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Capacities
May 23, 2013

Counterterrorism

The Texas A&M University System is dedicated to bolstering the nation’s ability to respond to any attack or threat, known or unknown, including a novel, previously unrecognized, naturally occurring emerging infectious disease. A&M System centers and institutes offer innovative, integrated, and comprehensive solutions and provide unique opportunities for translational research studies with unique access to expertise in major scientific disciplines including transportation and disposal of hazardous materials, surgery, biomedical engineering, imaging, pathology, cardiology, neurology, chemistry, manufacturing, and engineering. These centers and institutes include:

Texas A&M Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing

  • Provides surge capacity for domestically produced vaccines
  • Produces medical countermeasures to chemical and biological events
  • Bolsters the nation’s ability to respond to threats such as a novel, previously unrecognized, emerging infectious disease

Texas A&M Institute for Preclinical Studies (TIPS)

  • Conducts translational research in surgery, biomedical engineering, advanced imaging, pathology, radiography, interventional cardiology, neurology, animal behavior, chemistry, and engineering
  • Facilitates the inclusion of animals with naturally occurring disease as viable research models and provides unique opportunities to develop new therapeutics in the fields of oncology, cardiology, immunology, endocrinology, and an array of genetic disorders common to humans and companion animals

Counterterrorism faculty expertise and research focus areas include:

  • Advanced materials
  • Autonomous vehicles
  • Assessing role of stress, danger, and other human factors on emergency responder decision making
  • Biodefense technologies, including chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) agent detection
  • Consequence analysis for malicious release of industrial chemicals
  • Cooperative robotics and sensing
  • Coordinated surveillance and search and rescue
  • Designing power systems to mitigate the effects of damage
  • Development of multi-county, multi-state response plans
  • Evaluating the survivability of power systems
  • Food safety
  • Human, social, cultural modeling and simulation, including operational training
  • Integrated emergency response and evacuation route planning
  • Modeling and simulation for preparedness, decision-making, and training
  • Network concentric command and control strategies for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives (CBRNE) terrorist response
  • Network vulnerability assessment for critical infrastructures
  • Passive defense against WMD
  • Personal identification and image recognition systems
  • Power management methodology for protection of the electric grid infrastructure
  • Rapid and flexible vaccine manufacture
  • Remote sensing
  • Research in structural biology of several diseases affecting human health, including malaria and tuberculosis
  • Smart and protective materials
  • Total protection for power networks and systems
  • Traffic control, communications, and transportation management for high consequence events

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) research collaborations have made significant impacts on the health, safety and quality of life of Texas citizens and have contributed to the state’s economic growth and development. TEES researchers conduct relevant research and provide practical answers to critical state and national needs. TEES centers improve disaster preparedness, prevention, response, and recovery through the development and adoption of robots and related technology, as well as promote safety by developing safer processes, equipment, and procedures. These centers include:

Mary Kay O’Conner Process Safety Center

  • Performs abnormal situation management research to establish and maintain safety of processes through automation and analysis methodologies
  • Performs consequence analysis to evaluate the predicted outcome from an incident and its affect on the surrounding equipment and people
  • Performs facility siting by finding an optimal location for a chemical or petroleum processing site and arranging the units and equipment
  • Researches flammability and combustion which includes theoretical and experimental study to develop methods for predicting flash points for liquid mixtures, and test those methods using experimental data
  • Researches offshore safety and refinery process safety

Texas A&M AgriLife programs have revolutionized harvesting, improved irrigation systems, increased grain yields, and harnessed biomass for fuel. With teaching, research, extension, laboratory, and service facilities throughout Texas, Texas A&M AgriLife serves people of all ages and backgrounds. Texas A&M AgriLife collaborates with members of the A&M System and takes on critical issues in agricultural production and economics, environmental stewardship, animal and public health, and energy development for the future. Texas A&M AgriLife centers and institutes focus on research, education, and outreach to prevent, identify, and recover from disease outbreaks, including emerging, reemerging diseases, and provide warnings to individuals and government agencies.

Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases (formerly the National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense)

  • Researches the prevention, detection, and mitigation of transboundary, emerging, or zoonotic diseases, which may be introduced intentionally or through natural processes
  • Partners with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s One Health Program, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Texas A&M Institute for Genomic Medicine (TIGM)

  • World’s largest collection of knock-out mice and C57 ES cells
  • Unique, world-class scientific facilities with a 34,000 square foot facility which is a Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) maximum barrier (shower-in) mouse vivarium
  • Onsite molecular biology core facilities; tissue culture facilities; laboratories for microinjection of stem cells; and cryopreservation areas for stem cells, embryos, and sperm

Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL)

  • Tests hundreds of specimens from around the world to help protect the health of livestock, poultry, companion animals, exotic animals, racing animals, and wildlife
  • Offers a wide range of state-of-the-art diagnostic tests that deliver accurate results promptly
  • Globally recognized expertise to help preserve animal and public health

Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) is an internationally recognized leader in the delivery of emergency response, homeland security and workforce training, exercises, technical assistance, and economic development. Capabilities of emergency responders and officials to prepare for, respond to, and recover from catastrophic events resulting from natural events, accidents, or terrorist attacks are enhanced by TEEX centers, including:

National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center

  • Founding member and initial chair of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium
  • State administrator for DHS Strategy Development Program
  • Nationally renowned Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)/Terrorism Responder Training Program
  • Administers the Texas Foreign Animal Disease Incident Exercise Program