The CRS Center for Leadership and Management in the Design and Construction Industry and the Strategic Predesign Association will host a two-day event focused on strategic dialogue, collaborative inquiry and action-oriented engagement on Oct. 13–14, 2026.

The program brings together owners, end users, practitioners, faculty members and students at the Langford A Architecture Complex’s Harold and Janice Adams Presentation Space at Texas A&M University, with virtual attendance options available by invite via Zoom video conference.

Day 1: AI and Predesign

The opening day features a roundtable from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. titled “Adoption of AI in the Predesign Process: Advancing Strategic Decision-Making for a Better Built Environment.” The session is designed to help define the predesign process, identify client pain points and examine case examples of digital workflows and artificial intelligence applications that enhance client decision-making.

Featured roundtable presentations include:

• Hayden Perkin, Geodis – Corporate Real Estate Planning Pain Points
• George Niño, G. N. Law – AI: Boundaries and Legal Considerations
• Nick Howk, MYDAS.AI – Integrating and Automating Business Operations for Success
• Malte Koditz, From Spaciv System to IVY AI Predicts: Data, System, AI Front End
• Matt Astrachan and Justin Bedecarre, JLL – Lease OS
• Gagan Singh, New Jersey Department of Transportation – Public and Private Sector Housing Partnership
• Laura DelaFuente, Uber – AI Workplace Experience Optimization
• Jeff Gagnon, Trebellar – AI-Enabled Real Estate Portfolio Planning

Day 2: Workshop and Advisory Board Meeting

The second day, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, connects education, research, professional practice and industry leadership to examine emerging priorities and strengthen partnerships.

From 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., the CRS Center and Strategic Predesign Association will host the student-practitioner workshop, “From Roundtable Findings to a Strategic Predesign Research Agenda.” The session convenes participants to explore the evidence, systems and opportunities defining the earliest stages of design, with the primary objective of translating roundtable findings into actionable research proposals to advance predesign practice.

Following a lunch break from 12 to 1 p.m., the CRS Advisory Board will meet from 1 to 5 p.m. to help shape the center’s strategic direction, research agenda, industry partnerships and broader impact.

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For coastal communities along the Gulf Coast, hurricane season presents a recurring challenge: knowing when, where, and how to evacuate before a major storm hits. To tackle this, researchers at Texas A&M University have spent more than a decade helping local, state, and federal agencies develop clear, data-driven evacuation strategies.

Walter Peacock, professor and principal investigator, the research team collaborates closely with municipalities, county officials, and federal partners that include NOAA, FEMA, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These organizations evaluate storm surge risks and establish evacuation zones tailored to shifting coastal populations.

“We work with local counties and municipalities to re-evaluate their surge risk,” Peacock said. “We look at where inundations are likely to be given different types of storms, different trajectories, forward speeds, and wind speeds. This data helps them develop their evacuation zones.”

How Using Geographical Information Systems Can Help Solve Problems Before They Happen

The team’s efforts span multiple coastal regions across Texas, including the Rio Grande Valley, the Coastal Bend, and Southeast Texas. Through these projects, researchers examine population vulnerabilities, mapped structures, and transportation logistics. The resulting data feeds directly into HURREVAC (HURRicane EVACuation), the primary software decision-makers use during active storm threats to calculate evacuation times and set emergency plans into motion.

“We take a storm that’s coming in, its forward speed, its trajectory, and run a quick analysis of where it’s likely to impact,” Peacock said. “On the basis of that, they use what we’ve done for them to say, ‘Okay, we probably need to evacuate zones A, B, and C.'”

A major factor in evacuation planning involves human behavior and how residents respond to emergency notifications. David Bierling, of Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center’s Director of Transportation Research lead the team’s behavioral studies and convened an Evacuation and Behavioral Analysis Summit at TAMU as part of the final Southeast Texas Study Area. It was attended by top evacuation researchers that have studied multiple evacuation events in Texas.

“Spatial analysis and GIS mapping allow us to pinpoint the most at-risk neighborhoods and visualize how evacuation routes interact with vulnerable populations,” said Douglas Wunneburger, co-principal investigator from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning. “Spatial analysis steps begin with surge models based on historic and predicted storm scenarios to determine risk defined by potential maximum extent of surge inundation. The team selects well-known geographic features, usually highways, to set draft zone boundaries encompassing maximum surge extent for review by local experts and stakeholders. Once boundaries are set, estimates for population and household vulnerability factors, for number of vehicles, and for temporary lodging populations are derived to feed transportation models.” 

Teaming Up with Transportation to Plan Routes for Evacuation 

Transportation modeling plays a central role in answering these behavioral questions and mapping out realistic evacuation timelines.

