Research Solutions for Texas

Show Notes

Baylor University and Texas have grown together for 181 years. Chartered while Texas was still a republic, Baylor has served the state for generations through education, leadership, and discovery. Today, that commitment continues through research addressing some of Texas' biggest challenges and opportunities. Kevin Chambliss, Baylor's Vice Provost for Research, shares how the University's Christian R1 mission, collaborative approach, and location in the heart of the Texas Triangle position Baylor to help shape the state's future, today.

 From water and energy to defense innovations, aerospace, semiconductors, and quantum materials, the conversation highlights how Baylor researchers are developing solutions for Texas while making an impact far beyond its borders.

The conversation includes:

• how Baylor's historic commitment to serving Texas continues through research and innovation 
• why Texas has emerged as one of the nation's leading research and economic development hubs 
• Baylor's role within the growing Texas Triangle research ecosystem 
• how state investments are attracting talent, growing research capacity, and fueling innovation across Texas 
• research improving health outcomes through advances in cancer, dementia, and biomedical research 
• Baylor's work helping communities address challenges related to water quality and water quantity 
• opportunities created through partnerships with industry, government, and other research institutions 
• how Baylor researchers are contributing to advances in aerospace, defense, and human performance research 
• emerging work in semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, energy systems, and quantum materials 
• why Baylor researchers see solving Texas challenges as an opportunity to make a global impact

Transcript

Derek Smith:
We're talking research today with Baylor's vice provost for research, Kevin Chambliss. Been almost five years since Baylor became an R1 institution and Baylor's research output has only grown in the five years since in a number of areas that impact the world, certainly, but also our home state of Texas. We're going to be talking about that today with Kevin. And, Kevin, as we welcome you in, this Friday, we're talking this week, this Friday is National Research Administrator Day. I want to wish you and your team a happy National Research Administrator Day, and thank you for joining us.

Kevin Chambliss:
Well, thanks for that, Derek, and thanks for the opportunity. Certainly Friday, a great time to acknowledge the staff that come alongside our faculty and help do things. It's really faculty, staff and students all working together that make this happen. And I'm grateful for the team that I have and how it's grown and matured over time. I think we're in a good place and look forward to their continued great work in helping us be successful.

Derek Smith:
A lot of research, a lot of projects, a lot of grants coming across everyone's desks these days. That's a good thing.

Kevin Chambliss:
That's correct. I mean, even despite all the headwinds that people may have heard in the headlines, things at Baylor have continued to grow and have continued to weather that really well. So just a testament to the hard work and persistence of our faculty and the staff and students that support the work around them.

Derek Smith:
Can you believe, Kevin, it's been almost five years since we got the news that we'd become an R1 research institution? It feels like now it's just really part of who we are.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah. It's a different place, right?

Derek Smith:
Mm-hmm.

Kevin Chambliss:
Obviously when I came into this role, there was a lot of excitement and at some level even anxiety about when were we going to hit R1? Here now five years in, we're squarely safe in that category. And despite that... I don't know if people remember when we became R1, I was quick to say it's not a finish line, it's a starting line. And we've continued to grow what we're doing. Really proud of the work that's going on and proud to be a preeminent Christian R1 university.

Derek Smith:
Well, as we talk about that today, Kevin, we're going to focus specifically on research that impacts our home state of Texas. And when you think about Baylor's motto, "Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana, Pro Mundo," Pro Ecclesia part gets a lot of attention because of our Christian foundation and who we are. I think the Pro Mundo's got a lot of attention recently because it's exciting, because we are a global institution. But we don't want to forget about the Pro Texana part. That's a big part of who we are. And I'm curious, you have a unique vantage point in your role as vice provost for research. Doing research here in Texas... I mean, good research is good research anywhere, but is there something distinct about doing good research in Texas?

