There’s never a dull moment at the Cockrell School of Engineering. In 2025, our courageous engineers made important discoveries, started groundbreaking initiatives and transformed industries.
Read on for just a few of our top stories of the year. We can’t wait to see what happens next year.
Jaydeep Kulkarni holding semiconductor circuit board at UT Austin’s Semiconductor Day.
10. Building the Building Blocks
When it comes to next-generation technology, you need two things to get started: computing power and powerful chips. The Cockrell School’s got both, between a vast increase in computing power at UT’s already massive supercomputing facility and a key semiconductor partnership with Emerson.
UT Austin alumnus and former U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.
9. A New Era of Study Abroad
Thanks to a transformational investment from alumnus and former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, engineering study abroad programs will be accessible to more students who would otherwise lack the financial means to participate.
Aerospace engineering students were invited to test out the new VR flight simulators.
8. VR Simulators Take Flight
UT is one of very few schools with a virtual reality flight simulator, and guess what, we’ve got two of them! The new simulators give aerospace engineering students the opportunity to improve their aircraft piloting and design skills.
Professor Nina Telang and students Sneha Ballabh and BP Rimal created an AI tutoring program.
7. AI Everywhere
Texas Engineers infused AI into a bunch of different research projects, including heart diagnostics, art restoration, chip design, materials discovery and even a new tutor for first-year students.
A forehead e-tattoo that can measure stress levels.
6. E-Tattoo Can Do
If you’re stressed out or dehydrated, electronic tattoos developed by Texas Engineer Nanshu Lu can tell. These devices are more comfortable for the user and enable improved monitoring outside typical clinical settings.
Cockrell’s new interdisciplinary programs include a collaboration between College of Pharmacy, College of Natural Sciences and Biomedical Engineering.
5. New Programs
The first classes of our new graduate programs in semiconductor science and engineering and pharmacoengineering stepped foot on the Forty Acres. And more exciting programs are on the way, including a new quantum science and engineering program for graduate students.
Portuguese government officials tour UT Austin to see the impact of their multi-year relationship.
4. Five More Years and a New Cancer Treatment
The UT Austin Portugal Program has led to many research breakthroughs over its more than 17 years. The latest: A light-based treatment for cancer that targets harmful cells and spares healthy ones. These breakthroughs are a big reason why the program just got renewed for another five years.
Texas Engineering students work on an autonomous drone that is designed to put out fires.
3. We’re on Fire
Texas Engineers are leading one of just 15 teams remaining in the worldwide XPrize Wildfire competition. They’re developing a fleet of drones to quickly locate and put out fires. And these aren’t the only Texas Engineers working to improve firefighting. Recent graduate Siddharth Thakur and his company Paradigm Robotics appeared on CNN to showcase their firefighting robot.
Texas Engineer faculty members Ellen Rathje and Dale Klein.
2. NAE’s Newest Texas Engineers
This year, five Texas Engineering faculty and alumni were elected to the National Academy of Engineers, one of the highest honors in the engineering field. Throw your horns up for faculty members Ellen Rathje and Dale E. Klein and alumni Michael Krames, Mark Papermaster, and Jimmy Don Wiethorn.
A Rendering of the Autry C. Stephens Engineering Discovery Building.
1. Third New Engineering Building Opens in 2026
The future home of our petroleum and geosystems engineering and chemical engineering departments will be named for the pioneer of the Permian Basin, Autry C. Stephens. The Autry C. Stephens Engineering Discovery Building is set to open in 2026, marking the third new Cockrell School building in the past decade, following the Gary L. Thomas Energy Engineering Building and Engineering Education and Research Center.