Darrell Borchardt, co-PI from the TTI, mentioned that the purpose of the modelling was to provide a reasonable estimate of evacuation clearance times from the region. The Real-time Evacuation Planning Model (RTEPM) was used to evaluate each of the 88 scenarios; the set of scenarios was jointly developed by the project team in conjunction with representatives of the public agencies throughout the region. The resulting matrix of evacuation time estimates are included in HURREVAC which is used by local officials to better plan for evacuations from their respective regions in the event of a projected landfall of a tropical system. 

He also included that the most powerful part of the entire project was a combination of working with the project team as well as being in the same room with emergency managers throughout the region observing how they worked together in developing the scenarios as a group.

“Everyone involved had the same goal of facilitating evacuation throughout the region in the best interest of citizens that may be impacted by an approaching storm,” said Darrell Borchardt. 

Ultimately, the initiative relies on interdisciplinary collaboration across Texas A&M departments and research institutes to deliver practical tools directly to emergency managers.

“We’re a big team effort, so we want that to continue,” Peacock said. The Texas A&M University team includes Walter Gillis Peacock and Doug Wunneburger from the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center and the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning in the College of Architecture. David Bierling and Darrell Borchardt from the TTI, and Alexander Abuabara from Industrial and Systems Engineering. Andrew Mullins III, from TTI, who passed away in October 2020, was the team’s first leader and PI on the first projects – he set the trajectory and goals for the team and is terribly missed by them all.

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Texas A&M University’s Department of Construction Science hosted a record-setting career fair this year with support from the Construction Industry Advisory Council, drawing 295 companies to the Legends Event Center on Sept. 17. The event is the largest department-sponsored career fair at Texas A&M and the largest of its kind in the nation.

About 1,100 students and nearly 1,000 company representatives attended the fair, making it a major point of connection between Texas A&M construction science students and the companies recruiting them for internships and full-time roles. The event is important because construction science undergraduates must complete an internship before earning their degree.

The following day, students returned for interviews, allowing employers to continue hiring conversations started at the fair.

Hernan Guerra, industry relations coordinator for the Department of Construction Science, said the fair’s growth reflects continued industry demand for construction science graduates and the strength of the department’s relationship with employers. 

“I already talked to a few companies that have gone to other career fairs, and they say, ‘We go to other universities, but this is the premier. This is the best. This is the one that we can’t miss.’”

Guerra said CIAC membership has also grown to more than 350 companies, the highest in its history. Companies must be CIAC members to attend the career fair, and membership helps directly support the Department of Construction Science.

Guerra added that companies continue to return every semester because Aggie students are well prepared. “Our students are the best prepared out of anybody.”

Recruiters Return to Aggieland

Michael Kacal ’04, project executive with DPR Construction, said his company brought a dozen Aggies back to College Station to help recruit for internships and full-time jobs, including positions supporting large data center projects across the country. He said DPR works in advanced technology, healthcare, life science, commercial office and highway construction.

Kacal said Texas A&M students stand out for both their energy and confidence in conversations with recruiters. He said that compared with other career fairs, Aggies are especially willing to step forward and introduce themselves.

The fair also drew first-time companies looking to build relationships with the university. Shield Proactive Maintenance attended the Texas A&M career fair for the first time this year. 

Jacob Reyneke, vice president of inspections and estimation, said the company came in part because one of its founders studied construction science at Texas A&M. The company now wants to explore how Aggies could contribute as it grows.

Shield recruited for internships, part-time roles and potential full-time opportunities, particularly for students interested in more hands-on field work. Reyneke said the students he met showed a strong work ethic and professionalism, and that many already had prior work experience.

“I can see the level of professionalism that’s being inculcated here in the university with the students.”

Finding the Right Fit

Riley Brent ’15, senior project manager with Harvey Cleary, interned with the company in 2014 and joined full-time after graduating in 2015. Now, he returns to recruit current Texas A&M students.

Brent said Harvey Cleary looks for people with integrity, a strong work ethic and an entrepreneurial mindset. He said the company places a strong emphasis on relationships, both with clients and with employees. Brent said he felt impressed by the young talent he spoke to.

“Many of them seem to be very driven and self-motivated, which is encouraging and exciting to see,” Brent said.

He encouraged students to learn about the companies they meet and to present themselves honestly. “You’re interviewing us just as much as we’re interviewing you and trying to find a fit,” Brent added. “We want to know who you are genuinely.”

Faculty members also play a visible role during the fair, helping students make introductions and think through their options. 

Larry Fickel ’81 recently retired from the Department of Construction Science as a senior lecturer over the summer. He attended this year’s event to support his final cohort of students.

He said helping students connect with companies was always one of the most meaningful parts of attending the career fairs as a faculty member.

“That’s what Career Fair is about for the faculty: helping [students] find the right job,” Fickel said.

Students and Industry Connect

Students said the event also gave them a clearer sense of the kinds of companies and workplace cultures they want to pursue. 

Texas A&M junior Leslie Robledo ’28 said she is interested in project management and spoke with companies including Lennar, MYCON General Contractors and McCarthy Building Companies. 

