the texas a&m engineering experiment station (tees) and texas a&m university-central texas have signed a formal affiliation agreement that will foster and strengthen research collaborations between the two institutions as members of the texas a&m university system both tees and a&m-central texas have missions focused on research and providing outreach and educational opportunities to the state of texas and beyond this collaboration is a perfect example of how texas a&m system members can work together to strengthen opportunities for faculty and staff that will also have positive outcomes for the state of texas said john sharp chancellor of the texas a&m university system tees and a&m-central texas are also committed to supporting groundbreaking research collaborations among researchers at both institutions this new agreement establishes a&m-central texas as one of tees 19 regional divisions which includes academic partners from across the state of texas and parts of new mexico the partnership will increase research opportunities for a&m-central texas faculty and enhance research experiences for undergraduate and graduate students the impact of this partnership for the state is enormous collaboration between universities not only advances innovation in the lab but contributes to the state economy through commercializing those discoveries and preparing the technology workforce of the future said dr dimitris lagoudas deputy director of tees a&m-central texas with its strong ties to the killeen and ft hood communities is a strong partner and a welcome addition to our regional tees divisions throughout texas said cindy wall assistant agency director for regional divisions at tees we look forward to developing a long-term relationship with the faculty and researchers at the university and supporting them in their educational and research endeavors texas a&m university-central texas is excited to have been designated as a regional division of the texas a&m engineering experiment station said dr marc nigliazzo president of a&m-central texas our partnership with tees will not only assist us in building applied research capability as our university grows but it will support our commitment to community engagement by enhancing regional access to tees and to its remarkable capabilities beyond the immediate research enhancements that the mou provides with an example of our nsf solar research proposal that includes faculty members from both texas a&m university and a&m-central texas conducting collaborative research with the university of texas at austin and colorado state university we are now in a position to tap more resources within the entire texas a&m university system through tees said dr russ porter associate provost/associate vice president for research of a&m-central texas that new position includes significant research opportunities and resources for community businesses commercial public-private enterprise ft hood our connection with community colleges and residential improvements the tees connection creates a whole new level of research opportunity and economic development for the central texas area texas is well positioned in the renewable energy sector as there is not only an abundance of sunshine but also a strong technical workforce and an entrepreneurial spirit said dr robert balog director of the renewable energy and power electronics research lab at texas a&m this mou facilitates seamless collaboration and solidifies the mission of tees as the go-to destination for research and subject-matter expertise for industry and policy leaders alike i am excited that we will be able to now offer services to the industry from basic and applied research through deployment test and validation as an educational partner tees will offer its expertise in areas such as workforce development and continuing education as well as technology development and commercialization the partners have mutual interests in research areas such as computing and information systems photovoltaic systems and renewable energy research as well as workforce development opportunities including the enhancement of veterans employability photo from left: lagoudas wall nigliazzo and porter