New facilities make Prarie View A&M University a big player in transportation research
August 1, 2023 - TRA Newswire -
When students arrive at Prairie View A&M University for their fall semester, they will occupy a brand new $70 million engineering classroom and research building at the university’s Roy G. Perry College of Engineering complex. This comes on the heels of a historic announcement earlier this year when the first Historically Black College/University was selected to lead a $40 million University Transportation Center.
This achievement paves the way for PVAMU, located Northwest of Houston, to become a key player in transportation research and innovation in the United States.
In a previous announcement PVAMU Vice-President of Research and Innovation Magesh Rajan said “We greatly appreciate the generous support from (Texas A&M) Chancellor Sharp to support and grow the research..With such support, we are excited that we can make such a significant investment toward cutting-edge research that will propel us toward becoming an R1 research university.”
Led by Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Texas A&M University Regents Professor Judy Perkins, PVAMU will build and lead the National Center for Infrastructure Transformation as part of a consortium of several members of The Texas A&M University System, including the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and Texas A&M University, along with partnering institutions Arizona State University, Michigan State University, Rutgers University, and Blinn Community District.
“The Texas A&M System contribution will support the administration of NCIT, as well as its programs in education and technology transfer,” said Dr. Perkins. “This will free up more assets to pursue research in better ways to design, construct and maintain transportation infrastructure.”
"As the Dean of the College of Engineering, I will say that I believe that engineering is probably the signature program," Pamela Holland Obiomon said. "We have a long reputation for producing excellent engineers."
The majority of the over 100,000-square-foot facility is dedicated to classroom instruction with six instructional classrooms and 14 specialized labs. The lab spaces support things like space exploration, data analytics, robotics, and artificial intelligence.
"To think that we are now at the place where we are among the top in the nation to produce the highest number of some of the brightest people in the world fuels my excitement for where we are today," Prairie View University President Tomika LeGrande said.
According to Dean Holland, current enrollment for the School of Engineering is around 1,100 students. However, with bigger and better facilities now in the complex, they are planning to increase enrollment to 2,500 students.
"We're committed to discovery. We're committed to innovation and new knowledge. That's how you improve society," LeGrande said. "Prairie View is committed to that our faculty are committed to that and our students become the first consumers of that new knowledge."
Photo credit: Prairie View A&M