At first, she was anxious about attending the career fair, but Robledo said she felt reassured after speaking with companies to learn more about their cultures and values. 

“They were very welcoming,” Robledo said. “They’re very passionate about having family and community within their companies, and that’s what I’m looking for.”

Dean of the College of Architecture Ivy Hu, Ph.D., said the event reflected both the scale of the Department of Construction Science’s industry partnership and its high-quality students. 

“I am deeply impressed not only by the size of the event but also by the atmosphere, where professional, productive and aspirational conversations took place to bridge the talents we develop here on campus with the evolving needs of our industry partners,” Hu said after it concluded. 

The record-setting event was organized and led by Stacie Watson, industry engagement coordinator for the Department of Construction Science, with support from a dedicated team of construction science students and department staff members Bree Wright, Elizabeth Smith and Cristy Blanton.

“Thank you to our industry leaders for trusting and supporting our students, and to our faculty for mentoring, coaching and preparing the next generation of industry leaders. Most importantly, thank you to all of our students — you make us so proud,” Hu said.

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Healthcare architect and project manager Mike Cavazos delivered a presentation Sept. 18 at Texas A&M University, outlining strategies to future-proof ambulatory clinics through standardized modular design and centralized planning logic.

Speaking as part of the Arch4Health Lecture Series in the Langford B Building, Cavazos addressed the challenge of designing functional facilities with limited initial client input. The series spans the full range of care settings, and we are committed to representing a broad spectrum of clinical environments. 

“The client usually will tell us, ‘I want 60 exam rooms, I want two MRIs and I want a CT scan,’ and that’s all the information that we get,” Cavazos said. “It is up to us to start figuring out exactly what the main operational flows need to be.”

Rethinking Core Layouts and Flexibility

During the presentation, titled “Built to Flex: Using Prototype Modules to Future-Proof Ambulatory Clinic,” Cavazos emphasized taking a broader approach to vertical connections and floor plan efficiency before rushing into early drawings.

He cautioned against common design inclinations, urging architects to consider long-term adaptability.

“Sometimes as architects we try to rush very, very quickly into, ‘Ah, we have the design, let’s try to figure out and immediately start planning, immediately start drawing,'” Cavazos said. “But we want to take a step back sometimes and better understand what’s the true importance of having those vertical connections.”

Standardizing Exam Modules for Maximum Efficiency

To address these spatial requirements, Cavazos demonstrated how implementing standardized exam rooms and centralized care team stations can maintain consistency across various medical specialties.

Highlighting the design’s spatial logic, Cavazos noted how centralized team stations improve sightlines and distance equality for staff.

“As you are centralized in the overall module, you can have direct visibility into each one of the exam rooms,” Cavazos said. “So if you’re having to go from one point of the care team station to a farther away exam room, ideally each exam room is within an equal distance just due to the fact that everything is centralized.”

The lecture was hosted by the Texas A&M Arch4Health team, bringing insights from BSA Life Structure to students and faculty in the College of Architecture.

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The Texas A&M University Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center (HRRC) announced the formation of a new advisory committee composed of nationally and internationally respected leaders in hazard mitigation, disaster recovery, community resilience, environmental justice and risk governance. The committee will help guide HRRC’s strategic direction, strengthen partnerships across research and practice, and expand the Center’s impact for communities facing accelerating disaster and climate risks.

The HRRC Advisory Committee brings together distinguished scholars, seasoned public-sector and nonprofit leaders, and pioneering practitioners whose work spans planning, infrastructure, social vulnerability, catastrophe risk management, and community-led recovery.

“HRRC’s mission is rooted in turning research into action that reduces risk and improves recovery outcomes,” said  Dr. Michelle Meyer, director of the HRRC. “This Advisory Committee deepens our ability to connect leading-edge science, policy innovation and real-world implementation, especially for communities most exposed to hazards and least resourced to respond.”

Phillip Berke ’81

Phillip Berke is a Research Professor, Department of City & Regional Planning, and Director, Center for Resilient Communities and Environment, Institute for the Environment, University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill. Berke’s research examines how land use governance and networks of local plans shape community vulnerability and resilience. 

The project includes contributions from Phillip R. Berke, a 2011 College of Architecture Outstanding Alumnus who earned his Ph.D. in urban and regional science from Texas A&M in 1981.

Author of more than 140 peer-reviewed publications and 10 books, his honors include multiple Best Article Awards (Journal of the American Planning Association), Texas A&M’s Outstanding Alumni Award, and FEMA’s Blanchard Career Award. He is currently collaborating with HRRC colleagues on the Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard.

Angela Blanchard

Angela Blanchard is an internationally recognized community development leader, educator and speaker known for her strengths-based framework Appreciative Community Building. 

Raised in Beaumont, Texas, she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from Lamar University in 1984.

Her career spans more than 30 years. She led BakerRipley, transforming neighborhoods across Greater Houston and connecting resources and opportunity to more than half a million residents. Her work has been recognized by top institutions and featured widely in national and international media.

