outreach

Students in the Master of Science in Land Development program prepared for careers in the property industry by visiting three of the Houston area’s most notable mixed-use developments, then worked with the developers to craft leasing proposals for a hypothetical business.

Researchers from the Center for Heritage Conservation visited Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay June 6-11, 2011 where they used sophisticated surveying equipment to collect data to create detailed 2- and 3-D models of the island and its historic structures for documentation purposes.

Environmental design students worked alongside residents of Las Lomas, a South Texas colonia, on projects aimed at improving the quality of life in the border community. Colonias leaders asked students to create after-school activities and identify ways to raise funds for community center staffing.

Jayme Elterman ‘03, a former environmental design student, led a group of fellow students at a graduate design school in New York built Splash House, a new locker and changing room at a city pool, after designing and holding a successful fundraising campaign.

Four teams of construction science students charged with developing a lean construction delivery schedule for a new jail presented their work to a jury of industry professionals in a competition at the Texas A&M System offices.

Texas A&M students studying abroad in Bonn, Germany during the fall 2010 semester impressed the city’s mayor and staff with their presentations of a master plan for a 10-kilometer redevelopment along the Rhine River. A published portfolio of the students' work can be viewed online in PDF format.

Students studying abroad in South Africa are designing a starter campus for the university and developing a business plan for a nonprofit utility company while working on a groundbreaking real estate development located on the coast of the the country’s Eastern Cape.

Don't call him a teacher, says Jorge Vanegas, dean of the college, on the Texas A&M News & Information Services website. “My primary job is to unleash the individual creative potential within every student, no matter what their background or major.”

Texas A&M University at Qatar’s new ceremonial mace, designed by Rodney Hill, professor of architecture, debuted at commencement in Qatar May 5, 2011. “As far as I can tell from the design research I did, this is the most elaborate university mace in the world,” said Hill, who also carved mace's wood.

A video that played at the 2009 gala opening of Texas A&M’s Soltis Center for Research and Education in Costa Rica includes comments by an assistant dean at the College of Architecture, whose students’ design concepts significantly influenced the final appearance of the center’s buildings.

A team from Texas A&M reached the semifinal round of a worldwide competition seeking university students' ideas to solve social and environmental problems. Their idea involved kids trading points they’d earned playing video games for donations to charitable causes.

For research that has helped improve the lives of children with chronic diseases throughout the world, James Varni, a professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M, has earned The Association of Former Students’ 2011 Distinguished Achievement Award for Research.

Viz-a-GoGo 18, the annual showcase of digital wizardry conjured by students in the Master of Science in Visualization program at Texas A&M University, returned to downtown Bryan last May with screenings of student work, interactive exhibits, demonstrations, and more.