Texas Engineering Experiment Station

Mission

The overarching mission of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) is to provide the highest level of excellence through public service in the areas of engineering and technology research, technology transfer and support of education to improve the quality of life and economic health of Texans and the nation by utilizing our capabilities statewide.

Priorities and Goals

Agency Goals — TEES goals necessarily originate in the agency’s statutory purpose and the public service requirements that are incumbent on every state agency:

Research Efforts

Support and Invest in Research Efforts that are Relevant to External Sponsors, Aligned with External Funding Opportunities (Both Public and Private) and Are Large Enough in Scope to Make an Impact on Technology Development

Objectives:

  • Increase diversity of research funding sources
  • Strengthen relationships with key federal and state funding agencies
  • Focus on developing research initiatives that are broad or center-oriented, with the proper mix of full-time researchers and A&M System faculty to meet time requirements of deliverables
  • Set research priorities based on capabilities, relevance to addressing an important problem facing Texas or the nation, opportunities for successful competition and ability to sustain external support

Research Capacity

Build Research Capacity across the State

Objectives:

  • Foster research partnerships among higher education institutions
  • Develop senior research leadership and enhance junior faculty research development through workshops, proposal development skills, understanding of funding agencies, and developing specialized capabilities, such as the evaluation capabilities at West Texas A&M University.

Education

Strengthen Math, Science, Engineering and Technology Education at All Levels

Objectives:

  • Engage undergraduate and graduate students in research programs
  • Develop and implement strategies to increase K-12 student participation in science, math and engineering degree programs
  • Foster partnerships between two- and four-year institutions
  • Provide assistance to emerging engineering programs across the A&M System
  • Offer continuing education to industry and practitioners through symposia and industrial workshops

Technology Transfer

Promote Economic Development through Technology Transfer

Objectives:

  • Pursue collaborations with industry through the protection of the intellectual property generated from research and the transfer of this technology to industry partners through commercial license agreements
  • Enhance the services provided to researchers in order to encourage and facilitate participation in technology transfer activities
  • Actively participate in the state’s plan to support regional centers of innovation and commercialization
  • Articulate the economic benefits to the state accruing from agency activities

Good Stewardship

Maintain Good Stewardship of State Revenues and Maximize Their Effective Use

Objectives:

  • Ensure the best leverage of public funds and the largest return on investment in the state’s research future
  • Further the synergy among the agencies and activities of the Texas A&M Engineering Program
  • Achieve the most efficient and effective administrative services by working with the System Offices and A&M System institutions to achieve efficiencies and minimize duplication of services
  • Strengthen the agency’s presence in Texas by effectively communicating the value of the agency and increasing the understanding of the agency’s unique mission and the benefits accruing to the state as a result of its activities

Commentary on Top Priorities

TEES is established under Texas Education Code section 88.501 to serve as a state-supported engineering research and development agency. Its statutory purpose is to foster innovations in research, education and technology that support and aid the business and industrial communities and enhance the economic development of the state and nation. The agency’s organizational structure and operational flexibility have allowed the agency to fulfill its statutory purpose through the following unique characteristics. TEES:

  • is statewide in scope;
  • research agenda differs to some degree than that of the traditional academic setting; to a larger extent, it is driven by industry and government need, is more applications-based and seeks a specific goal in development or implementation;
  • is entrepreneurial in nature, growth oriented and flexible (responsive) in operations and relevant in research programs; and
  • serves as a model for state performance-based funding – not complacent on state funding, high leverage of state dollars.

The benefits that result from these unique characteristics are evidenced by:

  • formal working research partnership arrangements with 16 institutions of higher education;
  • more than 1,700 industrial sponsors;
  • applied research and technical assistance provided to state and federal agencies;
  • sustaining research efforts across the spectrum of basic research to implementation;
  • leveraging base state-provided resources for proposal development and research support into over $100 million in federal and private sector funds coming to Texas; and
  • providing researchers with a touted comprehensive research development and administrative support structure and a state-of-the-art research management information system.

