TAMIU Hosts First-Ever Program Review for Air Force Office of Scientific Research Initiative
A day-long event at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022 provided a first-ever 2D Materials and Manufacturing Workforce Development Program Review by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR).
Some 50+ program students from TAMIU and universities around the State attended and helped highlight the program’s impact and promise for the future. Students enrolled in the program are members of the various universities’ ROTC programs.
Also attending were various Air Force military representatives and Llayron L. Clarkson, Jr., the president of Clarkson Aerospace Corporation, who designed and implemented the program, among others focused on increasing minority participation within the U.S. Defense Industrial Base.
A special guest attending the Program Review was Congressman Henry Cuellar of the 28th District of Texas.
Congressman Cuellar noted the program’s impact on national security.
“This program is critical to our national security and to providing focused development for our students today,” said Congressman Cuellar, “The skills they are being taught are invaluable to our national security and to them as they continue their professional development. I have always been proud to support STEM education for minority students and at TAMIU and I am happy to see them as part of this amazing initiative.”
The AFOSR program’s objective is to develop materials for United States Air Force applications, while simultaneously developing 21st Century skillsets within Army, Air Force Cadets and Navy Midshipmen that participate in the program.
This program builds on participating universities’ STEM offerings with highly technical and critical skillsets needed by the modern military to help secure national security. TAMIU program students receive student employment pay so that they earn while they learn.
To date, some 100 students are participating in the program at 21 campuses, learning in 6 - 7 critical skills areas. The program is planning aggressive growth to 1000 students while also expanding into machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI).
TAMIU president Dr. Pablo Arenaz said the program’s potential and planned expansion are promising.
“This program is providing students with top-tier skills that will have great need by both government and industry. Students build on their TAMIU preparation, and significantly enhance their employment and career opportunities. One of our program’s ROTC student cadets contemplating becoming a military police officer is now moving into robotics because of the program’s impact,” Dr. Arenaz noted, “With the program’s planned growth, we see great promise for TAMIU students.”
Thursday’s event included remarks by Congressman Cuellar, cadet presentations, and insight from military representatives on the importance of developing diverse talent for the future. A luncheon keynote address will be provided by Brigadier General (Ret.) Guy M. Walsh, former head of Cybersecurity at San Antonio’s Lackland Air Force Base.
Additional remarks were shared by Dr. Kenneth C. Goretta, AFOSR’s program officer at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Arlington, VA. He manages AFOSR’s GHz-THz Electronics portfolio, which seeks scientific breakthroughs in materials and devices that can lead to game-changing capabilities in RF sensing and amplification, transmit/receive functions, wideband operation, reconfigurability, and novel functionality.
Some 21 universities are involved in the program and guest students and representatives attending Thursday’s event came from the University of Texas-San Antonio, Prairie View A&M University, Texas Southern University, the University of Houston, the University of Texas-Austin, Rice University, and Carnegie Mellon University.
For additional details, contact Dr. John Kilburn, TAMIU associate vice president for Research and Sponsored Projects at jkilburn@tamiu.edu, call 956.326.3221, or visit TAMIU offices in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, room 326.
University news and information are also available online at tamiu.edu and via the University’s official social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.
