TAMEST Member News Roundup – June 2023
TAMEST loves to share the accolades of our membership. If you have been nominated for an award, been interviewed by the media or otherwise have a reason to celebrate, please share your news with TAMEST.
TAMEST In The News
Houston Chronicle: First ‘Physicianeer’ Graduates from Texas A&M and Houston Methodist are Hoping to Change Health Care, TAMEST Board Member Roderic Pettigrew, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM, NAE), Texas A&M Health, Texas A&M University, Houston Methodist
D Magazine: Meet the Dallas 500: Eric Olson, TAMEST Member Eric N. Olson, Ph.D. (NAM, NAS), UT Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas Innovates: National Academy of Sciences Elects Two More UT Southwestern Scientists as Members, TAMEST Members Russell DeBose-Boyd, Ph.D. (NAS) and Duojia Pan, Ph.D. (NAS), UT Southwestern Medical Center
ACT News: Shell Starship 3.0 to Accelerate Commercial Trucking Decarbonization, TAMEST Treasurer-Elect Selda Gunsel, Ph.D. (NAE), Shell Global Solutions
The Statesman: Generative AI Will Unlock Great Experiences in Next Four-Five Years, TAMEST Member Lisa T. Su, Ph.D. (NAE), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Dallas Innovates: Three Cities Join Forces on Bid to Bring National Health Research Hub to Texas at Dallas’ Pegasus Park, TAMEST Hill Prizes Funder Lyda Hill Philanthropies
Texas Tribune: With $1.4 Billion Investment, Texas Hopes to Sprint to the Front of the Microchip Manufacturing Race, TAMEST Member and 2010 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Recipient S.V. Sreenivasan, Ph.D. (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin
Royal Society: Exceptional Scientists Elected as Fellows of the Royal Society, TAMEST Members Karen Uhlenbeck, Ph.D. (NAS, FRS), The University of Texas at Austin and Moshe Y. Vardi, Ph.D. (NAE, NAS, FRS), Rice University
Member Briefs
TAMEST Mourns the Loss of Nobel Laureate and Beloved TAMEST Member Dr. John B. Goodenough
TAMEST mourns the loss of Nobel Laureate and beloved TAMEST Member John B. Goodenough, Ph.D. (NAE, NAS, FRS), The University of Texas at Austin. His pioneering work on the development of lithium-ion batteries paved the way to a more sustainable future. We also will not forget his continued dedication to mentoring the next generation of scientists, and the time he spent nurturing research in Texas. Read More
Dr. Jochen Reiser Appointed by UT Regents as Next President of The University of Texas Medical Branch
The University of Texas System Board of Regents has appointed Jochen Reiser, M.D., Ph.D., as the next president of The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Reiser is a world-renowned healthcare, innovation, and research leader with more than 18 years of progressive responsibility in various academic health systems and university environments. Read More
Four Longhorn Alums Awarded Presidential Citation for Service to UT
Four University of Texas at Austin alumni, have been recognized with the University’s Presidential Citation Award by President Jay Hartzell for their dedication and support of the University. Included in the list are TAMEST Members S.V. Sreenivasan, Ph.D. (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin and The Honorable Rex W. Tillerson, Ph.D. (NAE), Exxon Mobil Corporation. Read More
UTEP Awarded Numerous Grants to Support NASA Space Research
Researchers at TAMEST Member Institution The University of Texas at El Paso will help build a robotic device for welding in space, prepare astronauts for a mission to the Moon and more, thanks to a slew of new grants from NASA. The burst of grants awarded to faculty across various departments and colleges highlight UTEP’s strong partnership with NASA and the critical scientific and engineering contributions made by the University for space exploration. Read More
Enhancing Human-Machine Interaction With Brain-Wave Imaging
Texas A&M University Distinguished Professor and TAMEST Member James E. Hubbard Jr., Ph.D. (NAE), set out to develop a model to estimate human decision-making to improve human-machine teaming in the future for people who work in industrial fields, manufacturing processes and space. With 50 years of engineering experience, a background in adaptive structures and a growing interest in human cognition, Dr. Hubbard did just that. Read More
Dr. Ali Erdemir Honored for Lifetime of Service to Engineering