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah. I mean, I would highlight a couple of things. One, I think people know Texas has long had success in a number of different industries. We're known for oil and gas. We've kind of been an energy hub for the country. More recently, the state has really made big bets in areas like semiconductors or re-industrialization in the context of manufacturing. More recently, even space. And so there's a lot of momentum going on in the state. The other thing I would say is compared to many other states, Texas invests in research in ways that I think if they're not leading, they're very close to leading in terms of the investments that they make directly out of the state budget to not just help state institutions, but to help economic development in the state, to more broadly fund research across the state in ways that help us locally, regionally, and nationally as we continue to do the work that we do.
Maybe one other thing that's worth mentioning. At this point, Texas has more R1 universities than any other state in the country. And there's been a lot of push in the last few years around something we call the Texas Triangle, which is really the area from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, south through Austin to San Antonio over to Houston and back. And the state's made a real push in how do we continue to agglomerate intellectual capital within that area, industry within that area. And at the end of the day, we want to be able to compete effectively with the two coasts for research funding as it comes out, out of the feds or other places.

Derek Smith:
When you talk about the Texas Triangle, we're squarely in one of the fastest growing regions in the nation. And it sounds like what you're saying, ecosystem is kind of a buzzword, but it sounds like that ecosystem of research emanating here, creating jobs, attracting talent, that's what it's all about.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah, it really is. Ultimately, research is a game of talent, right?

Derek Smith:
Mm-hmm.

Kevin Chambliss:
Whoever has the best minds tends to win. And Texas has, I think, done a fantastic job positioning the state, one, as you say, for growth, not only in intellectual talent but also in industry. And I think as we look to the future, we're going to see tighter and tighter ties between academic research enterprises, where industry's going. And I think you're going to continue to see the federal government try to catalyze that with some of the programs that they're pushing out. The state's doing the same thing. And so I think having that come from both directions really gives us a great opportunity to continue to position our researchers and Baylor more generally in that context.

Derek Smith:
Well, I think anyone who's proud of Baylor is automatically thinking, "Well, of course Baylor should be a big part of this. We're an R1 institution doing great research." And also, I know this isn't the first thing that you think of, certainly in Austin or other places, when they're handing out grants, but I mean, it only makes sense. We were a university before Texas was a state. And I was thinking you and I are both from out of state, you from Arkansas, me from Indiana. Did you grasp pretty quickly when you got here how proud people are here of that Texas affiliation and even that affiliation that goes back before Texas was officially a state when it was still a republic?

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think anywhere in the country, people know that folks from Texas are kind of proud to be from Texas. I went to grad school in Colorado and certainly there was plenty of that there. But as I came to Baylor, it was quick to see with Baylor being the original founding institution in Texas, as you said, even before it was a state. And the motto that we had at that point of Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana, it's always been important, I think, for the university to position itself in ways that serve the state and as a magnet for in-state talent. We now have students from 50 states and all over the world, but a meaningful fraction of our students still come from Texas. I think we're proud of that. And I think our faculty are anxious to continue to look for ways that we can engage in meaningful, if not leading conversations and how we push things forward within the state from a research standpoint.

Derek Smith:
You mentioned, Kevin, some of these industries that are so prominent in Texas, and we're going to talk about ways in a little bit that Baylor researchers are impacting those or are sowing into those. But I want to ask you about Texas almost like as a lab, if you will. When you think about our faculty and our students who get to come here and do research, there's a lot of things that make Texas distinct. I'm curious what impact that has on research, on research opportunities, whether in our backyard or even just kind of around the state as a whole.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah. Texas has unique geography. One, we're a big state, but, two, if you think about it, we have some of the fastest growing large cities in the country. We also have a huge rural population. We have a coastline into the Gulf of Mexico. We also have a desert as you look at the other part of the state. We're one of the fastest developing states in terms of data center conversations, and yet water and energy at the crux of that. And how does all this intersect in many ways? If you look across the state, you think about the things I've mentioned, growing ethnic diversity. A lot of the grand challenges people talk about on a global scale, you could mine in some way in a laboratory that is Texas. And I think that presents some unique opportunities to work maybe closer to home on some problems that may have much broader appeal as you think about global challenges.

Derek Smith:
Well, and you've been able to recruit some great faculty from out of state here to Baylor in recent years. Certainly we've had a focus on bringing endowed chairs to campus. But a lot of people want to be here because of the Christian affiliation and now R1 designation. But it also seems like, I don't know, when you've got people who want to address challenges or want to innovate or some combination of the both, there's a recognition it's a good place for that. Is that fair to say?

