What makes the difference is the willingness to step forward—to see an opportunity where others see uncertainty, to embrace responsibility before someone else asks, and to turn knowledge into meaningful action.
That mindset has never been more valuable. In a world shaped by rapid technological change, scientific discovery, and global complexity, industries increasingly rely on people who can translate knowledge into real-world solutions—not simply master existing ones.
Progress depends on individuals who are willing to think critically, collaborate across disciplines, and apply their skills with purpose in service of something larger than themselves.
At Texas A&M University, knowledge comes with a larger responsibility: to put it to work. Through an educational experience grounded in learning, leadership, and service, Aggies are encouraged not simply to understand the world, but to engage with it, applying what they know to solve problems, strengthen communities, and improve the lives of others.
The result is a culture where curiosity is matched by accountability, and learning becomes a foundation for lasting impact.
Whether launching a business, helping communities turn research into better outcomes, or leading one of the world’s most consequential infrastructure projects, the individuals featured here reflect a shared Aggie instinct: when something needs solving, improving, or leading, they show up.
Through the stories of a recent graduate, a Texas A&M educator and entrepreneur, and a former student, you see how the instinct to accept responsibility, work with others, and act with purpose can be shaped and carried forward across a lifetime.
What makes the difference is the willingness to step forward—to see an opportunity where others see uncertainty, to embrace responsibility before someone else asks, and to turn knowledge into meaningful action.
That mindset has never been more valuable. In a world shaped by rapid technological change, scientific discovery, and global complexity, industries increasingly rely on people who can translate knowledge into real-world solutions—not simply master existing ones.
Progress depends on individuals who are willing to think critically, collaborate across disciplines, and apply their skills with purpose in service of something larger than themselves.
At Texas A&M University, knowledge comes with a larger responsibility: to put it to work. Through an educational experience grounded in learning, leadership, and service, Aggies are encouraged not simply to understand the world, but to engage with it, applying what they know to solve problems, strengthen communities, and improve the lives of others.
The result is a culture where curiosity is matched by accountability, and learning becomes a foundation for lasting impact.
Whether launching a business, helping communities turn research into better outcomes, or leading one of the world’s most consequential infrastructure projects, the individuals featured here reflect a shared Aggie instinct: when something needs solving, improving, or leading, they show up.
Through the stories of a recent graduate, a Texas A&M educator and entrepreneur, and a former student, you see how the instinct to accept responsibility, work with others, and act with purpose can be shaped and carried forward across a lifetime.
Katie Calderon didn't set out to become an engineer or an entrepreneur—she set out to solve a problem she experienced firsthand. As a mechanical and manufacturing engineering student at Texas A&M University and founder of Club Girl Golf, she recognized a gap in the golf equipment market and applied her engineering skills to design products that better serve a new generation of golfers.
What began as an idea grew into an award-winning business, supported by a thriving social media community and a mission to make golf club design more accessible. Along the way, Calderon launched the Monarch Putter, demonstrating how technical expertise, creativity, and curiosity can turn a personal challenge into meaningful innovation.
I started Club Girl Golf after seeing the same problem over and over again while working as a golf club fitter. Almost every woman I fit needed expensive custom clubs because most women's clubs are still designed with a "shrink it and pink it" approach—taking men's clubs and changing the length and color instead of designing for women's swings.
Realizing that the major manufacturers followed this approach was the turning point for me. When I shared my desire to fix it with my mentor, Professor Chris Curran, at Texas A&M's Meloy Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program, he encouraged me to try to solve the problem myself. That encouragement and guidance became the start of Club Girl Golf.
Building Club Girl Golf has come with lots of setbacks, but the biggest was figuring out manufacturing. As a student funding the company through pitch competitions and grants, I needed a process that was both affordable and scalable. I was turned down countless times because my initial production volumes were small and many people didn't take me seriously.
Instead of giving up, I kept reaching out until I eventually cold-called HP's support line. That unexpected conversation led to a partnership using HP's 3D printing technology, and within months we were producing prototypes and shipping our first customer orders. The experience helped to reinforce my belief that persistence often creates huge opportunities you could have never thought possible.
Texas A&M gave me far more than an engineering education. It gave me the confidence and support system to build a company. My mentors, Blake Petty and Chris Curran, encouraged me to turn a problem I had experienced into a real solution and a real business. My engineering coursework taught me how to design and manufacture products, while the Meloy Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program helped me to develop the idea behind Club Girl Golf.
The McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship then provided mentorship, pitch competitions, and resources that helped transform the idea into a business. Texas A&M taught me that solving meaningful problems requires technical skills, collaboration, and the willingness to keep moving forward.
Katie Calderon didn't set out to become an engineer or an entrepreneur—she set out to solve a problem she experienced firsthand. As a mechanical and manufacturing engineering student at Texas A&M University and founder of Club Girl Golf, she recognized a gap in the golf equipment market and applied her engineering skills to design products that better serve a new generation of golfers.
What began as an idea grew into an award-winning business, supported by a thriving social media community and a mission to make golf club design more accessible. Along the way, Calderon launched the Monarch Putter, demonstrating how technical expertise, creativity, and curiosity can turn a personal challenge into meaningful innovation.
I started Club Girl Golf after seeing the same problem over and over again while working as a golf club fitter. Almost every woman I fit needed expensive custom clubs because most women's clubs are still designed with a "shrink it and pink it" approach—taking men's clubs and changing the length and color instead of designing for women's swings.
Realizing that the major manufacturers followed this approach was the turning point for me. When I shared my desire to fix it with my mentor, Professor Chris Curran, at Texas A&M's Meloy Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program, he encouraged me to try to solve the problem myself. That encouragement and guidance became the start of Club Girl Golf.
Building Club Girl Golf has come with lots of setbacks, but the biggest was figuring out manufacturing. As a student funding the company through pitch competitions and grants, I needed a process that was both affordable and scalable. I was turned down countless times because my initial production volumes were small and many people didn't take me seriously.
Instead of giving up, I kept reaching out until I eventually cold-called HP's support line. That unexpected conversation led to a partnership using HP's 3D printing technology, and within months we were producing prototypes and shipping our first customer orders. The experience helped to reinforce my belief that persistence often creates huge opportunities you could have never thought possible.
Texas A&M gave me far more than an engineering education. It gave me the confidence and support system to build a company. My mentors, Blake Petty and Chris Curran, encouraged me to turn a problem I had experienced into a real solution and a real business. My engineering coursework taught me how to design and manufacture products, while the Meloy Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program helped me to develop the idea behind Club Girl Golf.
The McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship then provided mentorship, pitch competitions, and resources that helped transform the idea into a business. Texas A&M taught me that solving meaningful problems requires technical skills, collaboration, and the willingness to keep moving forward.
Tyler Prochnow, PhD, is an associate professor of health behavior in the School of Public Health at Texas A&M University, where he directs the COHESION Lab. His work centers on a deceptively simple question: How the people and communities around us shape our health.
Through research, teaching, and community partnerships, Prochnow works at the intersection of education and action, helping transform research into practical approaches that strengthen physical activity, mental health, and social connection. By partnering with organizations across Texas and mentoring the next generation of public health leaders, he demonstrates how ideas can move beyond the laboratory to create meaningful impact—connecting scientific discovery with the people and communities it is intended to serve.
Working with Boys & Girls Clubs, I noticed something: These are the places where kids find each other, staffed by people who care deeply about their community and its future. What they don't always have is the research capacity to capture what's happening in that gym. So, I listened first. The most useful thing I could bring wasn't a study design; it was asking what would actually help.
The best questions come from the people doing the work. Directors told me their girls needed a space for social-emotional learning. We built EmpowerHER around that, an eight-session summer program pairing physical activity with empathy and relationship skills, designed, run, and evaluated by my students. The girls made more new friendships that summer than their peers. Connection was the outcome, and we could show it.
My first few grant applications were rejected, and the ones that got funded didn't always go to plan either. Recruitment lagged, schedules shifted, and protocols that looked clean on paper met the reality of a world in motion. What got me through wasn't grit. It was people. Co-investigators who brought expertise I didn't have and moral support I didn't know I needed. Mentors who shared their experience generously and reminded me these were lessons, not verdicts. Community partners who reminded me what the work was for. Students who brought new energy and ideas I hadn't considered.
I study social networks for a living, but those experiences showed me I was living inside my own findings. Nobody gets through the hard part alone. We need to rely on others and be the person others can rely on with kindness and empathy. Connection isn't just what I study. It's what holds the work together.
The instinct to reach out and connect with others came from my parents. At Texas A&M, it's how real impact gets done. My work sits at the intersection of health, place, and social connection, which means I have to draw on expertise well beyond my own and trust people to carry pieces I can't. I've collaborated with colleagues in education, statistics, architecture, and geography, and every one of those partnerships made the work better than I could have made it alone.