Marccus Hendricks ’14

Marccus Hendricks is an Associate Professor of Urban Studies and (Environmental) Planning and Director, Stormwater Infrastructure Resilience and Justice (SIRJ) Lab, University of Maryland. He is a 2026–2027 Radcliffe Institute fellow at Harvard University.

He earned a Master of Public Health in 2014 and a doctorate in urban and regional science in 2017, both from Texas A&M University.

Hendricks is a former Senior Advisor for Climate and Community Resilience in the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s inaugural Office of Environmental Justice. His work focuses on how development patterns and infrastructure systems create risk—and how communities can advance equitable adaptation, particularly for flooding and stormwater challenges.

Laurie Johnson ’85 

Laurie Johnson is an urban planner and global leader in disaster recovery and catastrophe risk management. She is the founder of Laurie Johnson Consulting, specializing in recovery management and risk strategy and author of After Great Disasters: An In-Depth Analysis of How Six Countries Managed Community Recovery. 

Laurie Johnson earned both a Bachelor of Science in geophysics in 1985 and a Master of Urban Planning in 1986 from Texas A&M University. She is also a member of the Outstanding Alumni from the College of Architecture. 

Johnson is a former Chief Catastrophe Response and Resiliency Officer for the California Earthquake Authority and California Wildfire Fund (2020–2023). She also chairs the Advisory Board for the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation and is affiliated faculty with HRRC, as well as an honorary member of Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.

Michael Lindell

Michael Lindell is an Emeritus Director of the HRRC and Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University. A long-time leader in hazards research and applied technical assistance, Lindell has supported more than 40 public and private organizations. 

Michael K. Lindell earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology in 1969 and a doctorate in social/quantitative psychology in 1975, both from the University of Colorado.

During his term as Director of the TAMU Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center, he led hurricane evacuation planning documents for Texas coastal counties. He has been a member of three National Research Council committees, made over 230 presentations in the US and abroad, and is the author of 80 technical reports, 200 journal articles and book chapters, and 11 books

Marilyn Luton

Marilyn Luton is a veteran nonprofit governance leader and advocate for Mission Granbury, serving nine years on the Board of Directors (including four as President) and as Interim Executive Director in 2025. 

As part of the Mission Granbury Speakers Bureau, Marilyn speaks about nonprofit leadership, board governance, organizational stewardship, community involvement and the evolving needs facing local families and individuals in crisis. Drawing from both board leadership and executive experience, she has a unique perspective on the importance of compassionate leadership, strong community partnerships, and sustaining organizations that serve as a lifeline for those in need.

George Rogers

George Rogers is a Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University. Former HRRC leader and past director of the Urban and Regional Science Graduate Program. 

He earned a Bachelor of Science in sociology from Oregon State University in 1975, followed by a Master of Arts in 1976 and a doctorate in sociology in 1983, both from the University of Pittsburgh.

Rogers specializes in disaster planning, community resilience, risk perception, warning systems, and the social impacts of environmental hazards, with emphasis on socially vulnerable populations.

Gavin Smith ’88

Gavin Smith is a Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, North Carolina State University. Smith’s work bridges research and practice in hazard mitigation, disaster recovery, climate adaptation, and community-led relocation. 

Smith is a three-time graduate of Texas A&M University, earning his Bachelor of Science in sociology in 1988 followed by a Masters of Science in sociology in 1992 and doctorate in urban and regional sciences in 1995.

He has led international collaboration with New Zealand and Australia, and has contributed to national-level guidance and assessment efforts including the 5th U.S. National Climate Assessment. In addition, he has published multiple books such as Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery: A Review of the United States Disaster Assistance Framework.

Dennis Wenger

Dennis Wenger is a former NSF Program Director for Infrastructure Systems Management and Extreme Events; founding Director and Director Emeritus of HRRC; and former professor at Texas A&M University. 

Wenger earned a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Arts, and a doctorate in sociology from The Ohio State University in 1972.

With over 55 years of hazards and disaster research, Wenger has advanced understanding of emergency management capabilities, warning systems, response, and recovery. He served on the UNISDR Scientific and Technical Advisory Group (including as Chair) and co-chaired the U.S. Subcommittee for Disaster Reduction.

About the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center

Established in 1988, the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center (HRRC) at Texas A&M University is dedicated to understanding and reducing the vulnerability of communities to natural, technological, and human-induced hazards. Housed within the College of Architecture, the HRRC is recognized globally as a leader in interdisciplinary research on hazard mitigation, disaster response, and long-term recovery.

The HRRC continues to serve as an international leader in disaster science. In recent years, center faculty and fellows have generated millions in competitive external research funding from agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the National Academies of Sciences Gulf Research Program, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, FEMA, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, while training dozens of graduate and undergraduate researchers.

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As extreme heat becomes more common, researchers at Texas A&M University’s College of Architecture have developed a new model designed to better predict how older adults experience outdoor heat stress.

