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Research at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) focuses on innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and real-world impact. Through cutting-edge research in areas like smart infrastructure, cybersecurity, and sustainable manufacturing, CECS advances knowledge and technology. Faculty, students, and industry partners collaborate in dynamic research institutes and centers, while initiatives like I-DREAM4D and national competitions promote hands-on learning and inspire future leaders in engineering and computing.
Institutes and Centers
Faculty and students collaborate through dynamic research centers that foster advanced inquiry, applied scholarship, and innovation. These interdisciplinary hubs bring together academic researchers, graduate students, and industry partners to drive impactful discoveries and technological solutions.
The UTRGV Institute for Advanced Manufacturing (IAM), formerly known as the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Cyber Systems (CAMICS), contributes to building a world-class American manufacturing base. The institute offers strategically restructured research, education, and workforce development programs through which we prepare world-class engineers and workers equipped with the skills needed to operate, design, develop, and manage advanced manufacturing processes and systems.
The Nanotechnology Center of Excellence provides students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed in materials science through state-of-the-art research opportunities. The vision of the center is to create an integrated multidisciplinary environment (science and engineering) for research, education, and outreach at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The center will pool the available talent and expertise from various disciplines within the different science and engineering departments into a coherent materials science center and will focus on developing a predictive level of understanding of the development of polymeric and nanoparticle-based material devices.
The Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center delivers hands-on technical assistance and training to a wide range of businesses, including manufacturing, government, and healthcare. We have a wide array of services that improve efficiency, quality, and productivity. Focus areas include Lean Enterprise, technology solutions, strategic management, quality systems, environment, and safety.
Our mission is to increase the global competitiveness of the South Texas region economy by working with the extended manufacturing enterprise.
The University Transportation Center for Railway Safety (UTCRS) aims to reduce the number of accidents and equipment failures experienced in rail transportation systems. This will result in reduced fatalities and injuries in addition to reduced economic losses to stakeholders. New technology and associated workforce development will lead to improved safety assessments, safety countermeasures, decision-making tools, and greater long-term safety gains.
The University Transportation Center for Railway Safety (UTCRS) at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), operates as a consortium with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), the University of Nebraska Transportation Center (NTC), the University of South Carolina (UofSC), the University of California-Riverside (UCR), and South Texas College (STC).
The mission of the Center for Multidisciplinary Research Excellence in Cyber-Physical Infrastructure Systems (MECIS) at UTRGV is threefold: to advance excellence in cyber-physical infrastructure systems (CIS) research through multidisciplinary projects spanning molecular to system-level scales; to integrate this research into STEM education by engaging underrepresented students and supporting faculty development across multiple colleges; and to strengthen UTRGV’s institutional research capacity by expanding infrastructure and ensuring long-term sustainability beyond CREST support. MECIS emphasizes practical impact through industry partnerships, technology transfer, and the development of innovative, applicable solutions.
The center operates as a consortium of four institutions: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) – Lead Institution, University of California Riverside, University of Illinois Chicago, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The South Texas Industrial Assessment Center provides free assessments to small and medium sized enterprises to assist them in improving productivity and reducing costs to make them more competitive through funding provided by the US Department of Energy. We create wealth, savings, and pride in the four counties of South Texas known as the Rio Grande Valley. The Valley is home to one of the fastest growing populations in the world with over 3.5 million people in the region and one of the fastest growing industry sectors in the USA.
The Regional Advanced Tooling Center has been setup as a one-stop shop for the tooling needs of the region providing advanced tooling engineering, technology, research and development (R&D), testing and validation, fabrication, maintenance, professional development, and education/training including credentialing programs. Tooling operations are conducted across UTRGV College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) campuses (EASFC, EENGR, and BVOTS 104). The Center is managed at the CECS level with the Dean as the Director.
The mission of this initiative is to allow the Regional Advanced Tooling Center and CECS to establish a strategic presence in the Lower Rio Grande Valley region. The vision of the Center calls for the assurance of sustainable world class advanced tooling engineering knowledge and fabrication ability for the region to enhance a prosperous and innovative manufacturing sector in the Rio South Texas Region. The Center’s mission has become more critical since the Coronavirus Pandemic has taken hold of the region, pointing out the dire need to strengthen US/Texas advanced manufacturing and tooling capabilities to reduce the reliance on foreign countries.
Funding for the Center enhances recruitment and allows the University to attract a greater number of students who are seeking access to engineering education and will continue to grow innovation in the region and support the expansion of the regional manufacturing industry. The increase in opportunities and technology-based economic development will continue to promote the Center and UTRGV as a catalyst for sustainable economic growth in the South Texas region. Furthermore, the enhanced real-world advanced manufacturing engineering environment that this funding makes possible exponentially helps students with training opportunities and prepares them for 21st century jobs and leaders in addressing the technological challenges of the future.