Texas A&M University hosted Texas Land Grants Day on November 4 at the Texas A&M Student Recreation Center, West Campus.
Faculty, staff, and students contributed significantly to building a bridge between Texas A&M University (TAMU) and Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) by bringing their talent, imagination, perspective, and energy to the event. The event was attended by 85 administrators, faculty, students, and staff from TAMU and PVAMU.
Dr. Tracy Hammond, Director of the Institute for Engineering Education and Innovation (IEEI), Texas A&M; Dr. Gerard D’Souza, Director of Land-Grant Programs, Prairie View A&M; Dr. Jack G. Baldauf, Vice President for Research, Texas A&M, Dr. Magesh T. Rajan, Vice President for Research & Innovation, Prairie View A&M and Dr. Alan Sams, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Texas A&M delivered the inaugural address.
Texas Land Grants Day is held twice a year, once in the Fall at TAMU and once in the Spring at PVAMU. New projects, grants, and opportunities are developed between both institutions at the conference. This was the third edition of this event.
The keynote speaker for the conference was Dr. Sonja Montas-Hunter, Program Director for Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE): Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI), Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP), Division of Human Resource Development (HRD), and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) at the National Science Foundation. This session provided the attendees with an overview of funding opportunities from various NSF Directorates related to broadening STEM participation and increasing research diversity.
Researchers and faculty came together to discuss their research during the ‘Researcher Speed Dating’ session. They rotated through different partners for the next 20 minutes while sharing research ideas. Multiple interdisciplinary collaborations were formed as a result of the exchange of ideas.
Presentations were made in several breakout rooms by the following Centers, Labs, and Departments: Texas A&M AgriLife Research, TAMU Multidisciplinary Engineering Department, PVAMU College of Agriculture & Human Sciences, PVAMU Center for Energy & Environmental Sustainability, TAMU Department of Agricultural Economics, TEES Center for Infrastructure Renewal, TEES Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, TAMU Aerospace Engineering Department, TAMU Biomedical Engineering Department, PVAMU Minority Achievement, Creativity and High-Ability (MACH-III) Center, TAMU Nuclear Engineering Department & PVAMU, Center for Radiation Engineering and Science for Space Exploration, PVAMU Computer Science Department TEES Texas A&M Energy Institute, and the TEES Secure America Institute.
Last spring, PVAMU hosted Texas Land Grants Day, allowing participants to develop their professional networks while interacting. IEEI expects this event to continue to serve as a launching pad for new opportunities, projects, and grants. The event will also provide faculty from both universities with a forum to share ideas on improving ties between the two institutions.