An Update on Southwest Research Institute Contributions in FY 2014 Presented by Wesley C. Patrick November 19, 2014

Graduate Student Outreach and Engagement Site visit to Southwest Research Institute ® (SwRI ® )—March 2014 Invited 21 MS and PhD candidates from RCN CE 3 SAR member universities Hosted an intensive day-long site visit for 13 at its R&D facilities in San Antonio Featured interactive presentations and discussions with senior members of the staff of six SwRI R&D divisions. Graduate Student Research Experience—Summer 2014 Designed the program to provide two graduate students from member universities opportunities to work with and be mentored by senior research staff in a non-academic R&D environment Identified and rigorously screened candidates; selected 2 of 15 candidates Hosted and mentored by experienced SwRI research scientists End-of-summer reports documented the R&D they performed, knowledge gained, future applications of their enhanced skills, and value of the GSRE to their ongoing studies and future careers Plan engagements for summers of 2015 and 2016

Workshop Participation and Professional Contributions SwRI senior environmental scientist participated in the National Integrated Drought Information System Coastal Drought Monitoring Knowledge Assessment Workshop January 2014 in Charleston, SC SwRI staff members presented two papers at the Eagle Ford Shale Center for Research, Education, and Outreach workshop on Shale Oil and Gas Development in November 2014 RCN CE 3 SAR participant Dr. Olufemi Osidele continued to serve on the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology RCN CE 3 SAR participant Sean Mitchem was cited for his role in the SwRI development and deployment of the first vehicle-to-grid aggregation system qualified by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to manage fleet charging activities

Proposal Activity and Letters of Support to CE 3 SAR Initiatives Teamed with R. Chen, TAMU—CC on NSF Proposal on Coastal SEES: Crowdsourcing Inundation Boundaries, Predictions, and a Dynamic Planning Method for Local Adaptations to Sea Level Rise [Not funded] Teamed with L. Cifuentes, TAMU—CC on a successful proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration to establish the Lone Star Unmanned Aerial Systems Center of Excellence and Innovation Engaged with A. Sadovski, TAMU—CC on a new NSF funding opportunity on Sustainability Research Networks Competition: Urban Sustainability Provided a letter of support to the Texas Sea Grant College Program multi-university proposal to the Forum for Science and Technology for Rural Development (FOSTERED)

Summary of SwRI Contributions Continued to support the overall CE 3 SAR program Organized and conducted the first of a 3-year Graduate Student Research Experience program Added several SwRI staff members as participants Collaborated with CE 3 SAR organizations on proposals on an opportunistic basis Supported other proposal activities, as requested