That shapes how I run my COHESION Lab. Students get real projects, real communities, real stakes—not just papers. For example, we host an annual Labsgiving, creating community and a real place here, not just a desk. Honestly, the part I love most is being a connector: students to experiences, faculty to each other, communities to the resources they need. Connection and collaboration outlast any single study, and here that happens every day.
Tyler Prochnow, PhD, is an associate professor of health behavior in the School of Public Health at Texas A&M University, where he directs the COHESION Lab. His work centers on a deceptively simple question: How the people and communities around us shape our health.
Through research, teaching, and community partnerships, Prochnow works at the intersection of education and action, helping transform research into practical approaches that strengthen physical activity, mental health, and social connection. By partnering with organizations across Texas and mentoring the next generation of public health leaders, he demonstrates how ideas can move beyond the laboratory to create meaningful impact—connecting scientific discovery with the people and communities it is intended to serve.
Working with Boys & Girls Clubs, I noticed something: These are the places where kids find each other, staffed by people who care deeply about their community and its future. What they don't always have is the research capacity to capture what's happening in that gym. So, I listened first. The most useful thing I could bring wasn't a study design; it was asking what would actually help.
The best questions come from the people doing the work. Directors told me their girls needed a space for social-emotional learning. We built EmpowerHER around that, an eight-session summer program pairing physical activity with empathy and relationship skills, designed, run, and evaluated by my students. The girls made more new friendships that summer than their peers. Connection was the outcome, and we could show it.
My first few grant applications were rejected, and the ones that got funded didn't always go to plan either. Recruitment lagged, schedules shifted, and protocols that looked clean on paper met the reality of a world in motion. What got me through wasn't grit. It was people. Co-investigators who brought expertise I didn't have and moral support I didn't know I needed. Mentors who shared their experience generously and reminded me these were lessons, not verdicts. Community partners who reminded me what the work was for. Students who brought new energy and ideas I hadn't considered.
I study social networks for a living, but those experiences showed me I was living inside my own findings. Nobody gets through the hard part alone. We need to rely on others and be the person others can rely on with kindness and empathy. Connection isn't just what I study. It's what holds the work together.
The instinct to reach out and connect with others came from my parents. At Texas A&M, it's how real impact gets done. My work sits at the intersection of health, place, and social connection, which means I have to draw on expertise well beyond my own and trust people to carry pieces I can't. I've collaborated with colleagues in education, statistics, architecture, and geography, and every one of those partnerships made the work better than I could have made it alone.
That shapes how I run my COHESION Lab. Students get real projects, real communities, real stakes—not just papers. For example, we host an annual Labsgiving, creating community and a real place here, not just a desk. Honestly, the part I love most is being a connector: students to experiences, faculty to each other, communities to the resources they need. Connection and collaboration outlast any single study, and here that happens every day.
Ilya Espino de Marotta has spent her career helping lead one of the world's most critical pieces of infrastructure. A Texas A&M University at Galveston graduate in marine engineering and a 35-year veteran of the Panama Canal, she played a key leadership role in the canal's roughly $5 billion expansion before being appointed in 2026 to a seven-year term leading the Panama Canal Authority.
Her work carries global significance, supporting the movement of goods, energy, and food through one of the world's busiest trade routes while helping ensure the safe, efficient operation of a system that underpins international commerce. It is leadership defined by technical expertise, trust, and responsibility at extraordinary scale.
I don't think there was one specific moment. Looking back, taking ownership has simply been my approach throughout my career. I'm a natural problem solver. When I see an issue that needs attention, I don't tend to wait for someone else to address it—I start looking for ways to help move things forward.
Sometimes those challenges were outside my immediate responsibilities, but if someone came to me with a problem, my instinct was to act. That mindset has shaped my career and opened doors to opportunities I never expected.
One of the most challenging moments of my career came during the Panama Canal Expansion Program, when construction work was temporarily halted in 2014. It was a difficult day. I remember going home early, feeling the weight of everything that was at stake. I allowed myself time to process it, but by the next morning I was ready to get back to work, focus on solutions, and continue the negotiations.
What helped me move forward was faith, teamwork, and a shared determination to solve the problem. During difficult moments, I have learned that dwelling on setbacks does not move you forward; bringing people together, listening to different perspectives, and taking the next step does. Those experiences taught me that I am resilient, but also that resilience is rarely an individual effort. It comes from trusting your team, keeping a clear head, and believing that even the toughest challenges can be overcome when people work together.
