENT OF AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

Applying the mechanics of birds’ wings to aircraft By studying birds’ flight and wing structures, Dr. Darren Hartl and an international group of researchers expect to dramatically improve the performance of unmanned aerial vehicles with wings that morph and change during flight. Their project is sponsored by a five-year, $6 million grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. The researchers include other engineers from the University of Michigan, Stanford and UCLA, as well as avian biologists from the United Kingdom’s Royal Veterinary College who will delve into the complex system birds use to alter their wings for flight control. “Modern airplanes use drag-inducing flaps and slats for control,” says Hartl, “but birds manipulate individual feathers or clusters of feathers on their wings to create a fluidly morphing, reduced-drag surface.”

By discovering how this morphing takes place, the researchers hope to create new wing structures that are lighter and make aircraft more efficient and capable of longer flights.

Featured Researcher: Dr. Darren Hartl Title: Assistant Professor Email: darren.hartl@tamu.edu Phone: 979.862.7087

5

DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

Improving oral cancer screenings through fluorescencebased imaging

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING

Brain-on-a-chip designed to test drugs used for neurological diseases By applying microfabrication and microfluidic technologies, Dr. Arum Han is working to develop a novel brain-on-a-chip to facilitate drug development for treating neurological disorders. The initiative, supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, has resulted in the first high-throughput myelination model system of the central nervous system. This research will focus on building multicellular architectures with accurate control of their surrounding microenvironments on small disposable chips that can be mass manufactured at a low cost. Because the brain-ona-chip will closely mimic human brain function, researchers will be able to probe the chip in ways they are not able to in people. The knowledge gained will provide critical insight into neurological disease progression and the development of new therapeutics. The research is also part of the Texas A&M One Health Initiative under the Accessible & Affordable Quality Health Care Grand Challenge in which Han leads the microphysiological system initiative “Miniature Tissues and Organs for Detection and Prevention of Diseases.”

Featured Researcher: Dr. Arum Han Title: Professor Email: arum.han@tamu.edu Phone: 979.845.9686 Website: nanobio.tamu.edu

6

A new tool could increase the accuracy of oral cancer screenings and facilitate earlier diagnosis through a noninvasive technique called fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM). Dr. Javier Jo is developing an imaging device similar to a handheld microscope, which stimulates tissue and measures the resultant fluorescence of three different molecules: collagen, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide.

In precancerous and cancerous cells, these molecules display different fluorescence signatures, allowing the device to measure and visualize changes in oral epithelial tissue.

“Doctors typically rely on the naked eye to look for problematic areas,” says Jo, “but identifying these areas can be difficult because a patient’s mouth can manifest lesions that may be both benign and precancerous/ cancerous.” Through a grant from the Qatar National Research Fund, Jo is testing this device at Rumailah Hospital in Qatar, where oral cancer could soon account for one-third of all cancer cases.

Featured Researcher: Dr. Javier Jo Title: Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering Email: javierjo@tamu.edu Phone: 979.458.3335 Website: biomed.tamu.edu/lodi

enmed.tamu.edu 7

Smart start-up

A startup by Texas A&M students has developed a fast, economical approach to building custom prosthetic devices.

Materials science and engineering students are using an innovative 3-D printing technique to bring greater speed, economy and customization to the creation of prosthetic devices.

Blake Teipel ’16 (Ph.D.) and graduate student Charles Brandon Sweeney have made this approach the center of their startup, TriFusion Devices, which focuses on improving the way prostheses are manufactured.

Teipel and Sweeney developed a novel carbon nanotube-coated filament and a microwave welding process to fuse 3-D printed parts together. This allows them to take advantage of 3-D printing’s speed and precision while potentially achieving the mechanical strength of an injection-molded or machined product.

The technique enables the team to design, fabricate and fit a prosthetic device for a patient in 48 hours rather than the six to eight weeks traditionally needed for this process.

Graduate Faculty Adviser: Dr. Micah Green Department: Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering Title: Associate Professor Email: micah.green@tamu.edu Phone: 979.862.1588 Website: chengreen.wpengine.com

8

In April, TriFusion Devices competed in the Rice Business Plan Competition, the world’s largest graduate-level student startup competition. The entrepreneurs presented their work with support from Texas A&M medical student Britton Eastburn, who provided insight into the technology’s medical applications.