The model, called COMFA for Older Adults (COMFA-OA), adapts an existing thermal comfort tool to reflect the physiological differences that shape how older adults respond to hot conditions. The research team says the model could help planners, designers and public officials better identify heat risks in places such as sidewalks, bus stops, parks and courtyards.

“Older adults are more vulnerable to heat stress than younger people,” said Dr. Jay Maddock, professor in the Texas A&M School of Public Health and a co-author of the study. “As we age, we sweat less, and our blood flow to the skin is reduced. This makes it harder to cool down and puts extra stress on the heart.”

According to the study, many widely used thermal comfort models were built around the physiology of a middle-aged man of average build. As a result, they can miss important age-related differences in sweating, cardiovascular output, metabolic efficiency and core temperature that affect how older adults regulate heat.

The new model updates those assumptions by incorporating age-related changes in sweat heat loss, core temperature and metabolic rate.

The issue is not just how hot it is outside, but who is experiencing that heat, explained lead author Xiaoyu Li, a doctoral student in urban and regional science. “When we hear that it is 98 degrees outside, that number alone does not tell us how much stress a person is under,” he said. 

Improving Heat-Risk Prediction for Older Adults

The new model is part of a larger five-year project known as Heat Related Health Risk Reduction. Led by Drs. Dongying Li, Robert D. Brown, Chanam Lee, Jay Maddock, Huiyan Sang and William Sullivan, the project focuses on developing tools and guidelines to mitigate heat-related health risks, supported by a $2.6 million grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Their expertise spans landscape architecture and urban planning, public health and statistics, in collaboration with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

Dr. Robert D. Brown, a co-developer of the original COMFA model, is a professor of landscape architecture and urban planning. Brown directs the Microclimatic-Design Research Global network (MDRGN) said the new study builds on that earlier foundation while drawing on expertise from multiple fields.

To find out whether the model was more accurate, the researchers compared it with several widely used thermal comfort tools. They validated the results against a large international database and a Texas field study involving older adults outdoors during warm and hot weather.

The study found that COMFA-OA outperformed other common models in predicting how older adults actually felt outdoors. 

“It can accurately estimate or warn people of heat-related risks as they are doing activities or outdoors,” said Dr. Dongying Li, principal investigator of the NIH-funded project and associate professor of landscape architecture and urban planning.

It also improved the original COMFA model, with nearly 90% accuracy when near-matches were counted as correct. 

Xiaoyu Li said he was not surprised to see the model improve once age-related differences were built into it.

“We have known about many of these differences for years, but we are only slowly starting to put that knowledge into practice,” Xiaoyu Li said. “Knowing something scientifically and actually using that knowledge to protect people are two different things.”

Helping Communities Prepare for Hotter Conditions

Another key finding was that older adults seem to feel comfortable at cooler temperatures than the general population. Places that seem fine by standard measures may already feel too hot for many older adults.

“Even in the same places, an older person will usually have a lower tolerance to heat than their younger counterparts,” Maddock said.

These findings could help communities design outdoor spaces safer for older adults. Researchers suggested practical strategies such as adding tree canopy, shade structures, reflective surfaces, stronger airflow and access to water or misting in places often used by older adults.

Because it uses easy-to-measure weather and personal data, the model could help communities spot heat risks, plan safer outdoor spaces and support future heat warning tools. Its simple design also makes it useful for city planning and other large-scale efforts to prepare for hotter conditions.

The researchers have also taken steps to make the tool publicly available. The COMFA-OA code is available on GitHub, and a web-based version offers a simpler way for planners, policymakers and other users to test the model. 

“One thing we really wanted was for this research not to end as just another journal article,” Xiaoyu Li said. “We have turned COMFA-OA into tools that people can actually use.”

The model’s open design and moderate computational demands make it suitable for large-scale heat-risk mapping, scenario testing and possible real-time monitoring applications.

“In our ongoing work, we are using COMFA-OA to estimate how much heat stress older adults may experience in different parts of a city,” Xiaoyu Li said. “That can help us see where the problem is most serious and then ask practical questions: Would more trees or shade help? Would better airflow make a difference? Where should limited heat-mitigation resources go first?”

The team’s next steps include developing planning and official design guidance aimed at reducing heat risk in vulnerable housing communities.

They are sharing early results with academic and public health audiences as the project moves forward, with a presentation scheduled at the American Public Health Association conference in Washington, D.C., in November.

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Over the years, Texas A&M University and the Office of the Provost have invested in classroom upgrades and learning spaces across the university to create environments that enhance academic experiences and foster engagement, creativity and collaboration.

This fall, College of Architecture students and faculty returned to several revamped classrooms in the college’s three Langford Architecture buildings, including the 300-seat Preston Geren Auditorium.

