The President’s Excellence Fund, established in October 2017, is a 10-year, $100 million initiative designed to further Texas A&M University’s commitments to the three pillars of advancing transformational learning; enhancing discovery and innovation; and expanding impact on our community, state, nation, and world.
The Program
X-Grants
A President's Excellence Fund Initiative
An interdisciplinary research program that is part of the ten-year, $100 million President’s Excellence Fund. The X-Grants program invests $7 million each year, with Round Two funding supporting seventy-two Texas A&M researchers across eight projects. This program is open to all faculty, researchers, and staff at Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
"A Brain-Inspired Approach to Rapid and Energy Efficient Information Processing: AI on the Fly"
Sarbajit Banerjee
Chemistry
"Digital Twin City for Age-friendly Communities: Crowd-biosensing of Environmental Distress for Older Adults"
Changbum R Ahn
Construction Science
"Project X-CEL: Eliminating Bias in School Discipline through Teacher Training"
Jamilia J Blake
Educational Psychology
"Removing Mental Health Stigma in Higher Education Through Remote Monitoring and Telehealth Counseling"
Farzan Sasangohar
Industrial & System Engineering
T3: Texas A&M Triads For Transformation
A President's Excellence Fund Initiative
An interdisciplinary seed-grant program that is part of the President’s Excellence Fund. This program enables interdisciplinary teams of three faculty members (Triads) to develop long-term research and scholarship collaborations. Each year $3 million will be available to fund up to 100 Triads at $30,000 each.
Physical and Cognitive Demands Associated with Police In-Vehicle Technology Use: A Naturalistic Study
Maryam Zahabi, Xudong Zhang, Stephen F Crouse
Intersectionality and Diversity Training: How Social Identities Matter in Why People Participate in Diversity Training in Higher Education
Jeffrey C Liew, Natasha T Brison, Jane A Sell
An Information Theoretic Approach to Originality and Bias in Science
Laszlo B Kish, Chanan Singh, Tamas Erdelyi
Delivery of CRISPR/Cas-9 Using Cationic Liposome
Mohammad T Nutan, Peter P Nghiem, Pooneh Bagher
Molecular Mechanisms of Intracellular Copper Trafficking
Vishal M Gohil, Paul A Lindahl, Beiyan Nan
The Application of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for the Analysis of Arsenic Contaminated Rice Leaves
Xingmao Ma, Waruna D Kulatilaka, Bing Guo
Raman-Based Diagnostics of Libebacter Diseases in Tomatoes
Dzmitry L Kurouski, Cecilia Tamborindeguy, Willa W Chen
Inner Junction of Doublet Microtubules in Motile and Non-Motile Cilia
Hongmin Qin, Luis R Garcia, Timothy D Phillips
Oxidative Stress Enhances Mitochondrial DNA-Dependent Type I Interferon Responses
Andrew P West, Pingwei Li, Geoffrey Kapler
Analytics for Renewable Energy Management in Microgrids
Natarajan Gautam, Katherine M Davis, Anirban Bhattacharya
Crowd-Biosensing of Location-Based Physical and Emotional Distress for Walkable Built Environment
Changbum R Ahn, Theodora Chaspari, Jane Futrell Winslow
Trade-Offs Between Approximation and Generalization in Learning Systems
Shahin Shahrampour, Boris Hanin, Simon Foucart
Correlates and Disparities of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy
Jennifer A Lueck, Timothy H Callaghan, Johanna L Dunaway
EducatAR: Supplementing the STEM Classroom Experience
Darren J Hartl, Raymundo Arroyave, Christopher J Nowotarski
Emotional Intelligence and its Impact on Identity Formation of Engineering Graduate Students
Behbood B Zoghi, Sara P Raven, Cheryl J Craig
