A&M-Texarkana Receives Grant for Collaboration with Texarkana College, Red River Army Depot, on Project to Enhance U.S. Military’s Drone Technology

TEXARKANA, Texas – Texas A&M University-Texarkana, Texarkana College, and Red River Army Depot (RRAD) will share in a $5 million Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance grant from the Texas Military Preparedness Commission that will fund a project to enhance the U.S. Military’s Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). The $5 million grant was awarded to the Ark-Tex Council of Governments (ATCOG), which will oversee the disbursement of the grants to the three organizations taking part in the project.

The ATCOG grant is part of a larger $26 million in grants awarded to Texas military facilities. The funds will be invested in infrastructure projects and initiatives to support military installations in Texas and protect jobs in military communities that may be impacted by any future Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process or other basing decisions.  

Each organization will be responsible for a different part of the overall project. Texarkana College will create courses for drone production, RRAD will handle any defense program components, and Texas A&M University-Texarkana will head up UAS battery development and testing.

“Texas A&M University-Texarkana will develop courses for battery design and testing,” said Dr. Mohammed Morsy, A&M-Texarkana Chair of the James C. Morriss Division of Engineering and Professor of Electrical Engineering. Morsy said that the courses would be available to existing engineers who can earn a professional certificate, as well as electrical and mechanical engineering students as part of A&M-Texarkana’s engineering curriculum.

“We are pleased to play an important role in this project and are excited about the opportunity this creates for A&M-Texarkana engineering students,” said A&M-Texarkana President Dr. Ross Alexander. “Not only does this benefit our students, but it allows the University to play an active role with Texarkana College and RRAD in a project that will have long-term benefits to our local economy.”