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah, I think so, right?

Derek Smith:
Mm-hmm.

Kevin Chambliss:
I think Texas is growing not only in its total population, we're also growing in universities across the state, which essentially says we're drawing talent from outside the state into the state to grow our own enterprise. And Baylor is part of that. As you say, we've drawn people from all over the country. The state helps with that. They also offer some programs that provide funding to institutions who are able to successfully recruit faculty from out of state into the state. We've benefited from one of those sort of in the cancer space, a program called CPRIT. In my own department of chemistry and biochemistry, we have three different faculty that we've brought to Texas on recruitment funding that comes out of CPRIT. The state also has some other programs, but that's the one that we've been most successful with to this point.

Derek Smith:
And there's a new one coming along called DPRIT, which is dementia research and innovation.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah. There's another one called DPRIT, and both of these are backed again with state funding in ways that most states don't do it. You mentioned dementia. I would say it's certainly dementia, but broadly neurodegeneratate. How do I say that word?

Derek Smith:
It's a [inaudible 00:10:38].

Kevin Chambliss:
Neurodegenerative disease.

Derek Smith:
Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm.

Kevin Chambliss:
And both of those programs really are designed to do two things. One is to attract new talent, and the other, two, is increase the quality of care within Texas for those particular conditions. In this case, both cancer and both neurological conditions. And I think they're great programs. Again, we've benefited from CPRIT. We're looking forward to participating in the DPRIT program as it becomes rolled out. And again, just great examples of how the state is investing in talent and investing in solutions from a research standpoint.

Derek Smith:
What you describe as you're talking about what innovations like CPRIT and DPRIT bring to Texas as you talk about Baylor's growth, you mentioned new institutions are coming to Texas. We have more R1s than any other state. On one hand, it seems like that means there's more competition, and there is, but I'm curious, what do you see for Baylor as the benefit of being one R1 institution in the state that has the most? What opportunities does that open up?

Kevin Chambliss:
Well, I think it certainly opens up opportunities for collaboration in ways that all universities look for, but I think the state is also pursuing and saying, "How do we catalyze not just great research at this particular institution or at the two state flagships, but really how do we create programs that bring researchers together across universities and tackle problems in really interdisciplinary and collaborative ways?" We have faculty that are poised to do that, have faculty looking at a range of important problems to the state from a lot of different areas. And I think as Texas continues to advertise the triangle and spawn growth, the position that we have really sitting squarely on I-35, almost geographically in the center of that triangle, puts us in a great place to be able to contribute in meaningful ways.

Derek Smith:
Yeah. We're going to talk now about some of those areas that are so important to Texas in which Baylor is working. I'm curious, in your role, do you think much about the Texas side of things? I mean, again, you've got so many different projects that impact so many different angles of the world coming across your plate. Is that something you think much about how Baylor is impacting its home state and those... It sounds like you are thinking about those opportunities a lot.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah, I'm thinking about it for a couple of reasons. One, I think if... We want to be a global leader, and if you want to be a global leader, it's probably good if you can lead it home first. Number two, even if you look at Baylor's current Baylor Indeed strategic plan, it talks about how do we establish Baylor with an identity within that Texas Triangle. And so we're actively looking at ways, how we position our researchers to make sure that as the state continues to develop research expertise, we've got our own areas and our own faculty that are highly recognized in those conversations, not just within the university or within the Baylor family, but also to the broader Texas community.

Derek Smith:
Well, Kevin, let's talk about some of those now. And my disclaimer is there's no way we can adequately cover what we're going to talk about. And I always feel a little bit... Anytime we have deans or vice provosts on, I always feel like, "oh man, we're only setting them up to not talk about everything, to leave something out." So we'll acknowledge that right off the bat, but we'll highlight some important areas here to the state of Texas. And we touched on one already, health, CPRIT, cancer research, DPRIT neurodegenerative diseases, but where else do you see Baylor leaning into the healthcare industry that's grown so much here in Texas?