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is awarding TAMEST Member Ali Erdemir, Ph.D. (NAE), Texas A&M University, with an honorary membership, a distinction recognizing a lifetime of service to engineering. Dr. Erdemir serves as Halliburton Chair in Engineering Professor in the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University. He was elected a fellow of ASME in 2010 and was the ASME Mayo D. Hersey Award recipient in 2015. Dr. Erdemir said this latest honor from the organization reflects his distinguished and pioneering contributions to mechanical engineering. Read More
Engineering Duo Receives American Chemical Society Global Award
While most dynamic duos are known for saving the world, this duo is on a mission to change it by reimagining more sustainable batteries. TAMEST 2022 O’Donnell Award in Engineering Recipient Jodie L. Lutkenhaus, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, and her mentee, former Texas A&M University materials science and engineering doctoral student Dr. Alexandra Easley will receive the American Chemical Society (ACS) Global Outstanding Graduate Student. Read More
University of Texas Institutions Rank No. 4 in the World for Most Patents Granted
University of Texas institutions are among the most innovative in the world and for the sixth consecutive year have earned a top-five global ranking for most patents granted from the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Having received 225 U.S. utility patents, UT institutions rank No. 4 in the latest NAI listing, increasing total number of patents granted in 2022 from 203 the previous year. Read More
Texas Children’s Hospital’s Dr. Peter Hotez and Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi Receive The 2023 Lyndon B. Johnson Moral Courage Award
TAMEST Member Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM) and 2020 TAMEST Protégé Maria Elena Bottazzi, Ph.D., Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, received the prestigious 2023 Lyndon B. Johnson Moral Courage Award from the Holocaust Museum Houston, for their efforts researching and developing a patent-free, recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine technology for the world’s benefit and use. Read More (no longer available)
FDA-Approved RSV Vaccine Enabled by Work of UT Molecular Biologist
The first-ever vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) uses research from a team that includes 2022 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award Recipient in Medicine Jason McLellan, Ph.D., a professor of molecular biosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. Read More
UTA Team Exploring New Technology to Cool Data Centers
TAMEST Member Dereje Agonafer, Ph.D. (NAE), The University of Texas at Arlington, has received a $2.84 million grant to develop a hybrid cooling technology that will aid high-power data centers and server farms. The UTA grant is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) COOLERCHIPS (Cooling Operations Optimized for Leaps in Energy, Reliability, and Carbon Hyperefficiency for Information Processing Systems) program, which awarded $40 million for 15 projects that will develop high-performance, energy-efficient cooling solutions for data centers. Read More
Health Informatics Expert Dr. Marion Ball Earns Top Honor
TAMEST Member Marion J. Ball, Ed.D. (NAM), The University of Texas at Arlington, has received the John P. Glaser Health Informatics Innovator Award for her leadership in the field. Dr. Ball is professor of nursing in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation and executive director of the Multi-Interprofessional Center for Health Informatics (MICHI). The award—given by the John P. Glaser Health Informatics Society at UTHealth Houston’s D. Bradley McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics—acknowledges innovators in the field of health informatics and provide education, collaboration, and networking opportunities for the broader community of health informatics professionals, clinicians and students. Read More
Dr. Noboro Mizushima Awarded Inaugural Beth Levine, M.D. Prize in Autophagy Research from UT Southwestern
Japanese biochemist and molecular biologist Noboru Mizushima, M.D., Ph.D., has been named the inaugural recipient of the Beth Levine, M.D. Prize in Autophagy Research from UT Southwestern Medical Center. The award was created in honor of the late TAMEST Member and 2008 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award Recipient Beth Levine, M.D. (NAM), UT Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Mizushima is an internationally recognized scientist who has made significant strides in unraveling the complex processes of mammalian autophagy, a fundamental cellular mechanism responsible for maintaining cellular health and functionality. Read More
