RESEARCH THAT TAKES ON WHAT MATTERS

WHEN THE STAKES ARE HIGH, WE GET TO WORK

Texas and the nation need more reliable energy, secure water and food supplies, healthier communities, and infrastructure built to withstand new pressures. We face biological threats that can cross borders quickly, growing demands on our natural resources, and an increasingly complex national security environment.

At the same time, artificial intelligence, advanced nuclear energy, domestic semiconductor manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, and space exploration are reshaping how we live, work, compete, and defend the nation. Each brings enormous opportunity and new questions that no single discipline, institution, or sector can answer alone.

Across The Texas A&M University System, universities, state agencies, researchers, and partners bring different kinds of expertise to these grand challenges, working to improve lives in Texas, strengthen the nation, and advance solutions with impact around the world.

UNDERSTAND IT. OPERATE IN IT. LIVE IN IT.

Space matters to our understanding of the universe and to our national security, and it is an increasingly important part of the economy. The Texas A&M University System’s work spans that challenge, from answering fundamental questions about what lies beyond Earth to developing the technologies and human systems needed to explore, operate, and ultimately live there.

At Texas A&M University, more than 280 researchers are involved in 316 active space-related projects, and Texas A&M researchers have contributed to every NASA Mars rover mission. Work with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is advancing planetary landing and navigation, while specialized capabilities such as electron-beam research add expertise with applications in aerospace and other mission areas.

The work reaches even farther. Texas A&M is a founding member of the Giant Magellan Telescope consortium, helping build a next-generation observatory with a 25.4-meter primary mirror to see deeper into the universe. And with an initial $200 million state investment, the Texas A&M UniversitySpace Institute is planning roughly 400,000 square feet of facilities next to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, bringing research closer to the people, partners, and missions shaping the future of space exploration.

From understanding the universe to preparing people and technology to explore it, the mission keeps moving forward.

AI BUILT TO SOLVE MORE

Artificial intelligence is reshaping science, industry, and national security. But its value isn’t the technology alone. It’s what we can do with it: discover new materials and medicines faster, strengthen critical infrastructure, improve how energy systems operate, and help solve problems once limited by time or computing power.

Across The Texas A&M University System, researchers are pairing artificial intelligence and advanced computing with deep expertise in science, engineering, health, energy, infrastructure, and defense. VISION delivers 34.82 petaflops of computing performance and ranks as the nation’s fastest university supercomputer. Researchers have already used it to screen more than 10 million compounds in about one week, showing how advanced computing can accelerate scientific discovery.

At Prairie View A&M University, an $8 million Department of Defense project is advancing artificial intelligence and data research for high-consequence applications. Across the A&M System, AI is being applied to materials discovery, power-grid resilience, health, infrastructure, and national security challenges.

The goal isn’t simply more artificial intelligence. It’s using it to reach better answers, faster — on problems that matter.

PROTECTING WHAT THE NATION DEPENDS ON

A biological threat can become an agricultural, economic, and public health threat quickly. The Texas A&M University System has capabilities that reach from the laboratory to the field.

That strength is being put to work against New World screwworm. Texas A&M AgriLife Research is involved in 14 of 40 projects selected through a USDA Grand Challenge addressing the threat. The 12,612-square-foot Global Health Research Complex provides high-containment research capabilities for infectious disease. Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory adds diagnostic expertise. The National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing supports biomanufacturing, while policy researchers examine broader biosecurity threats.

Research. Diagnostics. Manufacturing. Policy. Field response. Different capabilities working against the same threat.