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah, I would maybe note a couple of things. One, I think you're going to continue to see growth in biomedical research areas out of our traditional sciences. A real opportunity there, as we look to the future, is how does Baylor partner in with things like the local VA Center of Excellence, which is a congressionally funded research center for the VA. Where we're located has a huge veteran population. And I think you're going to see more and more our faculty get involved in targeting that and in partnering with the VA and doing some cool things.
I also want to call out Robbins College. Robbins has not only grown in terms of student population and what they're doing on the education front, they've really hired some great researchers, have gotten the most competitive kind of National Institute of Health funding, R01s from some of their new hires recently, and all things are looking up on that front.

Derek Smith:
Mm-hmm. Yeah, they're bringing in people from all over the country who are part of their online programs, coming to Waco for training, for some of those in-person classes. It's fun to see that, fun to see that for sure.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah, it's great to see that they're advancing on both education and research fronts.

Derek Smith:
Mm-hmm. Education is another area Baylor's had some real success over the years in working with the state in really supporting educators and families at that intersection of school and needs, different needs like autism and other challenges.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah, we've had a long history in the School of Education looking at disabilities, in particular autism as you talk about, and kind of the interface between public education and students or families with those needs. Tonya Davis has been successful in that area for quite some time. As Dean Hagenberg has come in, she's only added expertise in that area. More recently, we've recruited Eric Carter from Vanderbilt, which is going to broaden our look at disabilities in general, not just at how it intersects with the educational enterprise, but also how it intersects with communities of faith.
And over the years, the Texas Higher Ed Coordinating Board has been a fantastic supporter of the work that we do in the School of Ed and beyond in that space. So continue to look forward to the good things that they're doing in now the Moody School of Education.

Derek Smith:
Yeah, that's been an exciting gift, transformative in a lot of ways for sure with that Moody gift to name the School of Education. Let's focus now on aerospace. I think that's something that people from out of state, certainly with NASA being down here, picture when they think of Texas. But there's a lot of different ways that our researchers are impacting the aerospace industry.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah, we have folks like David Jack who have for quite some time looked at sort of material structure, material strength, how do you make it lighter, how do you make it stronger, really targeting the aerospace industry. More recently as the state has doubled down from a space standpoint, we have faculty across the university that are beginning to look at material things from sort of a space standpoint. Also, we've got a number of faculty that, you mentioned NASA, are funded by NASA to look at things that are way out in the future in terms of what we may see... in how we take images, right? New telescopes, new things, dusty plasmas, much more the fundamental science in space that may be harder to make connections to the applied at this point, but is absolutely the frontier of what we'll see next in that area. And so excited to continue to see growth in all those areas across the institution.

Derek Smith:
And as we're talking about these areas, Kevin, I think Texas is proud of its, what would you say, leadership in this area. We've been very competitive and lead the country in a lot of ways and Texas wants to continue to do so. I think it's neat that Baylor can play into that kind of impulse we all have to see our area continue to shine.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah, I agree 100%. And we were really fortunate last May to be able to bring in the Space Force, General Purdy, who's an alum of ours, all of his PEOs, many of the small and medium-sized businesses that are starting to engage in that space area, venture capital, and being able to have a position in that, highlight our researchers working in the space area, have the Texas Space Commission come to Baylor, come to Waco, spend a couple of days, a lot of excitement around that.

Derek Smith:
Well, that's great to see aerospace, one of these areas for sure. Other areas that are important, let's highlight a couple. First, let's look at water. Texas, we talked about growing. There's a constant need for water. The weather fluctuates. We've got a lot of great researchers looking in this area to see how we can keep our water clean, water quality, but also deal with the growth that Texas is experiencing.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah. Baylor's had a rich history in what I would say is traditional water quality research and maybe even some cutting edge water quality work in the contaminant space. More recently, we've added faculty like Ryan McManamay who look at it more from a water quantity perspective. And I think as you look at the data center conversation across the state, coupled with climate and the fact that we're in the south and temperatures are typically pretty hot, water quantity is going to be really important to the state moving forward and we're happy to be able to engage in that, not just on campus, but also through partnerships with other water groups across the state.
Thad Scott and our Center for Reservoir and Aquatic Systems Research has really done a great job recently reaching out and building those partnerships to the other state leaders in the water space. And I'm excited to see how that continues to grow as we move forward.

