The Center for Infrastructure Engineering at Texas A&M University, in a collaborative effort with Texas A&M University -- Kingsville (TAMU-K), proposes a Graduate Research Traineeship (GRT) project that will focus a program of doctoral study on the infrastructure issues associated with the colonias in the border region of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Colonias represent both densely populated and scattered developments along the entire U.S. border with Mexico. They lack the fundamental infrastructures of a developed nation, as well as those infrastructures associated with education, health care, and environmental protections. In Texas, there are an estimated 1,193 colonias sites with over 500,000 residents of Hispanic origin. The proposed GRT project will incorporate a Ph.D. Pipeline for Hispanics. Two of the GRTs will complete the M.S. degree under program funding at TAMU-K, and then earn the Ph.D. at Texas A&M. TAMU-K is the engineering institution of access for Hispanics in South Texas, home to over one-third of the 4.5 million Texans of Hispanic origin. For GRTs in civil engineering infrastructures this area of focus provides an opportunity to conduct research, develop and implement applications technologies, and better define the relationship of infrastructure engineering to an important societal context.