Research Activities

  • Significant success was achieved in FY 2004 in bringing externally sponsored research funds into Texas. The agency exceeded $100 million mark in research funding, an increase of 19 percent over the FY 2003 total. The research award performance to date for FY 2005 remains strong.
  • Significant success was also achieved in the agency’s priority of increasing federal funds as a percentage of total sponsored research. Over the last two fiscal years, the percentage of research funding received from federal sources has increased from 69 percent of total sponsored research to 81 percent.
  • Progress was made toward the goal of diversifying federal agency sponsors of TEES research. In FY 2004, TEES experienced an increase of 48.7 percent ($9.9 million) in research awards from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and an increase of 67.7 percent ($2.6 million) in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/National Institutes of Health funds. At the same time, the agency maintained good support from NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy and other federal agencies.
  • $11 million in congressionally directed funds was obtained this fiscal year, including a second year of funding of $4.2 million for the DOD Center for Aging Aircraft and six other projects at the $1 million level.
    • The agency’s relationship with the NASA Johnson Space Center was strengthened with TEES winning a national competition to participate in the CRAVE (Crew Robotics and Vehicle Equipment) contract, in which TEES will work with NASA to design and develop equipment for current and future human spaceflight programs. In addition, the TEES Space Engineering Institute receives funding from the NASA Johnson Space Center to provide practical research experiences for students interested in pursuing engineering degrees leading to careers in space systems development and operations.
  • In continuing to work closely with Texas’ defense facilities, TEES won an award of $1.7 million from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command to support lean manufacturing initiatives at the Corpus Christi Army Depot. TEES is also working with Lackland Air Force Base to test pilot the simulations training program that was developed by TEES and the Texas Engineering Extension Service to support force protection and threat response.
  • A $596,000 grant was received from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop new cleaning technology for treating oilfield brine in partnership with TEEX, the Texas Water Resources Institute and two private companies.
  • TEES successfully competed for an award of $4.4 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the SAVER (System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders) program, which provides high-quality, impartial, operationally relevant assessment and validation data for critical emergency response and law enforcement equipment items. (Partnership with TEEX, the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) and others).

Build Statewide Research Capacity

  • Workshops were sponsored for A&M System researchers this fiscal year, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Workshop, two Agency Review Panel workshops, an NSF Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Workshop, and an Introduction to Evaluation Workshop. Faculty attendance at these workshops totaled 155 and resulted in the submission of numerous research proposals.
  • The agency is in budget negotiations for supplemental federal funding to provide additional research and undergraduate opportunities in connection with the $5 million TEES Research on Environmental Sustainability of Semi-Arid Coastal Areas Center at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
  • An award of $2 million was received from NSF for the Science, Technology and Engineering Program (STEP), which focuses on first-year coursework in engineering, mathematics and physics. This spring, TEES also assisted Texas A&M University-Kingsville in its STEP submission (award announcements still pending).

Math, Science, Engineering, Technology Education

  • TEES sponsored 40 students in the Undergraduate Research Summer Grant Program in 2004 and anticipates 38 students for the summer of 2005. The program gives promising engineering undergraduates from across the country an opportunity to work on a research project with a faculty mentor and graduate students in order to encourage them to continue into graduate school.
  • The TEES South Texas Advanced Technology Education (STATE) program, with headquarters at Del Mar College, received the President’s Award for Excellence for Best Practices in Technical Education. The STATE program aims to reduce the time required to produce associate-degreed technicians and is a partnership of five Texas community colleges.
  • The TEES Texas Rural Systemic Initiative completed its five-year NSF program, resulting in systemic reform efforts in math and science education in 88 rural, economically disadvantaged school districts with annual enrollments of almost 90,000 students. Program accomplishments are numerous and include an increase in the number of Advanced Placement math and science courses from 27 to 61 courses, significant increases in the passing rates on standardized math and science tests and focused school district activities and resources that are dedicated to elementary science education.
  • TEES received NSF and DOD funding to provide opportunities to 270 undergraduate students to conduct research with faculty in the areas of homeland security, nanotechnology and computer science over a three-year period.