“Every classroom upgrade is a direct investment in the Texas A&M teaching and learning experience,” said Dr. Timothy Powers, assistant vice president and chief of staff to the provost and executive vice president. “Creating interactive, technology-rich environments ensures our faculty and students are engaging in spaces that inspire innovation, foster community and prepare us for the future.” 

Classroom Improvements Support Immersive Learning

As part of Texas A&M’s ongoing efforts to modernize classrooms, seven classrooms in the Langford Architecture buildings now offer students and faculty updated tools and technology.

The centerpiece of it all is a state-of-the-art LED screen in Geren Auditorium, spanning 29 by 17 feet, which is the university’s largest screen.

Leslie Feigenbaum, associate dean in the College of Architecture said the classrooms are designed for more than instruction; they serve as platforms for immersive learning, collaboration and creative exploration.

“We are inspiring the next generation of architects, builders and animators,” said Feigenbaum. “Next to physically being in that environment, there’s no better way to experience the detail and history of a place and its architecture than feeling immersed in what you’re learning.”

The auditorium primarily holds architectural history classes but also serves as a venue for presentations, digital walkthroughs of architectural sites, interactive workshops and community events.

“A screen of this size allows the students to take a larger, more detailed look at the scenes and design elements the instructor is sharing with the class,” said Feigenbaum. “If we are exploring the architecture of Barcelona, we can display multiple images at once on the – showcasing everything from the design of a doorway, to the street to the surrounding area – to illustrate how they interact with each other.”

Building Collaborations Across Disciplines

Architecture students aren’t the only beneficiaries of the upgraded technology. The auditorium also is a gathering place for film students within the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts. 

Daniel Humphrey, the academic undergraduate director for performance and visual studies said he and other instructors have used the space for film screenings and Q&A sessions with invited filmmakers.

“There’s no better way to experience a film than in a space truly designed to get the best visuals, sounds and details,” said Humphrey. “The upgrade not only to the seats for students but also to the screen and sound system elevates the viewing experience and allows students to fully engage with the film and see details that might be missed in other environments.”

Humphrey said the upgrade also shows invited filmmakers, directors and guests that Texas A&M values both the arts and the audience experience, leaving a strong impression on everyone who visits or presents in the auditorium.

“These improvements demonstrate that we genuinely care about creating an environment where guests feel welcomed and their work is celebrated,” said Humphrey. “When filmmakers and speakers see the attention to detail and the quality of the space, it makes them excited to share their work and connect with our students. It’s an experience that stays with them long after the event is over.”

Beyond the auditorium, six additional classrooms throughout the Langford buildings. These spaces now feature updated flooring, lighting, seating, acoustics and integrated technology — including accessible furniture, assistive listening devices and advanced audio-visual systems.

Commitment to Modern Learning Environments

Guided by the Office of the Provost’s Classroom Improvement Committee, Texas A&M continues its mission to create classroom environments that are accessible, flexible and prepared for today’s teaching and learning needs.

Over the last three summers, the university completed over 30 classroom upgrades in Langford, Harrington Education Center, Allen Building and more.

Feigenbaum noted that these investments reflect the university’s dedication to supporting student success — emphasizing that enhancing learning spaces is as critical as any other aspect of education.

“Investing in these spaces shows that Texas A&M cares about our students and their education,” said Feigenbaum. “Improving classrooms is just as important as any other part of teaching, because the environment directly influences how students learn and engage.”

Learn more about the Classroom Improvement Committee.

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Texas A&M University’s College of Architecture will host its inaugural college-wide artificial intelligence symposium, “AI Across the AEC Industry,” on Oct. 5 and 6, at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center. Media representatives are invited to attend and cover the two-day event.

The program addresses how artificial intelligence has evolved from a peripheral experiment into a structural force reshaping research, daily design workflows, predictive simulation and construction coordination.

Designed to move beyond traditional lectures, the schedule pairs academic scholars directly with industry practitioners in shared sessions and moderated panels to foster active debate.

Event Details:

• What: Texas A&M College of Architecture AI Symposium 2026
• When: Monday, Oct. 5, and Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026 
• Where: Annenberg Presidential Conference Center, 1002 George Bush Dr. W., College Station, TX 77840
• Who: Featuring keynotes Phillip Bernstein, deputy dean at Yale Architecture and former vice president at Autodesk, and Burçin Becerik-Gerber, director of the Center for Intelligent Environments at USC. Additional panelists include leaders from Thornton Tomasetti, Turner Construction, HKS, Suffolk Construction and TBG Partners.

Media Opportunities:

• Interviews: Keynote speakers, event co-chairs (assistant professors Benjamin Ennemoser, Ashrant Aryal and Xinyu Fu), industry leaders and Texas A&M faculty.
• Visuals: Live moderated panel discussions, interdisciplinary student poster sessions, interactive student workshops and industry networking sessions.
• Access: Complimentary media credentials and reserved parking at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center are available upon request.

