Issuu

PROVIDED

Dean of the School of Law, Robert B. Ahdieh (left), poses with his students.

A&M Law reflects on first 5 years Dallas-based school sees continued growth since joining A&M System By Anthony Pangonas @apangonas With over 400 current students, the Texas A&M University School of Law is celebrating its five-year anniversary with a continued focus on growth for faculty and students. The law school was founded in 1989 as the Dallas-Fort Worth School of Law and later became the Texas Wesleyan School of Law in 1992. The school underwent one last name change in 2013 when A&M acquired it. Stephen Alton, a professor of law and associate dean for planning and evening programs, has worked at the school since it was the Dallas-Fort Worth School of Law and said he has seen the institution evolve tremendously. “When Texas Wesleyan acquired the law school in 1992, it was a big deal for the law school,” Alton said. “DFW was what is called a freestanding law school. It wasn’t affiliated with a university, and in those days I think the [American Bar Association] tended to be harder for new freestanding law schools to get accreditation.” Alton said the switch to the A&M System led to positive changes for the law school overall. “I think the faculty was very pleasantly surprised when Texas A&M bought the law school,” Alton said. “The name change alone made a big difference because A&M has a national reputation that Texas Wesleyan doesn’t have.” LAW SCHOOL ON PG. 2

Graphic by Jesse Everett — THE BATTALION

Only 41% of adults in the U.S. with a mental health condition received mental health services in the past year. (Statistics via National Alliance on Mental Illness).

MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS Aggies look to launch conversations on worldwide day of awareness By Nicole Shair @NicoleEShair World Mental Health Day mobilizes efforts to bring discussions on mental health issues to the forefront, raising awareness and advocating against stigma. The day is observed on Oct. 10, and at Texas A&M, it is a chance for students to reflect and learn more about resources on campus designed for support. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America reports that 30 percent of college students say stress has negatively impacted their academic performance, making mental health a topic

worthy of serious discussion on campus. According to director of Student Counseling Services Mary Ann Covey, World Mental Health Day is a good time for all students to take a break and think about their own mental health. “It can be used as a check into one’s own self care,” Covey said. “‘Am I taking care of my mental health? Getting enough sleep? Eating well? Exercising?’ All of these factors contribute to one’s mental health.” Student Counseling Services will use this event to promote mental health resources and encourage educational discussions. “An event like this raises awareness across platforms of social media as well as other media outlets,” Covey said. “It will reach students who aren’t specifically following the Student Counseling Services social media,

but the event will pop up on many national platforms that students may be on.” For organizations who advocate for mental health education, health senior and Active Minds at Texas A&M president Alicia Steinley said World Mental Health Day is a great time to spread awareness on campus and educate those who don’t deal with mental illness about how to help Aggies who do. “We at Active Minds believe mental health awareness begins with knowledge, so we focus on spreading information about mental illnesses and direction on how to help a friend that is struggling,” Steinley said. Active Minds will be doing their part to spread awareness at a table in Rudder Plaza, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., handing out information on mental illness and a pledge to be HEALTH ON PG. 2

Keeping cool in California Texas A&M graduate works to improve efficiency of air conditioning systems By Savannah Mehrtens @SJMehrtens

PROVIDED

Lance Brockway, chief technology officer for Nelumbo, earned his bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Texas A&M.

An Aggie is helping lead the way in technology to increase the efficiency of heating, air conditioning and refrigeration systems. Lance Brockway, Class of 2009 and 2014, earned his bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Texas A&M. He’s now the chief technology officer at Nelumbo, an advanced materials platform focused on developing improved cooling methods. The company got its start as a project in the University of California at Berkeley’s product development lab, Cyclotron Road. With support from investors, Nelumbo recently opened a plant in Hayward, California, where they will expand their operation. Brockway said there is a key advantage which helps them stand apart from other technology for heating and cooling. “Our big differentiator is we can improve the energy performance and minimize corrosion in a single platform,” Brockway said. “Our initial target is air conditioning, but some of the value we also provide is in mitigating icing on outdoor units as well as in refrigeration.” David Walther, senior vice president of engineering, said the team is working directly with manufacturers of individual refrigeration components to put Nelumbo’s product into these components. “The end customer never directly sees our materials,” Walther said. “They’re sort of embedded into the materials at the production plant. From the customer perspective, the components look effectively similar or substan-

tially similar to the current products.” Sebastien Lounis, co-founder and managing director of communications at Cyclotron Road said rather than just developing something as an interesting laboratory product, he believes there must be an understanding of the product’s practical applications. “I think one of the areas that ... is really important to Nelumbo and to the system they developed, or to the coating they developed, is understanding how that new type of coating can be manufactured at very large scale for industrial applications in a way that is economical,” Lounis said. For now, Brockway said they are working on anti-corrosion methods to produce longer-lasting systems to customers. “Our primary driver right now is anti-corrosion and corrosion mitigation,” Brockway said. “We can make the heat exchangers inside of the air conditioning systems last longer, which provides values to both our partners and the end customers.” Nelumbo was a part of the Cyclotron Road Activate annual forum on Sept. 26, where the team was able to successfully showcase their work to government officials, investors, engineers, scientists and others. “All the entrepreneurs of the companies have small booths and tables where we’re able to connect and reconnect with folks that we’ve interacted with or that want to learn more about the technology and the company,” Walther said. Following their move into the new facility, Brockway said Nelumbo is excited to expand their team and distribute their product on a larger scale. “We just moved into a much larger facility that’s about 8,000 square feet and we’re looking to take our product to market,” Brockway said.