Modeling, IoT and Machine Learning for Smart Greenhouse
Maria King, Ronald E Lacey, Konstantinos E Kakosimos
Targeting Oncogenic Protein-Protein Interactions to Overcome Drug Resistance
Jae H Cho, Steve W Lockless, Jean-Philippe Pellois
Living with Fear: A Qualitative Inguiry with Childbearing Black Women
Sharon L Dormire, Jodie C Gary, Idethia S Harvey
Assessing and Remediating Health and Safety Issues in Children’s Play Spaces in Resort Settings
Jason E Maddock, Courtney Suess Raeisinafchi, John O Spengler
Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Sustainability & Resilience of Buildings Subjected to Earthquakes
Maria Koliou, Petros Sideris, Wei Yan
Online Local Natural Hazards Education for Young Adults: Assessing Program Efficacy and Changes in Risk Perception
Courtney M Thompson, Daniel W Goldberg, Tracy A Hammond
Commercially Viable Software for The Automated Whole-Brain Mapping of Fluorescently-Labeled Cells
Lee A Shapiro, Jun Wang, Zhangyang Wang
Biodiversity Impacts and Social Dimensions of Land Use in Tropical Montane Ecosystems
Thomas E Lacher, Allison L Hopkins, Leonardo Lombardini
Understanding the Motivations for Cheating and Lying Using Laboratory Experiments
Marco Palma, Catherine C Eckel, Jonathan Meer
Algorithms for Opioid use Prediction Derived from Daily Computer use Patterns of Office Workers
Mark E Benden, Roger S Zoh, Jyh C Liu
Microclimatic Design Studies for Long Term Space Habitation
Manoranjan Majji, Robert E Skelton, Robert D Brown
Investigating Student & Faculty Departmental Spaces Through Visual Ethnography
Tina M Budzise-Weaver, Sarel Lavy, Pauline Melgoza
Responding to Disasters: When and How to Activate Alternative Capacity?
Xiaofeng Nie, Andres Fernando Jola Sanchez, Xiubin B Wang
Dihydrotestosterone Differentially Regulates Predictors of T Cell Function in Visceral and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue of Female Mice
Anne E Newell-Fugate, Mahua Choudhury, Stephen B Smith
Sequential Minimum Energy Designs for Model Selection
David Edward Jones, Rui Tuo, Huiyan Sang
Hydrocarbon Exposure and Public Perceptions in Shale Areas
Gunnar W Schade, Sarah D Brooks, C S Shafer
“Circular Economy”: A Framing Concept to Catalyze Greater Climate Change Policy Action
Efstratios Pistikopoulos, Felix Mormann, Robert Greer
A Thermally Actuated Microvalve for Smart Irrigation in Precision Agriculture Applications
John A Thomasson, Debjyoti Banerjee, Xingyong Song
Designing Optimal Diets via Mathematical Programming
Sergiy I Butenko, Stephen T Talcott, Hrayer Aprahamian
Gender Differences in Sepsis Survival Involve Effects of Gonadal Steroid Hormones and Activation of Inflammatory Pathways that Contribute to Disease Progression
Sanjukta Chakraborty, John N Stallone, Corey J Bishop
Engineering with Nature: The Fusion of Coastal Engineering and Ecology
Russell A Feagin, Ignacio J Rodriguez, Jens Figlus
Using Raman Spectroscopy for the Detection of Opioid Use Disorders
Shoshana Eitan, Samuel Mabbott, Paul J Wellman
Texas Freedom Colonies Project Community Heritage Collaborative
Andrea R Roberts, Rebecca L Hankins, Lynn M Burlbaw
Biomimetic Interlocking Modules for Rapid Emergency Shelter Fabrication
Ho-Yeong Kang, Zofia K Rybkowski, Matthew Yarnold
Inflamm-Aging and Osteopenia in a Rodent Model of Spinal Cord Injury
Michelle A Schapiro, Dana Gaddy, Cedric Geoffroy
Collaboration in Virtual and Face-To-Face Environments
Bin Mai, Jinsil Seo, Andrew McCubbins
Avian Behavior, Physiology, and the Gut Microbiome
Jessica L Yorzinski, Gil G Rosenthal, Sarah A Hamer
Validating Rainfall Parameterizations in Climate Models Using Predictive Empirical Analysis
