College of Architecture to honor
six 2013 outstanding alumni

Six former students from Texas A&M’s College of Architecture who have risen to the top of their professional field while making significant public service contributions will be honored this fall as 2013 outstanding alumni.

See story

Francis Hall campaign:

Auditorium name to honor popular CoSci professor

The signature classroom in Francis Hall, future home of Texas A&M’s Department of Construction Science, will be named after Bob Segner, a professor who has been teaching students, many of whom are now leaders in the building industry, since 1970.

“I can’t think of a better way to honor Bob, who has played such a pivotal role in the education and careers of Aggie construction science students,” said Don Weaver ’76, who donated $250,000 to name the auditorium after Segner.

See story

Peel honors Hill, college
with gifts totaling $225,000

Recognizing the profound and positive influence longtime architecture professor Rodney Hill had on his life and those of countless other Texas A&M students, Bill Peel ‘74 has contributed $25,000 to the Rodney Hill Professorship in Creativity and Design, and he is challenging Hill's former students to make contributions of their own.

See story

Research:

CHC documenting the Alamo's many transformations

Digital models of the Alamo, a shrine in Texas' battle for independence from Mexico, are being created by Bob Warden, director of Texas A&M's Center for Heritage Conservation, and Master of Architecture students at Texas A&M.

Warden and his students are scanning and recording imaging data with sophisticated equipment that yields highly-detailed 2- and 3-D models when it's entered into computer-aided design software.

See story

Architecture prof leads effort to
design energy-saving software

A building energy "tune-up" procedure developed at Texas A&M University's Energy Systems Laboratory has so far yielded more than $100 million in energy savings from little more than 300 client buildings, said Charles Culp, professor of architecture.

See story

Ph.D. student works to green
building practices in colonia

After investigating home building practices common in Texas colonias, impoverished areas near the Mexico border, a Texas A&M architecture Ph.D. student is working to share affordable, energy efficient construction techniques and home designs with colonias residents.

See story, photos

Conventional, energy-efficient
residences compared in study

The difference in energy use between two homes in Qatar, one built to a strict energy efficiency standard, the other built conventionally, is being measured by a team of researchers led by John Bryant, an associate professor of construction science who also serves on the faculty at Texas A&M University at Qatar.

See story

In the Studio:

Water district site designs emphasize conservation

In groundwater-dependent Montgomery County, Texas, the agency charged with monitoring and conserving this hidden resource received help last spring from Texas A&M landscape architecture students who provided a master plan for converting the agency's 4.9-acre Conroe headquarters into an educational facility for demonstrating the latest groundwater conservation techniques.

See story, photos

'Real Projects' initiative leads to
new home in Bryan subdivision

This fall, a Bryan, Texas family will be settling into a new home designed by Texas A&M environmental design student Catherine Florece. The home was designed as part of "Real Projects," a multidisciplinary community outreach initiative benefiting Brazos Valley residents.

See story, photos

Green roof project brings
earth to sky at Texas A&M

The stark, gray rooftop of the Langford Architecture Building on the campus of Texas A&M University will turn green in the months and years to come as students and professors from three academic disciplines come together to create a “green roof.”

See story

Architecture dept. celebrates
excellence at 2nd annual event

An afternoon of juried presentations May 9 showcasing the Department of Architecture's best graduate student work from the academic year culminated with the selection of the year’s top project and the presentation of student and faculty awards at the second annual Celebration of Excellence

See story

Campus installation prompts
students to reflect on life, goals

In her search for meaning after her mother's death, Texas A&M graduate architecture student Nesserine Mansour built a chalkboard on Rudder Plaza, a busy area on the College Station campus, and prompted passersby to complete the phrase “before I die I want to ...“

See story

Academics:

Grad CoSci program keeps pace with building industry

Effective this fall, changes in the building industry are reflected in revised course content and offerings from the Master of Science in Construction Management program at Texas A&M.

“Our graduate program, the first to be accredited by the American Council for Construction Education, keeps moving forward, offering an even better education to our students,” said Joe Horlen, head of the department.

See story

Students propose energy-saving
plans for mixed-use complex

Measures to reduce energy use in a high-profile Northgate mixed-use residential development were detailed in construction proposals prepared this spring by construction science students at Texas A&M.