Derek Smith:
Yeah, we had Thad on with Brian Brooks a while back, and a lot of communities in Texas rely on them for information that they need to better serve their communities, which is cool to see.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah.

Derek Smith:
Another area is energy, and there's a lot of different ways that Baylor can focus on this, and we'll talk about some of them in the area of semiconductors and others, but Annette von Jouanne is someone in that... vehicles that use battery power in a number of different ways, has really leaned into leading that. Seems even more important as Texas grows.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah, I think so. I mean, we obviously are going to need energy diversification as we look to the future. And Annette has really been on the cutting edge of some things like wind energy and more recently, really electric energy, has neat projects contribute to an all-electric ship that the Navy has pursued forever. You can walk in her lab and see vehicles and things disassembled. And great opportunity for students to step into that space, learn about what are our energy challenges and what are the various ways that we can impact them as we move forward.

Derek Smith:
Well, you mentioned that she's worked with the Navy on an electric ship. That's one example of many of Baylor researchers doing research that supports our defense efforts to serve our war fighters, to keep our soldiers safe wherever they are. And that's been something that really goes back aways with Baylor.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah, I think it does. We've always kind of had a history of working in that space. It's something that's grown quite a bit within the last five years. You kind of mentioned we've been R1 for five years. I would say one of our fastest growing areas post-R1 has really been in sort of that defense security space. During that time, we recruited a couple of folks from the University of Alabama to bring the Point of Need Innovation Center here. Their work is deeply tied into the defense and partnerships in the defense industrial base, again around materials, but also in manufacturing. How do you manufacture in new and different ways? And perhaps more importantly, how do you manufacture at the point of need?
We mentioned space earlier. As you think about space, it would be much easier if we could manufacture things in space instead of making them here and then having to ship them there. You can also think about that in austere environments, which relates back to the military. They've got a big group of students, industry partners and federal sponsors in that space, and something we're really proud of. We are also seeing growth in the defense space out of Robbins College. One of their faculty members, Corey Smith, has recently developed sort of a first of its kind facility in our brick facility where they can look at really cold temperatures, really high altitudes. They can simulate that in a lab environment. They can look at sleep behavior, they can look at performance, and that could really have importance even to Texas.
Oddly enough, if there's a conflict in the Indo-Pacific, the likely scenario is troops in Alaska are going to go to the Indo-Pacific and troops from Texas are going to go to Alaska. And so being able to study what sort of physiological makeup is best suited for cold climate or perhaps adapts most rapidly is something that Corey and his group and collaborators, Michael Scullin, Jason Carter are looking at. Really excited to see what we can do in that ARCTOS space as we move forward.

Derek Smith:
As a preview, we're going to have a Corey Smith on a future Baylor Connections in the ARCTOS lab. And we were visiting, he took us inside there. I think it was 26 degrees below zero. That's quite a jolt, quite something you would not imagine as you're looking at the brick from the outside. Certainly not in this weather.

Kevin Chambliss:
No, that's correct. It's hard to believe we can be 104 outside and you could walk into brick and be at 26 below. But just a testament to the one of a kind facility that it really is, and we're looking forward to see research continue to grow out of that space.

Derek Smith:
And, Kevin, I'll mentioned, you were talking about the PONI Lab and how they can manufacture materials at the point of need. We've talked a number of research, and this is something that I think a lot of us don't think about, but what you're talking about is impacting supply chains. David Jack has talked about using recycled materials that can support strong parts of automobiles and maybe other planes and other things down the line. Julia Chan is talking about trying to recreate rare quantum materials to recreate things you find in nature but might be found halfway around the world. I think that's something a lot of us don't think about, but that ability to contract the supply chain and the time is really huge and it seems like that's something Baylor is quietly doing.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah. It's something that, as you mentioned, the PONI folks, some others in engineering... A big thing to think about is most of our manufacturing base, particularly in metals, typically comes out of cast or forge type parts, and those have really long lead times. Advanced manufacturing has the potential to cut that down from the order of months to a year, to on the matter of hours to days. And so big impact there. You also mentioned Julia Chan in the quantum space. Obviously as we think about quantum revolution that's likely to happen across the country, materials in that space, critical minerals are really important. And Julia and other colleagues from chemistry, from physics and from engineering are doing important things in that space that I really am excited to see how it contributes to that as that topic continues to grow nationally, but also within the state of Texas.