Ramalingam Saravanan, Mikyoung Jun, Suhasini T Subbarao
Genetic Studies of an Essential NTPase Motor System in Pathogenic Parasites & Computational Approaches in Drug Discovery
Jorge A Cruz-Reyes, Phanourios Tamamis, Thomas D Meek
Wearable Sensing Framework for Examining the Effect of Built Environments on Human Performance
Youngjib Ham, Winfred E Arthur, Patrick C Suermann
Doctoral Programs at Predominately White Institutions: Shared Experiences from Women of Color
Chanda D Elbert, Jamilia J Blake, Chayla H Davison
Millennial-Scale Hurricane Activity on the Yucatan Peninsula: Climate Drivers and Cultural Impact
Peter J Van Hengstum, Robert L Korty, Courtney Schumacher
A Systems-Oriented Post-Event Assessment of Community Resilience
Burak Guneralp, Nasir G Gharaibeh, Philip R Berke
Mid-IR Spectroscopy on a Chip for Label-Free Detection of Bio-Markers
Hans A Schuessler, Paotai Lin, Genny Carrillo
Generating Nanoparticles Using Supercritical Fluids
Dorrin Jarrahbashi, Mohammed Al-Hashimi, Shiren Wang
Investigating the Potential for Inter-Generational Effects of Temperature Stress on Blow Flies
Aaron M Tarone, Jeffery K Tomberlin, Clifford H Spiegelman
Antihistamines Cause Mesenteric Lymphatic Vessel Dysfunction and Development of Metabolic Syndrome
Anatoliy A Gashev, Shannon S Glaser, Mansoor A Khan
Impacts of Primary Productivity on Air-Sea Gas Exchange in an Anthropogenic Estuary
Kathryn E Shamberger, Shari A Yvon-Lewis, Antonietta S Quigg
Virtual Reality, Process Safety, and Counterfactual Thinking–New Paradigm for Training?
S Camille Peres, Mindy E Bergman, Rachel E Smallman
Coevolution of River-Channel Geomorphology and Riparian Vegetation on The Lower Brazos River, Texas
Inci Guneralp, Georgianne W Moore, Anthony M Filippi
Cr(VI) Toxicity Targets p53-SIRT1-Mediated Germ Cell Death that Leads to Premature Ovarian Failure
Sakhila Banu, E Tiffany-Castiglion, Ke Zhang
3 Phase Flow Assessment with Fiber Optics Sensor
Mohammad A Rahman, Abu Rashid Hasan, Ibrahim Hassan
Roles of Inflammation and Gut Microbiota Metabolite Indole in Pathophysiology of Diet-Induced Steatohepatitis
Chaodong Wu, Giridhar N Athrey, Deqiang Sun
A Triad of Geological and Environmental ICPMS Applications
Brent V Miller, Nicholas D Perez, Shankararaman Chellam
Personal Continuous Glucose Monitoring System for Diabetes Self-Management
Jack B Mortazavi, Xia Hu, Sherecce A Fields
Comparative Models of NSAID-Induced Intestinal Inflammation
Canaan M Whitfield-Cargile, Robert S Chapkin, Kelley M Mankin
Adaptive Assembly of Cotton Root Microbiome in Gel Microdroplet-Based Microfluidic Platform
Won-Bo Shim, Thomas Chappell, Arum Han
Striatal and Reward-Related Function in a Mouse Model for Fragile X Syndrome
Laura N Smith, William Griffith, Scott V Dindot
The Pragmatics of Othering: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Cyberhate
Jyotsna Vaid, Zohreh R Eslami, Brian N Larson
Flux of Seawater and Animals in a Submarine Cave
Thomas M Iliffe, Ayal Anis, Joshuah Perkin
Strain Localization in Geomaterials
Hiroko Kitajima, Amine A Benzerga, Janet F Bluemel
Development of Expertise in Seismic Interpretation in Petroleum and Scientific Exploration
Eric A Riggs, Robert S Reece, Khalil M Dirani
Characterization of Jellyfish Toxins and Their Toxicological Effects on Fish
Maria P Miglietta, David Hala, Sing H Sze
Bottom-Up Synthesis of Nanographenes and its Effects on Electrical and Optical Properties
Quentin Michaudel, Matthias Sebastian Maier, Micah Green
Social and Contextual Influences on Children’s Development: Insights from Secondary Data Analysis