A jury of 275 judges chose TriFusion as the best investment opportunity of the 42 teams from around the world that competed in this year’s competition.

TriFusion received nearly $400,000 in cash and prizes to further develop its technology and business.

Cutting cost & increasing speed Approximately 2 million Americans have lost a limb due to an illness or accident, demonstrating the great need for quality limb prostheses. Yet these devices often cost tens of thousands of dollars and require a lengthy design and manufacturing process, prohibiting many people from obtaining these crucial devices.

Graduate Faculty Adviser: Dr. Mustafa Akbulut Department: Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering Title: Associate Professor Email: makbulut@tamu.edu Phone: 979.847.8766 Website: chenakbulut.wpengine.com

TriFusion’s founders believe they can help to resolve this problem. In addition to printing prostheses with the same strength as their conventional counterparts, TriFusion’s manufacturing process allows the devices to be built and fitted in less time. Their materials allow prosthetists to adjust the device’s fit after it has been printed, which the team believes will eliminate the need for test-fit sockets or plaster molding.

“Customization today takes a long time with expensive materials, and the device must be hand-built,” says Sweeney. “Three-dimensional printing, combined with our materials, changes the whole equation.”

Benefiting the masses TriFusion Devices’ 3-D printed prosthetic sockets are currently in clinical trials, after which the company will pursue further testing in partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The company plans to submit a 510(k) premarket notification with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in order to make their 3-D printed prosthetic devices publicly available.

Though the company is currently focused on prosthetic and orthotic devices, its founders plan to expand their manufacturing technique to other fields as well. Future applications may include production of customized sports equipment such as football helmets, pads and shin guards.

The startup also plans to 3-D print safety gear for the military, including helmets and non-ballistic soft body armor.

“There is going to be an ever-increasing need for mass customization where you’re going to have an option to get a device that was made specifically for you,” says Sweeney. “That’s going to make all the difference in the world for applications in the biomedical industry, sporting equipment and protective devices for military.”

As part of the company’s goal to increase access to quality prostheses, TriFusion is also collaborating with Baylor College of Medicine to provide affordable prosthetic devices to children in Tanzania.

Featured Researcher: Charles Brandon Sweeney Department: Department of Materials Science and Engineering Email: charles.b.sweeney@tamu.edu TriFusion Devices Website: trifusion.co

Featured Researcher: Dr. Blake Teipel ’16 (Ph.D.) Department: Department of Materials Science and Engineering Email: bteipel@tamu.edu TriFusion Devices Website: trifusion.co

9

ARTIE MCFERRIN DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Taking a new tack on thin film structure

Featured Researcher: Jodie Lutkenhaus Title: Associate Professor; Holder of William and Ruth Neely Faculty Fellowship Email: jodie.lutkenhaus@tamu.edu Phone: 979.845.2682 Website: chenlutkenhaus.wpengine.com/ Organic_Thin_FIlms_and_Nanostructures_ Lab/Welcome.html

DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

New alloy developed for scoliosis treatment Researchers at Texas A&M University made a breakthrough by designing a superelastic adaptive alloy that could significantly reduce complications from corrective surgeries for childhood scoliosis.

Drs. Ji Ma and Ibrahim Karaman have designed a new material to use for constructing growing-rod implants. This material is five times more flexible than any currently available for this purpose.

The designers believe it will improve the effectiveness of metallic growing rods, which exhibit complications as the body moves and the screws attaching the rods to the bone loosen. The researchers used a series of thermomechanical processing steps to develop a titanium-niobium shape-memory alloy, a material that allows the implant to bend at the ends and stay rigid in the middle. Ma and Karaman’s adaptive alloy allows natural movement of the body and adjusts itself depending on the stress applied by the growing spine. Ma explains, “The alloy adds flexibility to the implant without compromising its mechanical properties.”

10

While thin films are ubiquitous in technology, their exact structure is relatively unexplored. Texas A&M University researcher Dr. Jodie Lutkenhaus has received a National Science Foundation grant to investigate ultra-thin films of polymers containing bound ions known as polyelectrolytes. She will evaluate the “glass-melt,” or softening transition, of these films to shed light on the roles of water and salt in thermal transition.

