Local university gets green light to launch new building at Houston Spaceport

cleared for takeoff

City of Houston has entered into an agreement with Texas Southern University to develop an aviation program at the Houston Spaceport. Photo via fly2houston.com

With a financial boost from the City of Houston, the aviation program at Texas Southern University will operate an aeronautical training hub on a two-acre site at Ellington Airport.

The Houston Airport System — which runs Ellington Airport, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Hobby Airport, and Houston Spaceport — is chipping in as much as $5 billion to build the facility, which will train aeronautical professionals.

On May 3, the Houston City Council authorized a five-year agreement between the airport system and TSU to set up and operate the facility.

The facility will feature:

  • A 22,000-square-foot aircraft hangar
  • 20,000 square feet of aircraft apron
  • 7,200 square feet of office and training space
  • A 12,000-gallon, above-ground aviation fuel tank
  • Vehicle parking

Thanks to NASA and United Airlines, among other employers, Houston is home to more than 500 aviation and aerospace companies. Over 23,000 people in the Houston area work in the aviation and aerospace sector.

“The air transportation industry in Houston and across the United States is growing and provides career opportunities for those with the skills needed to succeed,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says in a news release.

Mario Diaz, director of aviation for Houston’s airports, says the new training center will “invest in and inspire the next generation of aviation professionals.”

“The facility at Ellington Airport continues the illustrious story of Houston’s aeronautical history. … Soon, students at Texas Southern University will apply the crucial lessons learned at Ellington Airport to revolutionize the aviation industry,” says Diaz.

Terence Fontaine, executive director of aviation at TSU, says the facility will house his program’s eight aircraft. It also will provide “an enhanced environment for student learning opportunities as we work to address our nation’s critical aviation needs,” says Fontaine.

TSU’s College of Science, Engineering & Technology offers a bachelor’s degree in aviation science management for students pursuing careers at airports, airlines, air traffic control centers, and other employers in the aviation sector. More than 100 students are enrolled in the program.

In January, United CEO Scott Kirby warned that due to shortages of pilots and other airline workers, plans to bulk up capacity in 2023 and beyond “are simply unachievable.”

He noted that United, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines alone intend to hire about 8,000 pilots this year, compared with a historical range of 6,000 to 7,000 pilots per year.

“We believe any airline that tries to run at the same staffing levels that it had pre-pandemic is bound to fail,” Kirby said on a United earnings call, “and likely to tip over to meltdown anytime there are weather or air traffic control stresses in the system.”

Houston serves as one of United’s hubs. The local hub employs more than 12,000 people. On May 4, the airline held a career fair aimed at filling jobs at George Bush Intercontinental. United plans to add 3,000 employees in Houston by 2026.

A new initiative from the city of Houston and Hertz aims to boost Houston's electric vehicle rental fleet. Photo via Mayor Sylvester Turner/Facebook

This new partnership will triple Houston's electric vehicle rental fleet

seeing green

A new partnership between The Hertz Corp. and the City of Houston will bring 2,100 rental electric vehicles to Houston, according to an announcement from the organizations earlier this week.

Dubbed Hertz Electrifies Houston, the program aims to boost Houston's EV rental fleet, as well add to the city's charging infrastructure and EV education and training opportunities.

The new vehicles will come from automakers Tesla, Polestar, and GM and can be rented to leisure and business customers, as well as rideshare drivers.

In partnership with bp pulse, Hertz Electrifies Houston will also bring a new EV fast-charging hub to Hobby Airport that's designed to serve ride-hail, taxi fleets and the general public.

"Our goal is to convert all non-emergency, light-duty municipal vehicles to electric by 2030," Mayor Sylvester Turner says in a statement. "This partnership with Hertz will provide an invaluable boost to achieve this goal and the goal of our Climate Action Plan for Houston to be a net-zero city by 2050."

In addition to the new fleet and charging hub, Hertz announced it will also donate an EV to Lone Star College-North Harris to help the college provide EV training to students in its auto servicing curriculum.

"Lone Star College-North Harris houses one of top automotive programs in Texas," Archie Blanson, president of Lone Star College-North Harris, says in the statement. "To make our students competitive and meet industry demand, we must ensure we are bringing the latest technologies, including a diversified fleet of EVs into the classroom.”

Earlier this month, Hertz also launched a Hertz Electrifies program in Denver. The initiative aims to bring 5,200 rental EVs to Denver. In 2022, the company first announced its plan to partner with bp pulse to install a national network of EV charging solutions for its customers.

