two researchers from texas a&m engineering were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the texas a&m university system and their respective fields of expertise by the board of regents dr gerard l coté was named a regents professor and dr marvin adams received the regents fellow service award these outstanding individuals are doing incredible work on behalf of the a&m system and the entire state of texas said a&m system chancellor john sharp they exemplify the values and commitment to excellence that defines the a&m system and i am grateful for their dedication coté is director of the texas a&m engineering experiment station (tees) center for remote health technologies and systems and holds the james j cain professorship i in the department of biomedical engineering at texas a&m university he also leads the national science foundation engineering research center on precise advanced technologies and health systems for underserved populations (paths-up) which is focused on addressing the grand challenge of overcoming the human and economic burden of diabetes and heart disease in underserved communities coté is recognized as a worldwide expert in optical sensing for diagnostic and biomedical monitoring applications specifically his research focuses on the development of macroscale to nanoscale systems using lasers optics and electronics for in vivo and in vitro sensing such as development of a glucose-monitoring system for determining blood sugar levels in patients with diabetes; optically monitoring perfusion and oxygenation for tissue transplants and wearable technologies; and development of point-of-care and cell phone-based devices to remotely detect cardiac biomarkers blood toxins skin cancer and malaria he is a fellow of four societies including the institute of electrical and electronics engineers the american institute for medical and biological engineering the biomedical engineering society and the international society for optics and photonics he also does translational research has several patents is an entrepreneur and with student involvement has started four medical device companies (one recently acquired by medtronic inc) adams is the associate director of the tees institute for national security and cybersecurity education and research a professor of nuclear engineering deputy director of the center for exascale radiation transport and holder of the heat transfer research inc endowed professorship an overarching theme of his career is a commitment to national service particularly on matters pertaining to national and international security adamss technical expertise in national-security areas has been developed over decades of research and service since 2000 he has been a consultant for multiple national laboratories and has served on numerous national laboratory advisory panels and review committees decision-makers in washington dc and elsewhere often ask adams for assessments and explanations concerning technical matters related to national security adams was also instrumental in the recent effort to secure the contract to manage the los alamos national laboratory (lanl) the texas a&m university system university of california and the battelle memorial institute united by their shared commitment to national service formed triad national security llc which was awarded the lanl contract in june 2018 the triad team assumed management of lanl on nov 1 the laboratory is one of the largest science and technology institutes in the world and it conducts multidisciplinary research in fields such as national security space exploration renewable energy medicine nanotechnology and supercomputing the board of regents established the regents professor awards program in 1996 and the regents fellow service awards program in 1998 to recognize employees who have made commendable contributions to their university or agency and to the people of texas the regents professor award honors individuals at the rank of professor or equivalent whose distinguished performance in teaching research and service have been exemplary the award is the highest honor bestowed by the a&m system on faculty members the regents fellow service award honors and recognizes extension research and service professionals within the agricultural and engineering agencies health science center and veterinary medical diagnostic laboratory these professionals must have demonstrated a commitment and contributions to their respective agency by providing exceptional leadership in educational or program delivery/scholarship research or service that have resulted in significant impact and lasting benefits to the state of texas and beyond