On December 4-5, 2024, the Texas A&M Energy Institute celebrated 15 years of impact with a two-day Anniversary Celebration.
The events included the following:
- 15th Anniversary Gala Dinner
- Texas A&M Energy Institute Annual Distinguished Lecture: Dr. Mark O’Malley
- Student Poster Session
- Panel Discussion on Future Energy Challenges
- Moderator:
- Prof. Lefteris Iakovou: Associate Director for Resilience and Sustainability of Integrated Energy and Manufacturing Supply Chains, Texas A&M Energy Institute
- Panelists:
- Prof. Mark O’ Malley: Imperial College, UK, on future power systems
- Dr. Rahul Bindlish: Dow Chemical Company, on the role of energy and process efficiency
- Dr. Ignasi Palou-Rivera: RAPID/AIChE, on decarbonization
- Prof. Joe Powell: University of Houston, on hydrogen economy
- Prof. Chip White: Georgia Tech, on impact of variable renewable energy (VRE) on supply chain design and operations
- Moderator:
Brief History of the Texas A&M Energy Institute
The Energy Engineering Institute – now the Texas A&M Energy Institute – was approved by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents in December 2009 with a goal to bring together industry and energy researchers to address some of the world’s critical energy challenges. At that time, it was established as an institute under the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), a member of the A&M System.
Professor Theresa Maldonado, who was serving as an associate dean of engineering and a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M, was the institute’s Founding Director.
Professor Maldonado immediately began implementing programs and activities, but in late 2010, she accepted a role at the National Science Foundation, and Professor Stephen A. Holditch became the second director of the institute in January 2011.
At that time, the institute’s staff consisted of five employees, all helping the institute serve as a central hub for strategic coordination of energy-related activities – including education, basic and applied research, and industry and government initiatives – conducted by Texas A&M Engineering, as well as other colleges at Texas A&M and other institutions and agencies in the A&M System.
In 2012, leaders within the TEES and Texas A&M University determined that the study of energy must involve interdisciplinary groups and that it would be more effective for the institute to be administratively housed under Texas A&M University. Additionally, they elected to remove the word “engineering” from the name, choosing to call the institute the “Texas A&M Energy Institute.”
After two years as director, Professor Holditch retired and John Pappas was named interim director of the institute.
In the spring of 2014, leaders at Texas A&M began to consider how the Texas A&M Energy Institute could position itself and the Texas A&M University System for the future of energy and retain the State of Texas’ position as the Energy Capital of the World.
At the same time, a prominent scholar, professor at Princeton University, and member of the National Academy of Engineering, Professor Christodoulos A. Floudas was spending a semester at Texas A&M University as a fellow of the Texas A&M Institute for Advanced Study, now the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study.
Joined by his friend and classmate, Professor Stratos Pistikopoulos, a Professor at Imperial College London and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, they began to visualize the Energy Institute’s next phase. They envisioned an entity that would look across the entire energy landscape, not just traditional oil and gas exploration, the shale gas revolution, and the refining and chemical process industries, but also the latest in renewables such as solar and wind, next-generation nuclear, geothermal, biofuels, and more.
The intent was to not just focus on the technology, science, and engineering aspects, but also include law and policy – the societal components, as well as business, economics, finance, and their complexities. The goal was to create a community of energy researchers across the Texas A&M University System with one voice and develop a new model for a graduate education program – one that crossed disciplinary boundaries and offers the latest in energy topics to a full spectrum of students in less than one year.
Soon, Professors Floudas and Pistikopoulos chose to make Texas A&M their new home, and in January 2015, Professor Floudas became the director of the Texas A&M Energy Institute, with Professor Pistikopoulos as Associate Director. Plans to grow the faculty affiliate network, the education program, and partnerships were immediately implemented, a staff team was assembled, and workshops and lectures commenced.
However, tragedy struck in August 2016, when Professor Floudas unexpectedly passed away in Greece. The loss was tremendous.
But a vision was already being realized and the drive to see its fulfillment was spreading across the campus. Just months after Professor Floudas’ passing, the Texas A&M Energy Research Society and the Energy Institute hosted the inaugural Texas A&M Conference on Energy, a student-organized conference that assembled researchers across the entire energy landscape at Texas A&M. The new Master of Science in Energy and Certificate in Energy also welcomed their first cohort.
By the end of 2016, the Energy Institute had already implemented an array of programs that would pay dividends over the next eight years.
The Energy Institute Seed Grant program would fund 42 competitive seed grants over six years to encourage collaborative research. This program resulted in more than 190 publications, presentations, or conference proceedings; 2 patents; more than 50 proposals to federal and private agencies; and successfully funded research proposals totaling more than $16.7M in external funds.
Since the Master of Science and Certificate in Energy programs commenced in the Fall of 2016, with both in-person and distance education students, and the option for Master’s-level students to pursue a thesis or non-thesis program 141 students have graduated with a Master of Science in Energy, while 13 have earned a Certificate in Energy. These graduates have gone on to highly successful careers in business, engineering, finance, policy, government, and more.
To facilitate innovative research and education and serve as the “point of reference” for energy matters within the Texas A&M University System, the Energy Institute formed relationships with many research centers and institutes to co-develop proposals, conduct research together, initiate joint educational efforts and courses, as well as tackle large problems together through active dialogue and workshops.
Drawing from a wide array of funding sources, the Energy Institute, its faculty, students, and staff have been conducting research and leading innovations in the Energy Transition. Notably, the Energy Institute has been playing a leadership role in several Department of Energy-funded Manufacturing USA institutes, including CESMII on smart manufacturing, RAPID on process intensification, and EPIXC on electrified process heating. The global reach of the institute continues to grow, not just through graduating students, but through international agreements, exchanges, and joint research efforts that provide opportunities for the application of advanced scenario analysis and optimizations to real-world challenges and in diverse communities.
In recent years, the institute has funded specific research projects and assembled researchers from across disciplines and colleges to understand the energy transition. In the last year, the institute has also offered professional development courses to leading experts and student learning experiences around the world.
Now, the institute looks to the future for how it may continue its impacts on faculty members and students, for academia, industry, and society, and how it can continue to discover energy solutions that improve the world’s quality of life.