Student News
Celebrating student achievements
Students, Faculty Earn Spots on 'Best of 2025' Researchers List for Award-Winning Study
Researchers from the College of Architecture's Design Research for Active Living (DrAL) earned the Michael P. O’Donnell Award from the American Journal of Health Promotion (AJHP) for a study linking multi-family housing design to residents’ physical activity.
AJHP recognized the paper, “Multi-Family Housing Environment and Physical Activity: A Systematic Review of the Literature,” in its “Best of 2025 List,” to be featured in the February 2026 issue.
The interdisciplinary study was led by recent graduate Dr. Manasa Hegde and co-authored by current doctoral student Seokyung Park, alongside DrAL faculty Dr. Xuemei Zhu and Dr. Chanam Lee.
Reviewing 35 studies from 2000–2023, the team found that features like on-site activity amenities, safe and walkable layouts, and shared spaces that encourage “liveliness” are consistently associated with higher physical activity, especially for residents who depend on their building and immediate surroundings for opportunities to be active.
Texas A&M Construction Science Students take 1st Place in National Construction Competition
A team from the Department of Construction Science beat out 13 other universities in a hands-on data center construction challenge hosted by Rosendin Electric in Nevada. Students were tasked with planning and budgeting a real-world electrical project inside an active data center.
We are excited and honored to share that Aggies came out on top.
The competition connects top construction students with major companies hiring the next generation of industry leaders.
Aggies Advance Disaster Recovery Careers Through Texas GLO Internships
Launched in June 2023, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) Community Development and Revitalization (CDR) Internship Program gave Texas A&M students a rare chance to support Texas communities recovering from disasters.
Managed by the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center (HRRC) in partnership with the GLO, the program placed students on real recovery projects statewide and helped translate classroom training in resilience, hazard mitigation and planning into public service.
Although the program concluded in August 2025, its impact continues through alumni careers, especially among students from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning.
Recent Urban & Regional Planning graduates Elise Bober ’24, Ashley Buchinger ’24 and Tyler Eutsler ’23, ’26 contributed to efforts ranging from homeowner recovery assistance in Harris County to grant management, resilient communities support and state-run housing work. Bober and Buchinger have since joined the GLO full time, and Eutsler said the experience strengthened his commitment to disaster recovery and expanded his professional network.
Interns also credited strong mentorship for helping them move from student roles to professional pathways, with the internship serving as a direct bridge to employment. Agency leaders are now exploring ways to expand future student placements across more GLO divisions.