Editor's note: Every week, I introduce you to a handful of Houston innovators to know recently making headlines with news of innovative technology, investment activity, and more. This week's batch includes an academic researcher, an energy tech leader, and a recently passed Houston innovation champion.
Ken Nguyen, principal technical program manager at bp
Ken Nguyen, principal technical program manager at bp, joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss the company's new partnership with NASA. Photo courtesy of bp
The recently announced partnership between bp and NASA is a match made in Houston. The energy giant, which as its United States headquarters in Houston, entered into a Space Act Agreement with NASA to combine resources and efforts with innovation in mind.
"Houston has always been known as the Space City, and we're also known as the Energy Capital of the World, but there hasn't always been collaboration," Ken Nguyen, principal technical program manager at bp, says on the Houston Innovators Podcast. "The challenges that NASA is facing is very similar to the challenges that the oil industry faces — we operate in very harsh environments, safety is the most critical aspect of our operation, and now the economic business model for NASA has changed."
Nguyen explains that while both bp and NASA are navigating similar challenges and changes within their industry, they are going about it in different ways. That's where the opportunity to collaborate comes in. Read more.
Paul Frison, founder of the Houston Technology Center
Paul Frison, the founder of the Houston Technology Center, has died. Photo via dignitymemorial.com
The Houston innovation ecosystem is mourning the loss of one of its early leaders, Paul Frison, who died on September 5. He was 87.
A long-time Houston businessman, Frison founded the Houston Technology Center in 1999 and served as its CEO and president. The organization evolved into Houston Exponential several years ago. Frison remained active within Houston innovation until 2020.
“Paul Frison was a visionary and energetic leader who always presented a positive outlook on what the Houston technology entrepreneurship community could become," Brad Burke, associate vice president for industry and new ventures at Rice University's Office of Innovation, remembers. "He was one of the pioneers in the community who established the Houston Technology Center as one of the early leaders of the Houston ecosystem. I admired how he helped launch the ecosystem and created the platform for many others to build upon.” Read more.
Alamgir Karim, professor at the University of Houston
Alamgir Karim was instrumental in the new discovery. Photo Courtesy of University of Houston Office of Media Relations
A flask of Houston’s rain helped answer a long-running question about the origin of cellular life.
The solution is proposed by two University of Houston scientists, William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical Engineering (UH ChBE) former grad student Aman Agrawal (now a postdoctoral researcher at University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering) and Alamgir Karim, UH Dow Chair and Welch Foundation Professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and director of both the International Polymer & Soft Matter Center and the Materials Engineering Program at UH. They were joined by UChicago PME Dean Emeritus Matthew Tirrell and Nobel Prize-winning biologist Jack Szostak in an article published last week in Scientific Advances. Read more.