University of Houston upgrades to contactless market technology

new to campus

Contact-free market shopping has come to campus at UH. Photo courtesy of UH

A convenience store on campus at the University of Houston just got a little more, well, convenient — and a whole lot safer.

UH and its dining services partner, Chartwells Higher Education, have partnered with tech company Standard to upgrade the check-out process of convenience shopping. The technology is easy to install and can retrofit any convenience store to a contact-less process.

"Students' tastes change constantly, and we're well equipped to handle that. But their shopping preferences evolve too, and we want to continue providing new and unique shopping experiences that are unexpected on a college campus," says David Riddle, vice president of operations for Chartwells Higher Ed, and district manager for UH System Dining, in a press release. "This is the future of shopping, and with autonomous checkout through Standard, we've made it as easy, safe and convenient as possible for students to come in, get what they need, and go."

The store, called Market Next, is located at UH's Technology Bridge and opened earlier this month. Enabled by cameras and easy-to-use scanners, the store operates 24 hours a day and is also designed for quick service for students on the go. The fastest shopping trip recorded by Standard is 2.3 seconds.

"Market Next is the first retail store in the world to be retrofitted for a 100 percent cashierless, checkout-free experience," says Jordan Fisher, co-founder and CEO of Standard, in the release. "Our platform is the only system on the market proven to retrofit an entire retail experience. Innovative retailers like Chartwells use the AI-powered Standard platform to enable shoppers to grab any product they want and simply walk out, without waiting in line. We are excited to partner with Chartwells to deliver this groundbreaking technology to more locations around the country."

Chartwells is working with Standard to bring more of these stores across the country — as well as more itterations on the UH campus.

"Checkout-free technology is an innovation that will make our students' lives a little easier and a lot safer. This is the new standard for campus safety that is important to students today and for the foreseeable future," says Emily Messa, associate vice chancellor and associate vice president for administration at UH, in the release. "That's why we will plan to convert additional Market stores on campus to this technology in the coming year."

The University of Houston campus has 30 new members — self-driving, food-delivering robots. Photo courtesy of UH

University of Houston rolls out food delivery robots

on the move

For a small delivery fee of $1.99, students, faculty, and staff across the University of Houston campus can now get their lunch delivered by self-driving robots.

Thirty of San Francisco-based Starship Technologies' autonomous delivery robots now roam the campus thanks to a partnership with New York-based Chartwells Higher Education. The Houston campus is the first to roll out robotic food deliveries.

"This revolutionary delivery method will make it more convenient for the campus community to take advantage of our diverse dining program from anywhere on campus while expanding the hours of operation," says Emily Messa, associate vice president for administration, in a news release. "By opening our campus to this innovative service, which is paid for by the customers, the university didn't have to spend any money purchasing the technology, yet we're enhancing our food delivery capabilities."

Through the Starship Deliveries app, which is available on iOS and Android, users can select from 11 dining institutions and then identify where they are on campus. The platform allows the user to track the progress, and the device can hold up to 20 lbs of food and has the space for about three shopping bags of groceries.

"This increases our capacity to reach more customers, and I expect the robots will quickly become part of campus life," says David Riddle, Chartwells resident district manager, in a news release. (Chartwells manages UH Dining). "Robot delivery will also grow opportunities for UH Dining employees by increasing service hours and growing sales. It has also created additional jobs for students dedicated specifically to servicing the autonomous robots. It's an important advancement for foodservice at UH."

Using machine learning, artificial intelligence and sensors, the company's robots have driven over 350,000 miles and completed over 150,000 deliveries. The Starship robots "can cross streets, climb curbs, travel at night and operate in both rain and snow," per the release.

"Robotic delivery is affordable, convenient and environmentally friendly," says Ryan Tuohy, senior vice president of business development for Starship, in the release. "We're excited to start offering students, staff and faculty at Houston delivery within minutes when they need it most."

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CPRIT CEO: Houston’s $2B in funding is transforming cancer research and prevention

fighting cancer

With its plethora of prestigious health care organizations like the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, UTHealth Houston, and the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston sits at the heart of cancer research and prevention in Texas.

Of course, it takes piles of cash to support Houston’s status as the state’s hub for cancer research and prevention. Much of that money comes from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).

Data supplied by CPRIT shows organizations in Harris County gained $2.3 billion in institute funding from 2009 through 2025, or nearly $145 million per year. That represents almost 60 percent of the roughly $4 billion that CPRIT has granted to Texas institutions over a 16-year period.

“The life sciences ecosystem that has developed and changed in Houston is phenomenal,” Kristen Doyle, who became the agency’s CEO in July 2024, tells InnovationMap. “In the next decade, we will look back and see a great transformation.”

That ecosystem includes more than 1,100 life sciences and biotech companies, according to the Greater Houston Partnership.

Houston plays critical role in clinical trials

Texas voters approved the creation of CPRIT in 2007. Twelve years later, voters agreed to earmark an extra $3 billion for CPRIT, bringing the state agency’s total investment in cancer research and prevention to $6 billion.

To date, CPRIT money has gone toward recruiting 344 cancer researchers to Texas (mainly to Houston) and has supported cancer prevention services for millions of Texans in the state’s 254 counties. CPRIT funding has also helped establish, expand, or relocate 25 cancer-focused companies. In Houston, MD Anderson ranks as the No. 1 recipient of CPRIT funding.