Idean Ettekal, Rebecca J Brooker, Wen Luo
Paternal Contribution to Placentation and Pregnancy Success
Ky Garrett Pohler, David W Forrest, Gregory A Johnson
Revitalizing Neglected Public Space with Recycled Plastics
Alejandro Borges Gonzalez, Weiling He, Terry S Creasy
Understanding the Impact of Information on Market Efficiency and Consumer Well-Being
Yu Zhang, Yonghong An, Yan Liu
Muscle Synergies, Assistive Devices and the Control of Movement
Louis G Tassinary, Takashi Yamauchi, Jeonghee Kim
Socioeconomic Impacts of Local Fracking Booms: Household Wealth and College Attendance
Anastasia V Shcherbakova, Steven L Puller, Christian Brannstrom
Demographic-GIS Analysis of Spatial Population Distribution in U.S. Urban Areas in 1940
Mark A Fossett, Walter D Kamphoefner, Sierra D Laddusaw
The Role of MALAT1 and Nrf2 in Regulating Diabetogenic Effects of Early Life Air Pollution Exposure
Natalie M Johnson, Aline Rodrigues Hoffmann, Alva O Ferdinand
Topological Phases of Matter and Quantum Error Correction and Detection
Michael P Brannan, Eric C Rowell, Andreas Klappenecker
Deep Learning – Exploring the Limits Beyond Low Hanging Fruit
Philip Galanter, Nima Khademi Kalantari, Jeffrey M Morris
Multiplexed Magnetic Resonance Imaging with Para-Hydrogen Induced Spin Polarization
Christian B Hilty, Steven M Wright, Jim X Ji
Perovskite Optical Metamaterials
Zi Jing Wong, Svetlana A Sukhishvili, Alexey A Belyanin
Intelligent GPR Semi-Autonomous UAV in 3D Internal Structural Analysis of Buildings
Byul Hur, Boong Y Ryoo, Wei Zhan
Tracking the Genes Underlying Seasonal Migration
Kira Delmore, Christine Merlin, Kamran Entesari
Probing Chirality of Biomolecules with Nano-Structured Laser Light
Alexei V Sokolov, Krzysztof A Michalski, Muhammad S Zubairy
Theory-Guided Design and Development of Metal-Organic Frameworks for Solar Energy Conversion
Tahir Cagin, Xiaofeng Qian, Hongcai J Zhou
Clock-Maker’s Work-Space: Tangible Mixed Reality for 3D Design in the Peripersonal Space
Fnu Vinayak, Francis K Quek, Shinjiro Sueda
Unraveling Pathological Mechanisms of Muscular Dystrophy
Vladislav M Panin, Hung-Jen Wu, Vladislav V Yakovlev
Integrated Feedback for Individuals with Motor Impairments
Deanna M Kennedy, Pilwon Hur, Li Zeng
Investigating Regulation of Spermiogenesis Using a Novel Method of Spermatid Isolation for Comparative Omics Analysis
Tracy M Clement, Robert C Burghardt, Deborah Bell-Pedersen
Refine Microstructure in Renewable Carbon Fiber for Energy Storage Application
Joshua Yuan, William L Rooney, Wenhao Wu
Advanced Mechanical Performances of Polymer Composites
Lei Fang, Hung-Jue Su, Iman Borazjani
Philosophical Foundations of Probability and Mathematical Reasoning
Jeffrey Kuan, Frank J Sottile, Kenneth K Easwaran
Learning with Safety Constraints
Dileep Manisseri Kalathil, Srinivas G Shakkottai, Bani K Mallick
A New Stable Fracture Mechanics Test: Application to PMMA
Dinakar Sagapuram, Arun R Srinivasa, Ashlee E Watts
Improved Metrics to Assess the Burden of Livestock and Crop Disease and Production Loss
Brian Colwell, Christine M Budke, Rebecca Fischer
Mapping Cybercrime Operational Networks: Incentive Structures and Platform Economics
Jesse Sowell, Korok Ray, Narasimha Annapareddy
Better Water-Use Efficiency Through Coupled Microalgae Production and Horticulture Industries
Daniel Roelke, Terry Gentry, Mahmound El-Halwagi
Novel Regulation in Assembly of the NADPH Oxidase-2 (Nox2) Complex During Spaceflight in Muscle
John Lawler, Shaodong Guo, Thomas Kent
Testing Plasma Jet Delivery Systems for CRISPR/Cas Editing of Live Plant Tissues
Michael Thomas, Endang M. Septiningih, David A. Staack