building a better texas

Six former students from Texas A&M’s College of Architecture who have risen to the top of their professional field while making significant public service contributions were honored Oct. 11, 2013 as outstanding alumni.

Immigration reform is essential to “level the playing field” for construction companies who pay living wages and abide by the law, said Stan Marek, CEO of Marek Brothers Systems Inc., in a recent NPR story about the construction industry in Texas.

Decades of leadership in the construction industry and support of education at Texas A&M have netted James R. Thompson ’68 the Distinguished Alumnus Award, the highest honor granted by The Association of Former Students.

A sketch by Texas A&M Ph.D. architecture student Bara Safarova depicting the imaginary arrival of settlers to a new colonia was part of Sketch. 2013, an exhibit investigating the role sketches play in design communication shown at Fordham University in New York.

Construction proposals for a Dallas middle school and a water treatment plant created by two teams of construction science seniors at Texas A&M yielded first- and second-place finishes at a February competition hosted by two regional construction organizations.

Construction science students at Texas A&M learned first-hand about the construction process, material production and manufacturing on visits to several sites throughout the region during the department’s spring semester field day April 5, 2013.

Urban issues affecting the Texas-Mexico border will be the focus of Dialogo on the Border, sponsored by the diversity council at the College of Architecture and the Dwight Look College of Engineering April 19-20 in Brownsville, Texas.

Entrepreneurial education and opportunities offered to students at Texas A&M will receive a major upgrade from a three year, $300,000 Tier One Program grant from the Office of the Dean of Faculties and the Associate Provost.

Sustainable landscape design, “green” roof construction, and using research to inform design are just some of the areas Bruce Dvorak, assistant professor of landscape architecture, covers in studios; his efforts will be recognized with an award from a national education organization.

Anthony Haas ’79, a senior principal at WHR Architects and 2007 Outstanding Alumnus of the Texas A&M College of Architecture, has been elevated to the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows, one of the highest honors the AIA bestows on its members.

An design efficiency checklist for medical facilities developed by researchers provides solutions for flawed floor plans that can contribute to medical staff fatigue, cause distractions that hinder patient-care and potentially result in higher medical costs.

It’s unusual for an intern to head meetings between mechanical, electrical and plumbing subcontractors at a construction jobsite, but Tanner Trimm, a fourth-year construction science student at Texas A&M, did just that.

Capitalizing on the aspirations of kids who dream of becoming architects or digital artists, the College of Architecture offers weeklong summer camps exposing college-bound students to an array of career opportunities in the built and virtual environments.

The national Network for Sciences, Engineering, Arts & Design, headed by Carol LaFayette, associate professor of visualization, is advancing the STEM to STEAM movement: adding art and design components, the "A," to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

Urban planner Rik Adamski discussed "tactical urbanism," the implementation of small scale, typically low-cost, community-led improvements to public space, Feb. 20.