Houston also has grown into a hub for EV and EV charging innovation recently. Houston-based Zeta Energy is leading efforts to develop efficient EV batteries, and received $4 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's ARPA-E Electric Vehicles for American Low-Carbon Living, or EVs4ALL, program earlier this year.

Houston's Revterra has also created a kinetic energy storage system that enables rapid EV charging. The company’s founder and CEO, Ben Jawdat, spoke about the energy transition on the Houston Innovators Podcast last month.
Going solar is now easier thanks to city and federal help. Photo courtesy of Houston Solar Tour

Houston charges up new program to help locals buy and install affordable solar panels

sunny days

Alternative-energy-seeking locals now have a sunny way to buy into a solar. The City of Houston has launched Texas Solar SwitchHouston, a new program aimed at helping Houstonians purchase and install rooftop solar panels and battery storage.

In partnership with Solar United Neighbors, the Solar Switch program offers hassle-free way to purchase solar panels by creating a massive, group discount for residents, be it home or small business needs.

This comes with the new Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy incentives and is part of the City of Houston's Climate Action Plan goal to generate 5 million MWh per year of local solar, per a press release. Customers who install solar also receive a 30-percent tax credit, thanks to the The Inflation Reduction Act.

Registration for the program is free and available online. The City of Houston assures that there is "no obligation for homeowners to purchase solar panels." Discounts and installers are determined through a competitive auction process, per the City.

"With energy prices increasing, homeowners and small businesses are looking for opportunities to save on their energy bills and increase their resilience to climate-related events," said Mayor Sylvester Turner. "Texas Solar Switch Houston provides our community with a simple and straightforward way to become better informed about solar energy and access a competitive offer from a vetted, experienced solar installation company."

Signed and passed into law by the Biden Administration in August, the Inflation Reduction Act will invest some $369 billion in domestic energy production and manufacturing with a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030. That federal mandate means locals can now take steps towards power backup, while potentially easing up on the beleaguered Texas grid.

“More and more Houstonians are looking to solar and battery storage for self-sufficiency, which has the added benefit of making our grid more resilient,” said Hanna Mitchell, Texas program director for Solar United Neighbors, in a statement. “With the recent passage of the IRA, now is a particularly good time to go solar.”

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

Two Houston-based companies made it into this new clean tech accelerator. Photo via greentownlabs.com

Houston clean tech startup accelerator announces 7 companies to inaugural cohort

seeing green

The Low-Carbon Hydrogen Accelerator announced its inaugural class of clean tech startups — two of which hail from right here in Hosuton.

In all, seven startups have been chosen to participate this year in the Low-Carbon Hydrogen Accelerator, which was announced in November. The six-month accelerator program offers collaboration and engagement opportunities with the Electric Power Research Institute and its member utilities, as well as with Shell. Through the accelerator, the institute and Shell will provide startups with two innovation paths: a technology validation track and a technology demonstration track.

The accelerator — part of the Green Go program, affiliated with Greentown Labs — is aimed at coming up with innovations in low-carbon hydrogen production, storage, and distribution.

“Accelerating low-carbon hydrogen technologies is an essential part of achieving global net-zero targets by 2050,” Neva Espinoza, vice president of energy supply and low-carbon resources at the Electric Power Research Institute, says in a news release.

The inaugural LCHA cohort includes:

  • Advanced Ionics, based in Milwaukee, is enabling green hydrogen production without the green premium.
  • Arco Technologies from Bologna, Italy, is developing a proprietary Anion Exchange Membrane electrolyzer with the lowest capital expenditures and operating expenses possible today.
  • Based in Manchester in the United Kingdom, Clean Power is developing a novel, low-cost, highly durable hydrogen polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell delivering zero-emission electricity.
  • Element Resources, based in Houston, is enabling compressed hydrogen storage tank technology.
  • Another local company, Smartpipe Technologies is developing a robust self-monitored repurposed pipeline system for hydrogen with minimal environmental disruption.
  • SPEC Sensors from California is creating a robust and reliable meshed sensor network for hydrogen leak detection and line-monitoring systems.
  • Canadian company RUNWITHIT Synthetics is creating a live, digital twin modeling platform that generates decision-support data for regional hydrogen-demand scenarios.

Element Resources, which produces hydrogen from renewables for mobility, power production, and energy storage, is collaborating with Zhifeng Ren, M.D. Anderson chair professor in physics and director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston.

