{"id":55338,"date":"2026-06-16T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/?p=55338"},"modified":"2026-06-16T07:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T12:36:19","slug":"engineering-projects-awarded-funds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/engineering-projects-awarded-funds\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering Projects Awarded Research Funding at Annual TEES Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State University\u2019s Mayfield College of Engineering faculty secured research funding at the recent Texas A&amp;M Engineering Experiment Station Annual Research Conference in College Station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"842\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/06\/OASIS-842x600.jpeg\" alt=\"Six individuals stand in front of a maroon Texas A and M Engineering Experiment Station TEES backdrop holding a ceremonial oversized check.\" class=\"wp-image-55339\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.4033548952965684;width:381px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/06\/OASIS-842x600.jpeg 842w, https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/06\/OASIS-300x214.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/06\/OASIS-561x400.jpeg 561w, https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/06\/OASIS-768x547.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/06\/OASIS-1536x1094.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/06\/OASIS-2048x1459.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/06\/OASIS-1568x1117.jpeg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 842px) 100vw, 842px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dr. Saki Rezwana, Lead Principal Investigator for Team OASIS, was one of 15 Tarleton State faculty who collaborated with colleagues from TEES Regional Division schools to secure research funding. Of a combined award of $52,500 funding eight collaborative projects, $17,500 was awarded to projects in which Tarleton State serves as the lead institution (Principal Investigator).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The TEES Annual Research Conference convenes faculty and researchers from TEES Regional Division schools to share ideas, foster new research partnerships, and strengthen Texas\u2019 research capacity in areas including space, semiconductors, national security, healthcare, energy and power, and materials and manufacturing. As the conference concludes, these representatives propose research collaborations that compete for funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This year a combined award of $52,500 funded eight collaborative projects, according to Dr. Abolghassem Zabihollah, Professor in the Department of Mechanical, Environmental and Civil Engineering and Assistant Dean for Research in the Mayfield College of Engineering. Tarleton State teams participated in six of the eight funded projects, accounting for $42,500 of the total awarded funds. Of this amount, $17,500 was awarded to projects in which Tarleton State serves as the lead institution (Principal Investigator).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI was absolutely delighted to hear that Tarleton State\u2019s collaborative projects received funding at the TEES Annual Research Conference,\u201d said Dr. Rupa Iyer, Vice President for Research, Innovation and Economic Development. \u201cThis will not only expand our partnerships but also enhance research opportunities for our students and faculty and strengthen our commitment to achieving R1 status.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Along with funding, the conference fosters strong new collaborations and networking, requiring each proposed research project to include participation from at least two universities. This year\u2019s event brought together faculty and researchers from multiple universities within The Texas A&amp;M System, including Tarleton State, Texas A&amp;M University, Prairie View A&amp;M University, Texas A&amp;M University-Corpus Christi, Texas A&amp;M University-Kingsville, Texas A&amp;M University-Texarkana, Lamar University and Sam Houston State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Participating Tarleton State faculty included Dr. Haitham Abu-Ghazaleh, Co-Principal Investigator; Dr. Adedeji Afolabi, Co-PI; Dr. Youngki Ahn; Dr. Hongbo Du; Dr. Alexandru Herescu, Co-PI; Dr. Shihao Huang, Co-PI; Dr. Hoe-Gil Lee, Co-PI; Dr. Mohamed Massaoudi, Lead PI; Dr. Modupe Mewomo; Hyedi Nivens; Dr. Olugbenro Ogunrinde, Lead PI; Dr. Sunday Oyinbo; Dr. Saki Rezwana, Lead PI; Dr. Nourouddin Sharifi; and Dr. Zabihollah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAttending events such as TEES-TARC 2026 is highly valuable for the Mayfield College of Engineering, particularly in advancing research and collaborative initiatives,\u201d said Dr. Zabihollah. \u201cThis event provided us with an excellent opportunity to establish and strengthen research partnerships with universities across the Texas A&amp;M System and other institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He added that those partnerships help pave the way for stronger inter-university collaborations in research, proposal development and multidisciplinary academic activities, particularly for initiatives such as The Texas A&amp;M System Research Excellence Fund. Faculty and researchers can collaborate across institutions, exchange expertise and develop highly competitive research teams capable of tackling complex engineering and societal challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State University\u2019s Mayfield College of Engineering faculty secured research funding at the recent Texas A&amp;M Engineering Experiment Station Annual Research Conference in College Station. The TEES &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":595,"featured_media":55340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_wds_title":"","_wds_metadesc":"","_wds_focus-keywords":"","_wds_meta-robots-adv":"","_wds_meta-robots-noindex":false,"_wds_meta-robots-nofollow":false,"_wds_meta-robots-index":false,"_wds_meta-robots-follow":false,"_wds_autolinks-exclude":false,"_wds_canonical":"","_wds_redirect":"","_wds_opengraph":[],"_wds_twitter":[],"wds_primary_category":421,"footnotes":""},"categories":[423,421],"tags":[465,445,452,456],"class_list":["post-55338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics-research","category-featuredstories","tag-division-of-research","tag-division-of-research-innovation-and-economic-development","tag-mayfield-college-of-engineering","tag-stephenville"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"jpartin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/jpartin\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/06\/OASIS.jpeg-300x200.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/category\/academics-research\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Academics &amp; Research<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/category\/featuredstories\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Featured Stories<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Academics &amp; Research<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Featured Stories<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/category\/featuredstories\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Division of Research<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/category\/featuredstories\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Division of Research, Innovation and Economic Development<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/category\/featuredstories\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Mayfield College of Engineering<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/category\/featuredstories\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Stephenville<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Division of Research<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Division of Research, Innovation and Economic Development<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Mayfield College of Engineering<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Stephenville<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 5 hours ago","modified":"Updated 8 hours ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on June 16, 2026","modified":"Updated on June 16, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on June 16, 2026 10:00 am","modified":"Updated on June 16, 2026 7:36 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/595"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55338"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55341,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55338\/revisions\/55341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}