Educational sessions at the symposium have been submitted for continuing education approval through the American Institute of Architects (AIA CES), the American Planning Association (APA) and the Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System (LA CES).

For more information on the full agenda or to RSVP for media credentials, visit the AI Symposium event page or contact College of Architecture Marketing & Communications.

About the Texas A&M College of Architecture The Texas A&M University College of Architecture is one of the largest architecture schools in the nation, housing the departments of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, and Construction Science. The college prepares students to plan, design and build a better world through interdisciplinary research and industry collaboration.

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Rural Texas communities may know which roads flood first, where wildfire threats are growing or which systems are most vulnerable in a major storm. But limited staff, time and technical resources can make hazard mitigation planning difficult to carry through.

A new $2.9 million initiative from Texas A&M University’s College of Architecture aims to help rural jurisdictions do just that. The Texas Mitigation Planning Initiative (TMPI) will help rural communities create or update hazard mitigation plans that identify steps communities can take before disasters happen to reduce damage.

Over the next three years, TMPI will work with at least three rural regions across Texas. Each selected region will bring together multiple communities to develop plans that are ready for approval and easier to update in the future.

The initiative is led by Jaimie Hicks Masterson, director and principal investigator of TMPI, and funded by the Texas Division of Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

“This is about saving lives and limiting property damage,” Masterson explained. “With a growing population, more and more development, and more catastrophic disasters, rural Texans need capacity and technical support to reduce disaster loss. This project exemplifies Texas A&M’s land-grant mission to provide a public service to communities in need.”

Strengthening Local Capacity for Disaster Planning

Hazard mitigation planning helps communities identify the actions they can take before disasters happen to reduce risk and future damage. Those plans also open eligibility for certain federal funding opportunities when a disaster occurs. 

In many cases, a mitigation project must be included in an approved plan before a community can apply for funding to carry it out.

However, for smaller rural communities, the process can be difficult to manage alone.

“With limited hands, it is an immense challenge just to respond to a disaster, let alone think strategically about how to reduce risk in the first place,” Masterson said.

But it can create a Catch-22, Masterson explained. In some counties, local governments can operate as “a one-person machine,” with one official juggling emergency management, public works, elected positions and other day-to-day responsibilities at once. That can leave little time for the coordination, documentation and public input required to complete a hazard mitigation plan. 

“Without a hazard mitigation plan, when they are hit by a disaster, they will receive little to no federal funds for reconstruction,” Masterson added.

TMPI is designed to help communities through that process while also preparing local leaders to maintain and update their plans over time.

“TMPI is not here to hand communities a plan and walk away,” Masterson said. “We will train emergency management coordinators to build the knowledge and confidence they need to update those plans every five years and carry the work forward on their own.”

Hazards Don’t Stop at County Lines

Rather than working with one county or town at a time, TMPI will focus on multi-county rural regions. Communities can define those regions themselves, as long as they are willing to work together.

Program coordinator Seth Jordan said the regional approach reflects how many natural hazards affect Texas communities.

“Rivers don’t care about county boundaries,” Jordan said. “When a river floods, it floods three, five, 10 communities at a time.”

Planning at a broader regional scale can help neighboring communities identify shared projects that may later be eligible for mitigation funding.

For example, neighboring communities might agree to share debris management services or to support upstream flood sensors that help multiple downstream areas prepare and respond. 

Through workshops, coaching sessions and planning support, each selected region will work with TMPI staff to shape a plan that reflects local needs. Communities will form a small team of local staff and officials to guide the work and gather feedback from local stakeholders throughout the planning process.

“We also seek to support TDEM in reaching their goal that every county in Texas has a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan,” Masterson said. 

A Partnership Built for Rural Planning

TMPI brings together experts from two College of Architecture programs with complementary strengths in community planning and disaster resilience: Texas Target Communities (TxTC) and the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center (HRRC).

TxTC has spent decades partnering with communities to help address local needs and strengthen local capacity. Masterson, TxTC program director, said that its role is to help rural communities lead the planning process themselves. 

“Our strength lies in guiding places through this process, facilitating conversations and documenting the community-led strategy,” she said. 

The HRRC is known for its work in innovative hazard research, mapping and planning support to disasters across Texas and beyond. Dr. Michelle Meyer, director of the HRRC, said it will help fill data gaps that often exist in rural areas. She said national datasets may be less detailed and local officials may not have the staff or tools to gather that information on their own.

“We will use our research experience to collect new data that will provide a detailed fact basis to decide how to best invest hazard mitigation resources,” Meyer said.

Support for Every Step of the Process

Texas A&M experts will help participating regions move through the planning process with support in every step of the process, including facilitation, mapping, community engagement and plan development. 

TMPI will also hire additional mitigation planners dedicated to working directly with participating communities.

Current Texas A&M undergraduate and graduate students will also have opportunities to engage with TMPI. Meyer said they will gain hands-on experience in planning, data analysis, technical writing and community engagement while supporting participating communities. 