The other Houston startup, Smartpipe Technologies, announced earlier this month that Canadian pipeline company Enbridge had made a $6.6 million investment in the startup.

For 2022, the accelerator received applications from 88 startups in 18 countries. The five other participants this year are from California; Wisconsin; Alberta, Canada; Italy; and the United Kingdom.

Aside from the Electric Power Research Institute, Shell USA, and Greentown, the accelerator’s partners are the City of Houston and the Urban Future Lab at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering.

“Creating a robust hydrogen economy will require a systems-oriented approach and unparalleled cooperation between corporate partners and emerging companies,” says Ryan Dings, chief operating officer and general counsel at Greentown Labs.

Greentown operates startup incubators in Somerville, Massachusetts, and Houston.

Mayor Sylvester Turner says this new smart city technology partner will help digitize and optimize waste operations. Photo via rubicon.com

City of Houston partners with digital waste, recycling solutions company

smart city tech

The City of Houston announced that it has entered into a three-year partnership with Kentucky-based Rubicon with the goal of improving its waste, recycling, and heavy-duty municipal fleet operations.

According to a statement, the city has installed the company's RUBICONSmartCity platform on the Solid Waste Management Department’s 391 vehicles, and has trained the workforce on using the SaaS software.

“Partnering with Rubicon will help our great city optimize its solid waste operations and make it possible for us to digitize our entire waste and recycling management system,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a statement. “The City of Houston is committed to providing the highest level of service to its residents and this partnership will allow us to provide better services, save taxpayer dollars, and deliver a better quality of life for Houstonians.”

RUBICONSmartCity is a cloud-based suite that will allow the department's workforce to track key metrics about pickup, including issues at the curb and recycling contamination, as well as information about its fleet of vehicles. The platform includes a mobile app, an onboard data collection device, and a web-based portal.

The city envisions that information collected by RUBICONSmartCity will enhance reporting tools used by 311 and give the department a better understanding of what's happening in the field.

“The City’s Department of Solid Waste can use this information to advise and educate residents around service scheduling, best practices for waste and recycling management, and reduce costly return trips,” Solid Waste Management Department Director Mark Wilfalk said in a statement. “These insights, alongside route optimization and digitization efforts, are set to deliver an optimal operation to the City of Houston.”

RUBICONSmartCity is used in more than 70 cities across the U.S., including San Antonio. The product was the focus of a 2021 Amazon documentary entitled "The Road to Zero Waste," which focused on Rubicon's work in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“Our partnership with the City of Houston is off to a fantastic start, as we were able to install our products and train the entire Solid Waste Department’s workforce in only 73 days, an incredibly fast turn for such an undertaking,” Michael Allegretti, Chief Strategy Officer at Rubicon, said in a statement. "This partnership comes at a critically important time, as Houston and other cities across the nation look to maintain, and ultimately expand, service levels.”

In August 2021, the City of Houston also launched HTX Collects, a mobile app aimed at helping residents keep track of weekly services, updates, and waste collection days. At that time, the city estimated that it collected curbside service for over 395,000 residential homes within the city limits.

Two new sites will help with mass testing needs. Photo by Getty Images

City of Houston announces 2 new COVID mega-testing sites

more tests coming

With the omicron variant showing no signs of slowing locally or nationally, the City of Houston’s health department has partnered with a major company to open two mega COVID-19 testing sites this week, both opening on Thursday, January 6.

Those near Greater Houston can look for a new mega testing site at the former Dave & Busters at 6010 Richmond Ave. Opened in partnership with Xpress COVID Testing, this new site will accommodate approximately 1,000 tests, per an announcement. January hours of operation are 9 am to 3:30 pm Mondays through Saturdays; appointments are not required.

Those outside Greater Houston to the north can look for a new site at the Kingwood Community Center (4102 Rustic Woods Dr.); its daily capacity is approximately 800 tests. January hours here are 9 am to 3:30 pm Mondays through Saturdays’ appointments are not required.

Meantime, existing mega testing sites are operating at the following locations:

Butler Stadium (13755 S Main St).
Hours are 8 am to 4 pm Mondays through Saturdays with no appointment required.

Delmar Stadium (2020 Mangum Rd.)
Hours are 8 am to 6 pm daily; appointments are required and can be made at appointments via Curative.com or by calling 1-888-702-9042.

Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park (Lot C, 510 St. Emanuel St.)
Hours are 8 am to 5 pm on Saturdays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays; noon to 8 pm on Thursdays and Fridays. Appointments are required at mycovidappoitment.com or by calling 833-213-0643.

More testing sites, schedules, and appointment information are available at HoustonHealth.org or by calling 832-393-4220.

“Every Houstonian deserves to have access to testing, especially those in our most vulnerable communities,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner in a statement. “As we continue to navigate this crisis, I ask Houstonians to keep each other safe by getting tested, vaccinated, and boosted. We need everyone doing their part to remain healthy and slow the virus from spreading in their homes and places of employment and houses of worship.”

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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Greentown Houston announces plans for wet lab, calls for feedback from members

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Greentown Houston has announced it's building a new wet lab facility — but first, they need some help from the community.

Greentown Labs, which is dual located at their headquarters in Somerville, Massachusetts, and in the Ion District in Houston, has announced that they are building out a wet lab in their Midtown space.

"We have heard from several startups as well as corporate partners in the ecosystem that are looking for wet lab space," says Lara Cottingham, vice president of strategy, policy, and climate impact at Greentown Labs. "Greentown has experience running wet labs from our location in Somerville. We're excited to be able to offer wet lab space to climatetech startups as an additional amenity to the Ion District.

Although Greentown's Boston-area location has wet lab space, Cottingham says the organization is not interested in copying and pasting that same facility. Greentown wants to provide the tools that the Houston ecosystem needs, and that requires getting feedback from its current and potential members.

"We want to announce to the community that this is something we're going to build — but we still need a lot of feedback and input from startups so we can learn what exactly they need or want to see from the wet lab," Cottingham tells InnovationMap. "No two wet labs are the same."

Right now, there aren't any details available about timeline or specifics of the new facility. Greentown is prioritizing getting feedback from its members and having conversations with potential sponsors and corporate partners.

"Corporate partners are a big part of the ecosystem and the community at Greentown. They can be so many things to our startups — mentors, customers, investors," Cottingham says. "And in this space, they can help us sponsor and financially support the wet lab. We're still fundraising — we have some partners that have committed to funding, but we're still looking for more funding."

In addition to monetary contribution, Cottingham says they are looking for other options as well, from partnerships with equipment providers, hazardous materials management, and more.

Startups that need wet lab space are encouraged to fill out the online form, which will be open through the summer, and potential corporate partners can express their interest online as well.

Greentown Houston opened its doors in 2021 and has since grown to house more than 75 energy and climatetech startups, as well as several accelerators, thanks to support from dozens of corporate partners.

Recently acquired Houston hospitality tech company continues to expand following fresh funding

tech growth

Houston-based HungerRush, which is a point-of-sale system that includes payment-processing, digital ordering, customer engagement, and delivery management, continues to spread its impact to businesses big and small.

A New York private equity firm, Corsair Capital, saw the potential for the cloud-based POS software and purchased a majority stake in HungerRush last summer. In 2022, HungerRush was on target to reach $100 million in recurring revenue according to The Deal.

HungerRush aims to serve an industry that according to the tech company, 80 percent think technology is the way to go to assist restaurants with labor shortages and other barriers. HungerRush acquired artificial intelligence text ordering app OrderAI, ordering and marketing company 9Fold LLC and Menufy.com over the past two years to grow its reach.

In the first quarter, the company introduced a comprehensive all-in-one POS system bundle designed to meet the needs of independent operators (IOs), with the overall goal of providing a tech stack to transform the experiences of both restaurant staff and customers. Their partnership with Menufy, which helps IOs drive both growth and profitability through an online website and mobile app ordering experience and currently serves over 15,000 restaurants across the US market, has helped to deliver the transformed IO experience to pizza restaurants and our offerings have quickly expanded to serve Vietnamese and Mexican restaurants as well.

One of the businesses seeing the benefits of platforms like HungerRush is Little Pop’s Pizzeria, which is a Naperville, Illinois-based pizza spot that uses the HungerRush to communicate to help the small business keep up with the large demands of the Chicagoland suburbs.The app’s help has led to substantial business growth.

“Thanks to having 5,000 loyalty program customers stored in HungerRush, we were able to quickly communicate the new curbside pickup and no contact delivery options,” says HungerRush user Mike Nelson of Little Pop’s Pizzeria. “Getting the word out through email and Facebook has increased our business by 75 percent.”