See story

CoSci student teams bring home
awards from Dallas competition

Construction proposals for a Dallas middle school and a water treatment plant created by two teams of construction science seniors at Texas A&M yielded first- and second-place finishes at a February competition hosted by two regional construction organizations.

See story

Honors / Accomplishments:

Vizzer created film screened in N.Y. film festival

The story of a boy who crashes into reality after a fanciful, albeit harrowing sled ride down a towering mountain, told in an animated short film created by students at Texas A&M’s Department of Visualization, was shown at the June 13-20 New York City International Film Festival 2013 and will be shown in July at SIGGRAPH 2013, a national computer graphics and interactive techniques conference in Anaheim, Calif., where the work has earned the Best Student Project Runners-Up Award.

John Pettingill directed the film, “Sleddin’,” as his final project in the Master of Fine Arts degree program.

See story

Holliday earns AFS
achievement award

A group of educators including Shelley Holliday, senior lecturer of architecture, were honored for teaching excellence with Distinguished Achievement Awards from The Association of Former Students during an April 29 ceremony at Rudder Theatre.

See story

CHUD awards 5 Mitchell-Dockery
Prizes for public interest designs

Five student projects selected as outstanding examples of public interest design, which addresses issues that benefit a community, rather than an individual client, were named by a jury in a competition sponsored by Texas A&M’s Center for Housing and Urban Development.

See story

Events:

D.C. conference touts integrating art, science learning

Strategies for incorporating art and design in science and technical education and vice versa were discussed at a May 16, 2013 Washington D.C. conference organized by the network for Sciences, Engineering, Arts and Design (SEAD), a National Science Foundation-funded group championing the integration of art and science in the classroom.

"We finished the conference with refreshed enthusiasm and some new connections to pursue," said SEAD's leader, Carol LaFayette, associate professor of visualization at Texas A&M, and director of the College of Architecture's Institute for Creative Innovation.

See story

Prof promoting move of Wright's
Bachman Wilson House to Italy

A New Jersey residence designed by Frank Lloyd Wright could be moved to Italy with help from Paolo Bulletti, adjunct professor of architecture at Texas A&M’s study abroad venue in Italy. The home’s owners don't want the house, designed in 1954, to be damaged by floodwaters from a nearby river.

See story

Luminaries speak at spring
architecture lecture series

A diverse group of leaders in architectural design and education shared their knowledge and experiences with Texas A&M students as part of the Spring 2013 Department of Architecture Lecture Series.

See story

Class Acts:

Former students share activities, accomplishments

Former students are invited to submit items for the Class Acts section of the arch|one e-newsletter, which highlights professional achievements, as well as news briefs about marriages, births, retirements and whatever else former students care to share with the college community. News and photos may be e-mailed directly to the editor.

See story

CoSci grad Thompson '68 earns
Distinguished Alumnus Award

Decades of leadership in the construction industry and support of education at Texas A&M have netted James R. Thompson ’68 the Distinguished Alumnus Award, the highest honor granted by The Association of Former Students.

See story

Former student is new head of
national construction institute

Improving recognition and acceptance of the American Institute of Constructors' construction certification programs is among the priorities of the organization's new president, David Fleming ’75, a longtime member of its Construction Industry Advisory Council.

See story

In Memoriam:

McKittrick had stellar career as architect, educator

Thomas McKittrick ’91, who became an architecture educator at Texas A&M University in 1990 after a stellar 28-year career as a professional architect, passed away April 23, 2013. He was 79.

A member of the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows, McKittrick joined Texas A&M’s Department of Architecture as its first Mid-Career Fellow.

See story

Noted architect, avid Texas A&M
supporter Preston Geren Jr. dies

A funeral service for Thomas McKittrick ’91, who became an architecture educator at Texas A&M University in 1990 after a stellar 28-year career as a professional architect, took place April 27, 2013 at the Rice Chapel in Rice University’s student center.

See story

Former head of urban planning
department, Joe McGraw passes

Dr. Joseph J. McGraw, Professor Emeritus of the Texas A&M University College of Architecture and first head of the college's Department of Urban Planning, passed away Monday, June 3, 2013 in College Station. He was 86 years old.

See story

Former professor, architectural
historian Hamblett dead at 73

Augustus Charles "Gus" Hamblett, who taught architectural history and design at the Texas A&M University College of Architecture for 30 years, died June 15, 2013. He was 73.

See story