Her research places a unique emphasis on the salt type in which a broad range of salts with varying sizes, charges and water interactions are examined. The knowledge Lutkenhaus expects to discover will allow fine-tuning of the transition temperature and physical properties associated with these materials. This could be influential in helping scientists engineer thin film coatings that adapt to the material being coated.

Featured Researcher: Dr. Ibrahim Karaman Title: Professor, Department Head, Holder of Chevron Professorship II Email: ikaraman@tamu.edu Phone: 979.862.3923 Website: mesam.tamu.edu

Featured Researcher: Dr. Ji Ma Title: Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station Assistant Research Scientist Email: jm@tamu.edu Phone: 979.845.1284 Website: mesam.tamu.edu

To read the full stories featured in this magazine, please visit engineering.tamu.edu/research/2016.

National Academy Members Join Texas A&M Engineering Dr. George M. Pharr Materials Science and Engineering

Dr. Bonnie Dunbar

TEES Distinguished Research Professor

Aerospace Engineering TEES Distinguished Research Professor

Dr. J. Karl Hedrick

Dr. Robert Skelton

Mechanical Engineering TEES Distinguished Research Professor

Aerospace Engineering TEES Distinguished Research Professor

Dr. Alan Needleman

Dr. Ignacio Rodriguez-Iturbe

Materials Science and Engineering

Ocean Engineering Civil Engineering

TEES Distinguished Research Professor

Distinguished Research Professor TEES Distinguished Research Professor

Dr. Richard Miles Dr. Thomas Overbye Electrical and Computer Engineering

Aerospace Engineering Mechanical Engineering TEES Distinguished Research Professor

TEES Distinguished Research Professor

11

The future of the roadway Research explores the impact of automated vehicles on drivers, traffic and infrastructure.

Featured Researcher: Dr. Alireza Talebpour Department: Zachry Department of Civil Engineering Title: Assistant Professor Email: atalebpour@tamu.edu Phone: 979.845.0875

12

P

roponents of automated vehicles say this technology will bring efficiency, safety and environmental benefits to the world’s roadways. But the process of introducing these cars into society presents a major unknown: How will automated vehicles interact with their surroundings?

“Not only will our driving environment change drastically, but we can expect the interaction between automated and regular vehicles to be different from the interaction between regular vehicles,” says Dr. Alireza Talebpour, assistant professor in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering.

By analyzing traffic patterns and developing models to predict driver behavior, Talebpour is addressing the specific challenges of adapting driverless vehicle behavior to complex traffic scenarios.

Automated driving on campus At Texas A&M University, civil engineering researchers are testing a driverless vehicle right on campus. The group’s automated vehicle research car is part of a study exploring how this technology behaves in everyday driving scenarios, including interactions with regular cars as well as pedestrians. The researchers are also studying how this technology affects individuals’ driving habits and driver and pedestrian safety.

Through fine-tuned performance and the elimination of human error, automated cars may significantly streamline everyday transportation. However, some driving situations call for a high degree of responsiveness and maneuverability that is difficult to replicate. The Texas A&M team is using deep neural networks, pattern recognition and data visualization to equip automated vehicles for safety and efficiency in complex environments.

Impact on the built environment Automated vehicles will have far-reaching implications for society’s infrastructure. For example, automated vehicles are capable of following other vehicles extremely closely, at distances considered unsafe for manned

vehicles. Because this feature would drastically increase a road’s vehicle capacity without reducing the flow of traffic, the number of cars traveling this road would likely rise. This increased use could potentially affect the longevity of essential infrastructure, such as roads and bridges.

Autonomous systems: from passengers to freight

The vehicles’ effects on infrastructure would likely extend beyond transportation systems, too. “How people move around has determined the design and orientation of buildings, roadways and a great deal of urban and suburban development,” says Dr. Robin Autenrieth, head of the civil engineering department. “Automated vehicles could significantly influence the future of the entire built environment.”

The transition to automation Vehicles can have different degrees of automation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration identified five levels of automation: Zero describes a car that requires full manual control, while four indicates total automation. A level-four vehicle can perform all maneuvers and reach its destination without the aid of a driver.