HungerRush continues to flourish in a crowded marketspace, which Chief Revenue Officer Olivier Thierry attributes to the platform’s accessibility to the audience and variety of features.

“While speaking to small business restaurant owners, we continued to hear the unique challenges they faced around having to navigate multiple delivery app interfaces, labor scheduling solutions, and other tools – resulting in many ending the month under their goal quotas, “ Thierry says. “Our tech tools arm our IOs to be able to manage omnichannel ordering, inventory, loyalty programs, and labor scheduling - but most importantly, support them where they need it the most to be successful in today’s digital world.”

Expert: Houston has potential to be a major hub for life sciences — if it addresses these concerns

guest column

Once upon a time in Houston, a promising startup, let’s call it BioMatrix, set out to revolutionize the world of biomaterials. Their groundbreaking product held immense potential, but the company faced the harsh reality of a lack of funding, resources, and talent in their local life sciences sector.

As they watched well-funded competitors in established hubs like Boston and Silicon Valley flourish, the passionate team at BioMatrix persevered, determined to overcome these challenges, and make their mark in the rapidly evolving world of MedTech and life sciences. But would they ultimately move to a richer life science hub?

Over the years, Houston has emerged as a life sciences hub, fueled by the world's largest medical center, Texas Medical Center, and an expanding network of research institutions, startups, and investors. However, despite all its potential, the city still lags other innovation hubs and isn’t included in many of the lists for top life science ecosystems. The challenges are many-fold, but some primary challenges are associated with lack of capital, trouble with talent acquisition, and weak collaboration.

Despite an uptick in venture capital funding, Houston's life sciences sector still trails the likes of Silicon Valley and Boston. Programs like CPRIT help keep companies within Texas, while Houston's unique advantages, such as lower living costs and the TMC's presence, can attract investments, but ultimately, to secure necessary capital, stakeholders must cultivate relationships with investors, government agencies, and other funding sources to infuse more money into the Houston ecosystem. And, when individuals try to do this, the rest of the ecosystem must be supportive.

Talent retention and attraction pose another challenge, as Houston competes with well-funded life science hubs offering abundant research institutions and funding opportunities. While Houston boasts numerous educational institutions producing skilled life sciences graduates, many curricula primarily prepare students for academic rather than industry careers, creating a skills and knowledge gap.

Having a lot of experience in academia doesn’t often translate well into the industry, as is demonstrated by many startup founders who struggle to understand the various stakeholder requirements in bringing a life science product to market.

To bridge this, educational institutions should incorporate more industry-oriented courses and training programs, like Rice University’s GMI Program, that emphasize practical skills and real-world applications. Collaborating with local companies for internships, co-op placements, and hands-on experiences can expose students to industry practices and foster valuable connections.

For any life science company, navigating the intricate regulatory landscape is also a challenge, as missteps can be disastrous. However, it’s even more of a challenge when you lack the fundamentals knowledge of what is required and the skills to effectively engage with industry experts in the space.

To address this, Houston must provide more opportunities for companies to learn about regulatory complexities from experts. Workshops, accelerators, or dedicated graduate and undergraduate courses focusing on regulatory compliance and best practices can facilitate knowledge and experience exchange between regulatory experts and innovators.

The initial inception of M1 MedTech was the result of a personal experience with a company who didn’t understand the fundamentals for regulatory interactions and didn’t know how to appropriately engage with consultants, resulting in time and money wasted.

Enhancing collaboration among Houston's life science stakeholders — including academia, research institutions, healthcare providers, subject matter experts, innovators, and investors — is fundamental for growth. A robust and lively professional network can stimulate innovation and help emerging companies access essential resources.

To this end, Houston should organize more industry-specific events, workshops, and conferences, connecting key life science players and showcasing the city's commitment to innovation. These events can also offer networking opportunities with industry leaders, attracting and retaining top talent. We’ve seen some of this with the Texas Life Science Forum and now with the Ion's events, but we could afford to host a lot more.

Houston's life sciences sector holds immense growth potential, but addressing funding, talent recruitment, regulatory navigation, and collaboration challenges is needed for continued success. By tackling these issues and leveraging its unique strengths, Houston can establish itself as a significant player in the global life sciences arenas. If we wait too long, we won’t be able to truly establish the Third Coast because another player will come into the mix, and we’ll lose companies like BioMatrix to their golden shores.

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Isabella Schmitt is the director of regulatory affairs at Proxima Clinical Research and principal at M1 MedTech.

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