Texas A&M University researchers in the College of Geosciences and the Dwight Look College of Engineering are the lead investigators in a $14.4 million project that will investigate the transport and eventual fate of petroleum fluids that have erupted at depth, such as those that resulted from the Deepwater Horizon spill last year.
 

The research board of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative announced the award Tuesday (Aug. 30). Joining Texas A&M in the project are 10 researchers from the University of Texas at Austin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley, North Carolina State University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University of Hawaii, University of Maryland, and Georgia Institute of Technology.

To read more, click here. 

Researchers with the Texas A&M Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering have teamed up to study the lignocellulosic biofuel supply chain.  An Heung Jo, Wilbert E. Wilhelm and Stephen W. Searcy have formulated a strategic/tactical model, which deals with multiple time periods and multiple commodities, to address the supply chain design problem.  The model considers all echelons from feedstock suppliers to biofuel customers. 

Their paper includes a case study, which demonstrates application to a region in Central Texas, and a sensitivity analysis that identifies the most economically significant factors.

For more information on the project, contact Dr. Wilhelm at wilhelm@tamu.edu.

The Growing Green Communities team at the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) is hosting the Texas Rural Sustainability Conference - Harnessing Energy for Rural Communities in Austin, TX November 14-16, 2011. 

The conference program includes speakers from Texas finance, business and government, along with representatives from the wind, solar and other sustainable industries who will share real-life examples of how they have saved money, made money and created jobs by adopting sustainable technologies and business practices.

In addition, TEEX and the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration will honor nine outstanding initiatives that have created economic value and opportunity through environmental stewardship, energy conservation and sustainable practices in Texas rural communities. The awards program will showcase the best sustainable practices that save money, make money and/or create jobs.

For more information about the conference, follow this link.

The Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center will hold its International Symposium - Beyond Regulatory Compliance, Making Safety Second Nature - October 25-27, 2011 at the Hilton Conference Center in College Station, TX. 

This symposium serves as the crossroads for process safety where industry, academia, government agencies and other stakeholders come together to discuss critical issues of research in process safety. Experts from around the world will gather as part of this two and a half-day symposium, to share the latest information on the hottest topics aimed at making the process industry a safer place. The event will feature a wide variety of safety-related lectures and presentations. In addition, there will be an exhibit area where companies can demonstrate the latest products, technology and software related to process safety.

Keynote speakers-

Honorable Lee Hamilton-Lee Hamilton is president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and director of The Center on Congress at Indiana University. Prior to becoming director of the Woodrow Wilson Center in 1999, Hamilton served for 34 years in Congress representing Indiana's Ninth District.

Dr. Ed Calabrese-Edward Calabrese is a Professor of Toxicology at the University of Massachusetts, School of Public Health, Amherst.
Dr. Calabrese's research includes assessment of hormesis, a dose-response concept that is characterized by low-dose stimulation and a high-dose inhibition.

For details and registration, click here.