building a better texas

Except for the zombies, the dystopian futures depicted in popular Hollywood fare are edging closer to fact than fiction, said Texas A&M's resident futurist Rodney Hill, who believes hope for a besieged world can be found in creative solutions.

On Nov. 2, five groups of Texas A&M construction science students took field trips to various destinations around Texas to investigate the latest construction, material production and manufacturing practices.

Construction science students at Texas A&M will soon learn to accurately estimate the cost of construction projects in a state-of-the-art lab funded by a $250,000 gift from San Antonio-based Joeris General Contractors.

A new, $250 million stadium to house Baylor Bears football will be designed with the help of a building information modeling system coordinated by Ken Stone ‘11, a Texas A&M construction science former student. “It should be a very exciting project because the design team is 100-percent on board,” said Stone, an engineer with Flintco, LLC.

A federal study aimed at enhancing plant safety throughout the U.S. chemical manufacturing system benefitted from the work of Michael Lindell, a professor of urban planning at Texas A&M University who contributed sections on risk and decision analyses and emergency management.

Ethical quandaries surrounding a hypothetical bidding scenario were identified and resolved by third-year Texas A&M construction science students in recent presentations made before a panel of visiting industry professionals as part of a classroom competiton.

Paul Lewis, principal of LTL Architects, showed his firm’s award-winning expansion and renovation of the Arthouse at the Jones Center in Austin to design professors at Texas A&M’s College of Architecture.

Historic sites at California’s most famous prison, in the jungles of Belize and closer-to-home in the town of Belton, Texas are three of the most recent documentation projects undertaken by Texas A&M’s Center for Heritage Conservation.

Former and current design students from Texas A&M’s College of Architecture incorporated “green” techniques in the design and construction of winning entries in Brazos Bark & Build, a sustainable doghouse competition sponsored by AIA Brazos.

Students from all four departments at Texas A&M’s College of Architecture will join in a weeklong charrette early next semester to create unifying, practical and affordable proposals in two areas along one of College Station’s main thoroughfares.

A research project examining the effect of pedestrian and activity-friendly communities on residents’ health led by Xuemei Zhu, assistant professor of architecture, is part of a new American Institute of Architects’ initiative to fund projects leading to design solutions addressing challenges in public health.

A entrepreneurial team of senior environmental design majors who bonded in a freshman studio is leaving its mark at Texas A&M tackling projects that include a countertop with design cues from campus' landmark Century Oak.

A contemplative space featuring a water fountain and aromatic flora designed by Yucheng Wang, a Master of Landscape Architecture student, was the winning proposal for a healing garden in the new Scott & White Hospital in College Station.

An institute promoting the study and application of creativity and innovative thinking at Texas A&M and throughout a network of partners is under development at the College of Architecture.

Dallas-area homebuilders Nicole and Kevin Youngblood toured Texas A&M’s College of Architecture Sept. 28, where a professorship endowed in their names is making a difference for students at the college.