Because the first generation of automated vehicles will most likely share the road with traditional vehicles, full automation is not yet a realistic goal. Most developers are focused on achieving level-three automation, in which the car is capable of performing all safety-critical functions within certain driving conditions, but must cede control to the driver for unexpected or challenging driving situations or maneuvers.

To accomplish this, research is underway to develop a reliable mechanism for a safe and reliable transition from automated to regular driving.

“There will be a wealth of possible changes to foresee and acclimate ourselves to before automated vehicles can fully integrate,” says Talebpour.

“Our research is helping to get a step closer to the introduction of automated vehicles into daily commuting.”

A research effort led by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute over more than a decade is redefining freight transport. The Freight Shuttle System (FSS), which was unveiled in September 2016, demonstrates how automated vehicle technology can optimize the movement of cargo and relieve traffic congestion on freight corridors. This system consists of a single, remotely controlled transporter powered by linearinduction motors that moves along its own guideway. It is large enough to carry a full-size truck trailer or shipping container over distances of up to 500 miles.

Designed for use on highway medians and other rights-of-way, the energy-efficient, low-emission system can improve traffic flow and reduce the burden on our transportation infrastructure.

13

DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL & SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

Researchers tackle advanced manufacturing challenges Four Texas A&M University researchers are refining advanced manufacturing processes to address contemporary challenges in the manufacture of custom biological and metal parts, sensors and advanced materials systems: Precision and Smart Manufacturing

Nano- and Biomanufacturing

Dr. Satish T.S. Bukkapatnam and his team focus on improving sensor-based methodologies for quality- and integrity-monitoring applications in precision and nanomanufacturing processes and systems in the medical, transportation and defense sectors.

Dr. Shiren Wang and his fellow researchers are exploring the use of 3-D printing to manufacture synthetic knee cartilage and eliminate the risk of pathogen transmission, immune rejection and tissue mismatch for patients facing meniscus transplantation surgery.

Featured Researcher: Dr. Satish Bukkapatnam Title: Rockwell International Professor Email: satish@tamu.edu Phone: 979.458.2348

Featured Researcher: Dr. Shiren Wang Title: Associate Professor Email: s.wang@tamu.edu Phone: 979.458.2357

Additive and Hybrid Manufacturing

Extreme Materials Manufacturing

Dr. Alaa Elwany and his group are working to improve the quality of metallic parts produced using 3-D printing.

Dr. Dinakar Sagapuram’s group is working to establish process-structure-property correlation datasets needed to realize advanced material systems that push known performance boundaries.

Featured Researcher: Dr. Alaa Elwany Title: Assistant Professor Email: elwany@tamu.edu Phone: 979.458.2365

14

Mechanical engineering graduate student, Naveen Thomas, collaborates with Bukkapatnam on manufacturing research.

Featured Researcher: Dr. Dinakar Sagapuram Title: Assistant Professor Email: dinakar@tamu.edu Phone: 979.458.2370

To read the full stories featured in this magazine, please visit engineering.tamu.edu/research/2016.

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL & AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING

Treating contaminated water with activated iron In his efforts to safely trap waterborne contaminants in the rust produced by iron corrosion, Dr. Yongheng Huang has solved a problem that baffled scientists for years. Previously, efforts to use iron corrosion reactivity in water treatment were complicated by iron passivation – the formation of passive iron oxide coatings that stopped the process. Huang’s attempts to sustain this chemical reaction led to the invention of an activated iron technology, a process that Huang says can capture potentially dangerous heavy metals such as selenium, arsenic and lead and can reduce mercury concentrations more than other methods can. “With the solving of the iron passivation issue, the technology could now use the full reactive power of iron for targeted contaminant treatment,” Huang explains. His process relies on metallic iron powder, which is inexpensive and widely available, making it a potentially cost-effective solution for coal-fired power plants and other facilities working to comply with tightened environmental regulations.

The new technology is robust and versatile, capable of removing a broad spectrum of toxic materials from some of the most challenging and complex wastewaters.

