Valentina Torres Nieto, a Turbomachinery Laboratory Graduate Student working within Dr. Marcia Cooper’s Dynamic Material Response Laboratory, has had a successful fall semester, bringing home two major awards for her research.
Texas A&M Energy Conference
The 2025 Texas A&M University Energy Conference, held September 25-26 and hosted by the Texas A&M Energy Society and Texas A&M Energy Institute, showcased recent advancements across the energy sector. Designed “to represent all students and researchers in the field of energy and provide them with a platform to develop and improve their training,” the conference featured technical talks, poster sessions and presentations from industry leaders.
Valentina was one of six candidates selected to deliver an oral presentation in the conference’s “Multifunctional Materials & Systems Biology for Energy Applications” category. Her presentation, titled “Designing metal-ceramic irregular metamaterials (MCiM) with tailored temperature-dependent electrical conductivity for energy resilience,” earned her the Best Oral Presentation Award.
Her research focused on designing metal-ceramic irregular metamaterials with tunable electrical conductivity across elevated temperatures. Using literature data alongside effective media and percolation models, she predicted the electrical behavior of various metal and ceramic granular mixtures and identified low-cost combinations capable of meeting the conductivity requirements of emerging energy technologies. The presentation highlighted the modeling framework, materials selections and the potential of granular composites as scalable alternatives for high-temperature applications.
“Winning the Best Oral Presentation award was truly an honor. I was proud to represent our lab and the research we do, and knowing the audience connected with my work made the experience even more meaningful,” Valentina shared.
Valentina also expressed appreciation for the support of her advisor, Dr. Marcia Cooper, adding, “Dr. Cooper’s mentorship has been essential to my growth as both a researcher and a communicator. She always encourages me to take on challenges… and to think about the bigger impact of our work… her guidance is a big part of why I felt confident enough to participate in both the Energy Conference and the 3MT competition.”
Texas A&M 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition
Soon after the Energy Conference, Valentina competed in the Texas A&M 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition, held on November 14, 2025. Originally developed by the University of Queensland and adopted by Texas A&M in 2013, the competition challenges graduate and doctoral students to present the core outcomes and broader impacts of their research in just three minutes.
Valentina was one of three finalists in the master’s division, while seven students competed in the doctoral division. Candidates were supported by a faculty chair, who offered guidance throughout the preparation process.
Her 3MT presentation, “Designing Composite Materials for a Sustainable Future”, explained how affordable metal and ceramic powders can be combined to create composite materials with temperature-dependent electrical conductivities. She described how these granular mixtures, composed of high- and low-conductivity particles, deform when compressed to create new intergranular connections, allowing electricity to flow at a controlled rate. Using both modeling and experimental methods, her work aims to develop low-cost, scalable composites capable of reliable performance in extreme thermal conditions. Valentina was honored with the Master’s People’s Choice Award.
Faculty Perspective
When asked about her role as faculty chair and research mentor, Dr. Marcia Cooper emphasized the value of holistic development in graduate education. “The faculty role is to develop students into technical leaders who are scientifically excellent and broadly skilled to impact their future organizations and our society.”
Regarding how these accomplishments reflect the work being done within the Dynamic Material Response Lab, Dr. Cooper shared, “It is very fulfilling to see a student be rewarded for their work—especially when they dedicate themselves to giving the task their best possible effort… At Texas A&M, everyone is performing novel research with the highest quality. In that sense, external recognition can be a complicated thing. It’s great when recognition comes to you, but it’s more likely to have sustained periods where your intense effort seems to go completely unnoticed. I encourage my students to confidently put themselves into positions where external recognition is a possibility but also help to foster emotional resilience where recognition may be absent. Ultimately, understanding how to develop internal satisfaction with your own work is critical for a sustained and fulfilling engineering career.”
The TEES Turbomachinery Laboratory congratulates Valentina Nieto Torres on her recent accomplishments, which reflect her research excellence and the supportive, collaborative environment fostered by the Laboratory’s faculty.
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ABOUT THE TURBOMACHINERY LABORATORY
The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) Turbomachinery Laboratory makes a vital impact on turbomachinery and related industries through research, education, and professional workforce development. Visit turbolab.tamu.edu for more information.
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