“Students will learn and practice a versatile set of skills while also demonstrating the Aggie core value of selfless service,” Meyer said. 

TMPI is seeking interest from rural regions across Texas that are ready to collaborate. The initiative will prioritize regions that are willing to work across county lines and areas that either lack a FEMA-approved plan or have plans that are significantly out of date.

“We’re looking for places that are ready and willing to work together,” Masterson said. “We know that rural areas have limited capacity and we know that the planning process — bringing people together, having conversations — is just as important as the plan itself.”

County emergency management coordinators interested in learning more should contact TMPI program manager Seth Jordan at sjordan@arch.tamu.edu.

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Every day, thousands of lawmakers, staff members and visitors walk through the historic hallways of the U.S. Capitol, often passing century-old artwork without noticing the layers of history around them.

But inside the First-Floor Senate Connecting Corridor, Texas A&M University architecture graduate Jayashree Shamanna ’94 helped bring one of those hidden layers back into view. Shamanna, preservation architect for the U.S. Capitol, under the Architect of the Capitol, led a meticulously executed 13-month restoration that returned the 15,000-square-foot corridor to its 1859 splendor.

“Working in the U.S. Capitol Building is a privilege I do not take lightly,” Shamanna said. “The weight of the responsibility I have been handed is enormous, and I work hard to ensure I leave this building better than when I arrived here.”

The 15,000-square-foot corridor, originally built between 1852 and 1859 as part of Thomas U. Walter’s Capitol extension, connects the Capitol’s old wing to the Senate extension. Over time, water damage, chipping plaster and decades of monochromatic paint layers had obscured the original 19th-century artwork attributed to Italian artist Constantino Brumidi and decorative painter Emmerich Carstens.

An Aggie Foundation in Preservation

Shamanna’s path to safeguarding one of the nation’s most iconic landmarks began at the Texas A&M College of Architecture, where she earned her master of science in architecture and a certificate in historic preservation.

Shamanna was one of the first research assistants at the Center for Heritage Conservation, then known as the Historic Resources Imaging Lab. As a graduate student, she worked under Professor David Woodcock to gain early experience in documentation, research and preservation practice.

“My education and work experience gave me the foundation to take this on as a problem-solving quest,” Shamanna said.

Before joining the Architect of the Capitol in 2022, Shamanna spent 15 years in private preservation practice in New York and taught for a decade as a professor of architecture and sustainable preservation.

Finding the Corridor’s 1859 Story

Restoring a building that has evolved across nearly two centuries requires painstaking analysis. Shamanna said it was crucial to decide which period of the building’s history should guide the work.

To establish that “period of significance” for the First-Floor Senate Connecting Corridor, Shamanna and AOC Curator Dr. Michele Cohen, with a team of experts, studied archival records alongside physical evidence from the building itself.

The breakthrough came through paint analysis. Team members extracted 88 physical paint cores from the walls, which are tiny samples that show layers of paint accumulated over time. The team analyzed more than 50 exposures under a microscope.

“For a corridor steeped in history, both in terms of architecture and art, it was important to try and discover what lay under visible paint,” Shamanna said.

The analysis revealed the corridor’s original 1859 paint schemes from the Brumidi era beneath decades of interventions. Once the evidence emerged, the team agreed to restore the hallway to its original identity.

Creating a Dialogue Between Past and Present

Rather than making the restored corridor look uniformly new, Shamanna and her team deliberately left one original lunette — a half-moon-shaped painted area above an arched window — untouched and faded. Surrounded by recreated frescoes, the worn 170-year-old original section gives visitors a direct visual connection to the corridor’s past.

“It is a great teaching moment and a visual connection to what was,” Shamanna said. “In the fast-moving world that we live in, this creates moments to pause and contemplate the history of the building.”

The restoration required both traditional craftsmanship and modern environmental standards. 

Craftspeople used a traditional three-coat lime plaster over the original brickwork, while the team selected eco-friendly, water-based paints in keeping with AOC environmental and safety requirements. Decorative painters practiced intricate designs on canvas for weeks before applying them to the corridor walls with specialized adhesives.

Shamanna said the team also had to complete the work inside one of the nation’s busiest buildings. Crews created protected pathways for people moving through the corridor during the day. Disruptive tasks were scheduled outside peak hours to accommodate daily Capitol operations.

The team completed the major scaffold-accessible construction work in time for the 2025 presidential inauguration. The corridor returned to normal operations while decorative finishing continued, and the 13-month restoration wrapped in June 2025. 

The work also required collaboration across trades, including carpenters, insulators, painters, masons, electricians and plumbers.

“It took a village, and the AOC as a whole answered that call,” Shamanna said. “Because of my wonderful colleagues here at the AOC, and my education and work experience, the project was a big success.”

Thanks to that village, one of the original lunettes remains above an arched window. Not restored, but preserved. In the corridor, it will serve as a quiet reminder of the history her team worked to protect.

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