Texas A&M, especially my time at Galveston, reinforced the importance of teamwork and mutual support. We were a small community, and people helped each other succeed. I remember tutoring classmates in subjects I was strong in, while others helped me develop skills where they had more experience. It never felt like a competition. It felt like we were all working toward the same goal.
That sense of camaraderie stayed with me throughout my career. It shaped the way I lead teams today: If one person succeeds, we all succeed, and together we can accomplish far more than any individual can alone.
Ilya Espino de Marotta has spent her career helping lead one of the world's most critical pieces of infrastructure. A Texas A&M University at Galveston graduate in marine engineering and a 35-year veteran of the Panama Canal, she played a key leadership role in the canal's roughly $5 billion expansion before being appointed in 2026 to a seven-year term leading the Panama Canal Authority.
Her work carries global significance, supporting the movement of goods, energy, and food through one of the world's busiest trade routes while helping ensure the safe, efficient operation of a system that underpins international commerce. It is leadership defined by technical expertise, trust, and responsibility at extraordinary scale.
I don't think there was one specific moment. Looking back, taking ownership has simply been my approach throughout my career. I'm a natural problem solver. When I see an issue that needs attention, I don't tend to wait for someone else to address it—I start looking for ways to help move things forward.
Sometimes those challenges were outside my immediate responsibilities, but if someone came to me with a problem, my instinct was to act. That mindset has shaped my career and opened doors to opportunities I never expected.
One of the most challenging moments of my career came during the Panama Canal Expansion Program, when construction work was temporarily halted in 2014. It was a difficult day. I remember going home early, feeling the weight of everything that was at stake. I allowed myself time to process it, but by the next morning I was ready to get back to work, focus on solutions, and continue the negotiations.
What helped me move forward was faith, teamwork, and a shared determination to solve the problem. During difficult moments, I have learned that dwelling on setbacks does not move you forward; bringing people together, listening to different perspectives, and taking the next step does. Those experiences taught me that I am resilient, but also that resilience is rarely an individual effort. It comes from trusting your team, keeping a clear head, and believing that even the toughest challenges can be overcome when people work together.
Texas A&M, especially my time at Galveston, reinforced the importance of teamwork and mutual support. We were a small community, and people helped each other succeed. I remember tutoring classmates in subjects I was strong in, while others helped me develop skills where they had more experience. It never felt like a competition. It felt like we were all working toward the same goal.
That sense of camaraderie stayed with me throughout my career. It shaped the way I lead teams today: If one person succeeds, we all succeed, and together we can accomplish far more than any individual can alone.
Although their journeys have taken Katie Calderon, Tyler Prochnow, and Ilya Espino de Marotta in very different directions, their stories reflect the same Aggie instinct: when something needs solving, improving, building, or leading, show up. Bring what you know. Bring others with you. Take responsibility for what happens next.
Across generations, disciplines, and continents, they demonstrate that knowledge matters most when it is put to work, leadership matters most when it serves others, and individual capability becomes something larger when people act together.
Although their journeys have taken Katie Calderon, Tyler Prochnow, and Ilya Espino de Marotta in very different directions, their stories reflect the same Aggie instinct: when something needs solving, improving, building, or leading, show up. Bring what you know. Bring others with you. Take responsibility for what happens next.
Across generations, disciplines, and continents, they demonstrate that knowledge matters most when it is put to work, leadership matters most when it serves others, and individual capability becomes something larger when people act together.
Established in 1876 as Texas’s first public institution of higher education, Texas A&M University is one of the nation’s largest public research universities and a land-, sea-, and space-grant institution. Rooted in military tradition and guided by the Aggie core values of excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect, and selfless service, Texas A&M develops leaders of character, advances research of consequence, and works to solve pressing challenges facing Texas, the nation, and the world.
Illustrations by Texas A&M alum Kara Mohr.
Established in 1876 as Texas’s first public institution of higher education, Texas A&M University is one of the nation’s largest public research universities and a land-, sea-, and space-grant institution. Rooted in military tradition and guided by the Aggie core values of excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect, and selfless service, Texas A&M develops leaders of character, advances research of consequence, and works to solve pressing challenges facing Texas, the nation, and the world.
Illustrations by Texas A&M University alum Kara Mohr.