Derek Smith:
Well, Texas has put forward with it the Quantum Initiative, really wanted to be a leader in this area. So it's cool that Baylor can play into that.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah. I think Texas has recently said, "Hey, we want to play in this space." My counterpart at Texas A&M and College Station, Angela Wilson, has recently reached out to a lot of us and said, "Hey, how do we put together sort of a quantum collaboratory to begin to get researchers from all the various institutions in Texas and think about how do we organize in ways that, again, we can be competitive at a national, if not world-class level in making meaningful contributions in this area?"

Derek Smith:
And, Kevin, we can talk about a lot of other areas, but one final I want to mention to you is the area of semiconductors. They're in the news, we all use them in various ways, and we've got faculty approaching these from different angles.

Kevin Chambliss:
Yeah, we do. I mean, one that people may have heard about, Alan Wang in engineering, really kind of looks at sort of optoelectronic space and has made really significant discovery in sort of energy efficiency on CHIP. If you could scale the technology that he's demonstrated, it'd have really big positive impacts on energy usage and data centers. So really interesting from that space. In the same department, you've got JB Lee who's looking at chips and how do you apply them in the biomedical space or in the healthcare space.
And so I think our ability to have faculty coming at problems from different directions gives us an ability to be nimble, to move in the direction of where funding cycles go and where interest goes, and also contribute in pretty broad collaborative and interdisciplinary ways to some of these problems.

Derek Smith:
Well, you paint a great picture, and I know we've only really touched the surface of what all goes on here at Baylor in these areas. What I sense is Baylor's grown a lot in these areas and is continuing to grow. How much do you see that trend continuing in just the ways Baylor can impact these challenges going forward?

Kevin Chambliss:
Well, I think Baylor became R1 by growing our faculty and increasing our focus on research. I think as we continue to recruit new faculty, mentor them, grow them into this space, we'll simply continue to see further advances in the university's footprint in terms of both quantity and quality of research as things move forward. All signs point to great things to come on the horizon and excited to see where that goes.

Derek Smith:
Well, we're excited to see that as well, Kevin, and really appreciate you taking the time today to share with us. It's always exciting to see Baylor impact the world certainly. But I think looking close to home, we don't want to lose sight of that. It's fun to see how our researchers are making an impact. I think we all feel elements of Texas's growth that impact us on a daily basis, whether it's more cars on I-35, but also good things like new businesses, new restaurants. But it's kind of fun to talk to you about some of the things that are going on into the background a little bit, some of the elements that most of us don't see on a daily basis related to that growth and know that Baylor is impacting that.

Kevin Chambliss:
Well, really appreciate the opportunity. Love to talk about our research enterprise, love to brag on our researchers. As you said, I'm sure we left some really important things out, but hopefully we've given people an idea of the breadth and the capacity that we have for research, some of the great work that our folks are doing and how it hopefully will lead to great solutions right here at home in the state of Texas.

Derek Smith:
And again, Kevin, happy National Research Administrator Day to you and your team who are, as we talk, hard at work, keeping things moving here for Baylor.

Kevin Chambliss:
Well, thank you again for that, Derek, and I know the team will be greatly appreciative of that comment.

Derek Smith:
Appreciate that. Kevin Chambliss, Baylor's Vice Provost for Research, our guest today on Baylor Connections. Appreciate you joining us. I'm Derek Smith. A reminder, you can find this and other episodes in video form on Baylor University's YouTube channel. You can download the audio on iTunes and you can find everything, show notes and more related to each episode at baylor.edu/connections. Thanks for joining us on Baylor Connections.