Technology Transfer/State Agency Applications

  • TEES is assisting the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in improving Texas air quality by developing an EPA-accepted methodology for crediting the annual air emissions benefits that result from the statewide energy codes and electric utility demand reduction programs that are part of the State Implementation Plan.
  • TEES technology is being applied to an approach for diagnosing and treating cancer using a new class of nanomaterials called nanoshells. Nanospectra Biosciences is working with TEES, Rice University and The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in developing our new medical photoacoustic tomography imaging technique to fight breast cancer. This noninvasive technology combines optical waves and ultrasonic waves to create clearer, high-resolution images.
  • Congressional funding received by TEES to develop hardware for sampling, concentrating and collecting bioaerosol particles has resulted in technological advances that are currently being tested in the Army’s fielded Joint Biological Point Detection System, with an additional $2 million in funding from the Army.
  • TEES hosted and/or conducted numerous industrial workshops and conferences, including the Industrial Energy Technology Conference, the Inventory Management Seminar, the Mary Kay O’Conner Process Safety Center Symposium, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s first national technical conference, the Emissions Reduction and Energy Leadership Summit, the International Pump Users Symposium and the annual Turbomachinery Conference.
  • The Texas State Energy Conservation Office has awarded an $87,894 renewable energy and energy conservation contract to Texas A&M International University, TEES and the Texas A&M College of Architecture’s Center for Housing and Urban Development for an education effort aimed at providing renewable energy and energy conservation education in the South Texas region, primarily Laredo and surrounding colonias.
  • TEES has been designated by the Home Ventilating Institute, Inc., as the national testing facility for performance certification and testing of commercial and household fans.
  • TEES researchers are participating on several major national committees, including one formed in response to the August 2003 blackout which will address the primary cause of the blackout through the creation of new mandatory standards, the science working group for the Terrestrial Planet Finder under NASA, and the National Academy of Engineering’s Committee on Diversity in the Engineering Workforce.
  • TEES is actively participating on the key committee and subcommittees related to setting the state’s research roadmap for the pending Texas Emerging Technology Fund.

Diversity

  • Agency Workforce — The Texas Engineering Experiment Station is committed to providing a research and work environment that is conducive to equal employment opportunity though the personal and professional development of each individual. In the last year, TEES has increased the total number of African-American and Hispanic employees in the executive and professional group by five; these individuals are making good progress in the highest levels of management. The agency’s workforce diversity data for FY 2004 show a workforce that is 2.9 percent African American, 11.1 percent Hispanic, 13.8 percent Asian and 45.8 percent female.
  • Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Program — TEES is dedicated to continuing the positive momentum and improvement of its HUB Program. Activities implemented this year include: reorganization of the purchasing function to be more integrated and coordinated with the HUB director, increased training and awareness programs for researchers and staff, the encouragement of HUB utilization in the procurement of all goods and services, and monthly on-site vendor forums as a method of providing information about the business opportunities with TEES that are available and explaining the TEES procurement system. As a research entity, TEES must contract for goods and services in specific categories, including medical/research products and chemicals, for which there is minimal or no HUB availability. However, continued effort is placed on locating HUB vendors in these areas. As of the midpoint in FY 2005, the overall percentage for HUB expenditures by TEES was 20.4 percent.
  • Student Research Opportunities for Underrepresented Groups — The active research environment of TEES contributes to the recruitment of a new generation of engineers and a technologically literate workforce. TEES participates in various programs to interest middle-school and high school students in math, science and engineering, and to support undergraduates and graduate students in engineering degree and research programs. Many of these programs are focused on underrepresented groups, mainly women and minorities. In FY 2004, the number of undergraduate students from underrepresented groups who participated in TEES activities was 6,124, a 12 percent increase since FY 2002.

Operational Efficiencies

  • TEES management has been proactive in developing continuous operational efficiency improvement strategies. Streamlined processes have been established and have played a major role in enabling the agency to manage significantly larger volumes of proposals, contracts and projects with reduced staffing resource levels. TEES has improved and implemented its state-of-the-art research management information system, developed rules for compliance with federal, state and A&M System regulations, and automated a number of processes, including voucher approval routing, electronic distribution of newsletters and funding opportunities, and automatic calculation of efficiency performance measures. In efforts to minimize costs while achieving agency goals and objectives, TEES currently coordinates certain administrative services within the engineering agencies, with the A&M System and with Texas A&M. In addition, TEES provides research contracting services, contract and research federal compliance, proposal development and grant writing services to its statewide regional divisions at partner institutions.

Administrative costs as a percentage of total TEES activities continues to decline as the agency has absorbed new growth while maintaining the same or reduced administrative budgets. The use of the term “institutional support” labeled as “administrative costs” for TEES is not a valid measurement of administrative costs as this number includes infrastructure and other non-administrative costs. A more accurate reflection of administrative costs for TEES is an amount less than 5 percent of the total volume of TEES activity.