A $100 million fund at The Texas A&M University System known as the Chancellor’s Research Initiative (CRI) is credited for successfully attracting four world-renowned scholars and researchers to elevate the engineering research portfolio: Christodoulos A. Floudas, professor of engineering and applied science, Princeton University; E.N. Pistikopoulos, professor of chemical engineering, Imperial College of London; Alan Needleman, professor of materials science and engineering in the College of Engineering, University of North Texas; and Peter M. Rentzepis, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, University of California at Irvine.