Featured Researcher: Dr. Yongheng Huang Title: Associate Professor Email: yhuang@tamu.edu Phone: 979.862.8031 Website: baen.tamu.edu/ people/huang-yongheng

15

ZACHRY DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Identifying atmospheric particles to address air pollution Researchers at Texas A&M University have pioneered a novel strategy to identify the specific origins of particles in the air, a crucial step in the effort to combat air pollution. By developing an analytical technique, Dr. Shankar Chellam has been able to identify unique metal signatures of industrial and natural aerosols in the atmosphere. These signatures enable isolation, identification and quantification of air particles from both industrial and natural sources. Chellam believes this approach can improve efforts to measure industrial and natural particulate emissions, helping policymakers create better emissions guidelines to reduce air pollution. The research is being applied to solve the problems of the long-range transport of mineral dust from the North African (Sahara) and Middle Eastern deserts and its impact on air quality in urban areas; particulate matter emissions from light-duty vehicles; and particle releases from petroleum-refining operations.

16

Featured Researcher: Dr. Shankar Chellam Title: J. Walter “Deak” Porter ’22 & James W. “Bud” Porter ’51 Professor Email: chellam@tamu.edu Phone: 979.845.5914 Website: engineering.tamu.edu/civil/ research/awt-lab

HAROLD VANCE DEPARTMENT OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

Through the researchers’ efforts, it is now possible to isolate, identify and quantify petroleum refinery, vehicular and desert dust impacts on urban air quality.

Cultivating entrepreneurship in the petroleum industry A new program at Texas A&M University is educating the next generation of entrepreneurs in the oil and gas industry by bridging the fields of business and petroleum engineering.

The Petroleum Ventures Program is a collaboration between the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering and the Mays Business School.

This certificate program offers undergraduate and graduate students specialized training in petroleum engineering and business to prepare them for success in professions such as energy finance and petroleum acquisitions. The program is funded by a $12 million gift from Anthony Bahr ’91, ’94 (M.Eng.) and Jay Graham ’92 (B.S.) of Houston-based WildHorse Resources Management Company.

Bahr and Graham credit the concept for this program to engineering professor Billy P. “Pete” Huddleston ’56 (B.S.).

“Pete’s mentorship greatly influenced our professional successes,” says Bahr. “He put a spark into his students, and we hope to continue what he began.”

17

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Chemical reaction rates key to counteracting weapons of mass destruction By focusing their research on the chemical reaction rates of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), two Texas A&M researchers, Drs. Eric Petersen and Waruna Kulatilaka, expect to develop effective countermeasure strategies to maximize safe and rapid destruction. The five-year project for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency is already underway with the researchers refining techniques and generating information to understand the simulant combustion chemistry. The second and third years of the project will be dedicated to improving kinetics models and exploring the effect of the counteragents on the combustion chemistry. For the final two years of the project, the researchers will focus on expanding the study to higher pressures and more counteragents.

18

Featured Researcher: Dr. Eric Petersen Title: Nelson-Jackson Professor Email: epetersen@ tamu.edu Phone: 979.845.1257 Website: petersengroup.tamu.edu Featured Researcher: Dr. Waruna Kulatilaka Title: Associate Professor Email: waruna. kulatilaka@tamu.edu Phone: 979.458.2885 Website: laserlab.tamu.edu

To read the full stories featured in this magazine, please visit engineering.tamu.edu/research/2016.

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

Designing systems to thwart cyberattacks

New techniques to identify software security gaps and new algorithms to protect Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals are helping to address emerging cybersecurity threats. Dr. Guofei Gu and his team have developed CyberProbe and AutoProbe, two new techniques that can automatically learn and extract malware’s control logic so that defenders can perform accurate and active detection of global malicious cyber infrastructures in the whole internet IPv4 space in just a few hours. They have designed new techniques that successfully identified more than two dozen serious vulnerabilities in widely used software from Google®, Adobe® and Microsoft®. He is also investigating the potential security implications of software-defined networks to serve the demand for highly flexible network infrastructures to support dynamic services on the internet or for cloud computing. In addition, Dr. Jyh-Charn Liu is developing algorithms to detect incorrect signals within GNSS. Liu will use the algorithms to develop software-based solutions to provide greater security to GNSS technology such as mapping tools, power grid technology and autonomous vehicles.