Regarding cancer research, Doyle says Houston plays a critical role in clinical trials.

“[Clinical trials are] something that CPRIT has focused on more and more. Brilliant discoveries are crucial to this whole equation of solving the cancer problem,” Doyle says. “But if those brilliant ideas stay in the labs, then we’ve all failed.”

Researchers conduct more clinical trials in Houston than anywhere else in the U.S., the Greater Houston Partnership says.

Doyle, a 20-year survivor of leukemia, notes that a minority of eligible patients participate in clinical trials for cancer treatments, “and that’s one of the reasons that it takes so long to get a promising drug to market.”

An estimated 7 percent of cancer patients sign up for clinical trials, according to a study published in 2024 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

MD Anderson takes on cancer prevention

Doyle also notes that Houston is leading the charge in cancer prevention.

“We get some national recognition for programs that have been developed in Houston that then can be replicated in other parts of the country,” she says.

Much of the work in Houston focusing on cancer prevention takes place at MD Anderson. The hospital reports that it has received more than $725 million from the CPRIT since 2007, representing approximately 18 percent of CPRIT’s total awards.

“These efforts can have profound impact on the lives of patients and their families, and this funding ensures our exemplary clinicians and scientists can continue working together to drive breakthroughs that advance our mission to end cancer,” Dr. Giulio Draetta, chief scientific officer at MD Anderson, said in a November news release, following the most recent CPRIT award for the hospital totalling more than $29 million.

CPRIT funding for Houston institutions supplements the more than $4.5 billion in federal funding for health and life sciences research and innovations that the Houston area received from 2020 to 2024, according to the Greater Houston Partnership.

“We are curing cancer every single day,” Doyle says of CPRIT. “Every step that we are taking — whether that’s funding great ideas or funding the clinical trials that are bringing promising drugs to Texas and to the world — we are making a difference.”

Houston energy tech co. breaks ground on low-cost hydrogen pilot plant

Coming Soon

Houston’s Lummus Technology and Advanced Ionics have broken ground on their hydrogen pilot plant at Lummus’ R&D facility in Pasadena, Texas.

The plant will support Advanced Ionics’ cutting-edge electrolyzer technology, which aims to deliver high-efficiency hydrogen production with reduced energy requirements.

“By demonstrating Advanced Ionics’ technology at our state-of-the-art R&D facility, we are leveraging the expertise of our scientists and R&D team, plus our proven track record of developing breakthrough technologies,” Leon de Bruyn, president and CEO of Lummus, said in a news release. “This will help us accelerate commercialization of the technology and deliver scalable, cost-effective and sustainable green hydrogen solutions to our customers.”

Advanced Ionics is a Milwaukee-based low-cost green hydrogen technology provider. Its electrolyzer converts process and waste heat into green hydrogen for less than a dollar per kilogram, according to the company. The platform's users include industrial hydrogen producers looking to optimize sustainability at an affordable cost.

Lummus, a global energy technology company, will operate the Advanced Ionics electrolyzer and manage the balance of plant systems.

In 2024, Lummus and Advanced Ionics established their partnership to help advance the production of cost-effective and sustainable hydrogen technology. Lummus Venture Capital also invested an undisclosed amount into Advanced Ionics at the time.

“Our collaboration with Lummus demonstrates the power of partnerships in driving the energy transition forward,” Ignacio Bincaz, CEO of Advanced Ionics, added in the news release. “Lummus serves as a launchpad for technologies like ours, enabling us to validate performance and integration under real-world conditions. This milestone proves that green hydrogen can be practical and economically viable, and it marks another key step toward commercial deployment.”

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This article originally appeared on EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

TMC launches new biotech partnership with Republic of Korea

international collaboration

Houston's Texas Medical Center has launched its new TMC Republic of Korea BioBridge.

The new partnership brings together the TMC with the Osong Medical Innovation Foundation, or KBIOHealth. The Biobridge aims to support the commercialization of Korean biotech and life science startups in the U.S., foster clinical research, and boost collaboration in the public, private and academic sectors.

Through the partnership, TMC will also develop a Global Innovators Launch Pad to foster U.S. market entry for international health care companies. Founders will be selected to participate in the 10-week program at the TMC Innovation Factory in Houston.

“Gene and cell therapies are driving biotech innovation, opening possibilities for treating diseases once thought untreatable," William McKeon, president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center, said in a news release. "Expanding biomanufacturing capacity is essential to delivering the next wave of these therapies, and partnerships with leading innovators will strengthen our efforts in Houston and internationally.”

McKeon officially signed the TMC Korea BioBridge Memorandum of Understanding with Myoung Su Lee, chairman of KBIOHealth, in South Korea in October.

"This collaboration marks a significant milestone for Korea’s biohealth ecosystem, creating a powerful bridge between Osong and Houston," Lee added in the release. "By combining KBIOHealth’s strength in research infrastructure and Korea’s biotech talent with TMC’s global network and accelerator platform, we aim to accelerate innovation and bring transformative solutions to patients worldwide.”

This is the seventh international strategic partnership for the TMC. It launched its first BioBridge with the Health Informatics Society of Australia in 2016. It launched its TMC Japan BioBridge, focused on advancing cancer treatments, last year. It also has BioBridge partnerships with the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark and the United Kingdom.

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