TAMIU STEM High-End Computational Resource
Abstract
Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) seeks to obtain a high-performance computational resource from the Department of Defense Research and Education Program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Instrumental Equipment/Instrumentation program. This dual Linux and PC resource will support research and educational opportunities in the areas of Systems and Petroleum Engineering, Chemistry, Bioinformatics, and Geosciences. We have a pledge of in kind support from the Office of Information Technology to support the installation and operations of this resource. Additional institutional support will come from the Center of Earth and Environmental Studies (CEES), which has significant experience with operating such hardware. This project will serve as a catalyst to propel research at TAMIU across a broad range of disciplines across the STEM fields. The proposed computational resource will facilitate transfer of high-level critical thinking and problem solving skills to TAMIUÕs 94.1% Hispanic undergraduate and graduate students. The specific methods are as follows: Engineering students will learn to design, model and simulate the flexible skin-like materials, and test them with software simulations for electrical, mechanical and thermal properties. These students will also learn to design and develop optoelectronic devices at the micro/nano scale. Chemistry students will learn how to conduct research projects and be trained in scientific computation, simulation, and numerical analysis using visualization software and other programs. Bioinformatics students will learn about experimental design, molecular tools, data management, UNIX commands, PYTHON programming language, quantitative analysis and bioinformatics analysis. Students within the energy and geoscience clusters will gain skills related to fluid flow, structural analysis, thermal modeling, remote sensing, geographic information systems, and fundamentals of drilling engineering. In addition to the increases in student knowledge and skills described above, each of the team members have individual research objectives. Dr. Ganta has two research areas a) developing a smart wearable system to provide multiple degrees of freedom and behave like human skin during movement for both medical and defense applications; b) modeling micron scale resonators for next generation of photonic integrated circuits for improvement of detection capabilities through gases and dust. Dr. Jorgensen investigates cyclic and caged nitramine compounds, which have increased nitrogen to carbon content allowing for a decrease in the soot and smoke production leading to longer weapon lifetimes and smokeless combustion. Dr. MendezÕs research examines the genome annotation of Triclosan-Resistant Rhizobacteria and the microbial community metagenomics of Triclosan-irrigated soils for potential horizontal gene transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes conferring triclosan resistance in soils. Dr. Abebe-Akele focuses biological control agent engineering, specifically entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN), which have the potential to act as a control on harmful invasive species, and investigates key determinants that make a bacterium suitable for EPN association. Drs. Lin and Al Dushaishi both have research projects related to complex fluid flows, with Dr. Lin focusing on numerical simulations of multiphase flows, and Dr. Al Dushaishi investigating particle transport in Non-Newtonian fluids and the capability of particles to seal void spaces. Dr. Tobin utilizes root zone soil moisture data to support more robust hydrological modeling. Dr. Bennett studies thermal modeling of asteroid data to obtain a better understanding of these bodies. Research results from faculty team members and their students will be disseminated at conferences and will result in highly ranked peer-reviewed journal publications, which will contribute to the advancement of knowledge in eight different discipline
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 04, 2019
- Source ID
- W911NF1910450
Entities
People
- Kenneth Tobin
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- Texas A&M International University