College of Science & Technology Plays Host to 18 Texas State Legislators

Thursday, April 10th saw Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi play host to 18 Texas State Legislators. The College of Science & Technology was a primary focus of the campus visit, the itinerary including presentations by two Science & Technology Faculty members and a tour of the Engineering Technology Labs featuring student projects.

Pictured are Representatives Fred Brown, Donna Howard, and Ryan Guillen listening as a College of Science & Technology Engineering student describes his "real-time" aerial imagery project.

The eighteen Legislators on-hand for the event began their day with presentations by Science & Technology faculty members Wes Tunnell and Gary Jeffress. Dr. Tunnell is Associate Director of the Harte Research Institute, and Dr. Jeffress is Director of the Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying & Science. Following the presentations, the Legislators were given a tour of the Engineering Technology Labs on the first floor of the Science and Technology Building.

Amongst other ongoing projects in the Engineering Lab, the Legislators were shown a built-from-scratch racing vehicle that will be TAMUCC’s entrant in a nationwide competition and race. The Legislators were then given a taste, smell, and memorably loud demonstration of small-scale rocket propulsion. After the rocket, they saw how one student’s NASA internship has steered his research toward solving the problem of opening shuttle doors without sacrificing interior space. His remedy: have the doors slide within the shuttle wall. A final student (pictured) showed video footage of real-time aerial imagery taken from the vantage of a remote control plane.

Legislators present were: representatives Roberto Alonzo, Jimmie Don Aycock, Fred Brown, Joaquin Castro, Brandon Creighton, Drew Darby, Juan M. Garcia, Veronica Gonzales, Ryan Guillen, Abel Herrero, Donna Howard, Geanie Morrison, Jim Murphy, Solomon Ortiz, Jr., Patrick Rose, Marc Veasey, Tara Rios Ybarra and State Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa. Chancellor Michael McKinney from the The Texas A&M University System was also in attendance.