Featured Researcher: Dr. Guofei Gu Title: Associate Professor Email: guofei@cse.tamu.edu Phone: 979.845.2475 Website: faculty.cse.tamu. edu/guofei

Featured Researcher: Jyh-Charn Liu Title: Professor Email: liu@cse.tamu.edu Phone: 979.845.8739 Website: rtds.cse.tamu.edu

DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY & INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION

Students learn deal-winning sales techniques through gamification By using a first-of-its-kind sales training program based on gamification, Texas A&M students are learning about the attention and discovery stages of the sales process. The Lead Generation Process, developed and run by researchers and faculty in the Industrial Distribution Talent Incubator Program, uses game design and experiential learning.

While working with a sponsoring company, students generate leads for their sponsor through data analytics leading to cold calls. As they work with their teammates, listen to other students’ phone calls and complete sales-related activities, they learn how and why customers make buying decisions.

The lead generation encourages motivation, competition and strategy. Corporate sponsors include Memorial Hermann Hospital, Hisco, M3Distribution, Womack, Wisenbaker, Crawford Electric Supply, TMS South, TTI, Pipeline Packaging and AlloyMetals.

Featured Researcher: Dr. Esther Rodriguez Silva Title: Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station Research Assistant Professor; Director, Talent Incubator Program Email: estherrsilva@tamu.edu Phone: 979.845.3146 Website: id.tamu.edu/industry-solutions/ talent-incubator/talent-incubator-program

19

DEPARTMENT OF OCEAN ENGINEERING

Optimizing wind energy production at sea Dr. Moo Hyun Kim is adapting technology and concepts from the offshore oil and gas industry to create solutions for efficient, sustainable power generation through a multiple-unit floating offshore wind turbine (MUFOWT). While wind farms are typically found on land, offshore turbines benefit from the stronger winds typically found at sea. In collaboration with Dr. Y. H. Bae, M.S. ’09 and Ph.D. ’13, of Jeju National University in South Korea, Kim has contributed to the development of a numerical simulation program to study and optimize the performance of MUFOWTs. This program, dubbed FAST-CHARM3D, analyzes the operation and interaction of these structures’ myriad components. Kim believes his program will help engineers to better understand and take advantage of the ocean’s potential as a source of renewable energy. “These platforms can host energy-producing technology other than turbines, such as solar panels and wave current energy converters,” says Kim. Featured Researcher: Dr. Moo-Hyun Kim Title: Professor Email: m-kim3@tamu.edu Phone: 979.847.8710 Website: ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/mhkim

20

Researchers are using existing technology and experience to apply the designs of a multiunit floating offshore wind turbine in order to generate economically competitive, infinitely renewable, no waste or carbon emission energy.

To read the full stories featured in this magazine, please visit engineering.tamu.edu/research/2016.

RESEARCH FACTS FY15

$

309 MILLION RESEARCH EXPENDITURES

2 nd in the NATION * *ASEE Engineering by the Numbers 2015

30 1 MILLION 525,000

MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH CENTERS

SQUARE FEET OF ASSIGNABLE RESEARCH SPACE

SQUARE FEET OF RESEARCH SPACE IN DEVELOPMENT

4,838 3,045 72

RESEARCH PROJECTS INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH SPONSORS PATENT APPLICATIONS

21

engineering.tamu.edu

TEXAS A&M ENGINEERING 7607 EASTMARK DRIVE 3134 TAMU COLLEGE STATION, TX 77843-3126

Transforming the Educational Environment Engineering Innovation Center

2014

20,000 sq. ft.

Engineering Activities Buildings 31,000 sq. ft.

Animal Industries Building

2015

44,900 sq. ft.

WD Von Gonten Laboratories

2016

9,100 sq. ft.

Haynes Coastal Laboratory

2017

Giesecke Engineering Research Building

25,000 sq. ft.

70,000 sq. ft.

2018 Center for Infrastructure Renewal 140,000 sq. ft.

Peterson Building 84,800 sq. ft.

Zachry Engineering Education Complex 520,000 sq. ft.

Distribution Research and Education Building

Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center

60,400 sq. ft.

68,000 sq. ft.

2019

TEES Headquarters 25,000 sq. ft.

Meeting the Global Demand 25 by 25 is an educational initiative designed to transform the educational experience; increase access to engineering education and deliver affordable engineering education.

The goal is to grow enrollment at multiple Texas A&M campuses and community college academy partners in the U.S. and abroad to 25,000 engineering students by 2025.

engineering.tamu.edu