10+ can't-miss Houston business and innovation events for September

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Here are over 10 can't-miss events for Houston innovators in September. Photo via Getty Images

From energized tech conferences to informative speaker series, September is filled with opportunities for Houston innovators. Here's a roundup of events you won't want to miss out on so mark your calendars and register accordingly.

Go ahead and add the Houston Innovation Awards on November 14 to your agenda as well — and submit a nomination of a deserving Houston startup or innovator online.

Note: This post may be updated to add more events.

September 4-5 — EcoEngineers' Life-Cycle Analysis Academy

A life-cycle analysis (LCA) is a systematic and comprehensive method for evaluating the environmental impact of a product, service, or system from its inception to its end-of-life.

EcoEngineers has performed more than 1,000 carbon LCAs since 2015 and will guide attendees through the leading industry trends and regulations impacting LCAs. The LCA Academy provides an opportunity for industry leaders and practitioners across all sectors to gain hands on experience in a workshop environment.

This event is Wednesday, September 4, and Thursday, September 5, from 8 am to 5 pm at Petroleum Club. Click here to register.

September 5 — Leading Successful Projects: Managing Risk and Uncertainty with New Technology Implementations

Join RCEL at the Ion for an informative discussion on managing risk and uncertainty in new technology projects. Register to attend and enjoy refreshments, along with an opportunity for networking and discussion following a seminar on navigating risks and uncertainties in new technology applications.

During this seminar, Dr. Claudia Zettner, a Rice University professor will provide real-world examples of new technology implementations and how realized risks affected overall project outcomes.

This event is on Thursday, September 5, from 4 to 5:30 pm at the Ion. Click here to register.

September 9-13 — Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week

Greentown Labs, Halliburton Labs, and The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship are joining forces to launch the inaugural Houston Climate and Energy Startup Week 2024. This week will bring together leading energy and climate investors, industry leaders, and startups from across the globe to showcase and discuss innovative and promising companies and technologies that are transforming the energy industry and driving a sustainable, low-carbon energy future.

This event begins Monday, September 9, at 3:30 pm and runs through, Friday, September 13. Click here for the full schedule and to register.

September 9-13 — Houston Energy and Climate Week

Allies in Energy, a 501c3 non-profit, was formed in Texas to address energy education and climate literacy, and will be hosting their inaugural Houston Energy & Climate Week. This week brings together major cities in creating the national conversations and actions around a net zero future and Houston's leading role in driving solutions. The program themes are energy, innovation, industry, food, environmental justice, health, finance, workforce, community engagement, and policy.

This event begins Monday, September 9, at 7 am and runs through September 13. Click here for the full schedule and to register.

September 11 — Houston Methodist Clinician Speaker Series - Dr. Jordan Dale

Houston Methodist's next clinician speaker is Dr. Jordan Dale, the chief medical information officer. Dale will speak about digital transformation at Houston Methodist, the role of artificial intelligence in healthcare, and the importance of responsible AI use.

This event is Wednesday, September 11, from 4:45 to 6 pm at the Ion. Click here to register.

September 12 — Future of Automated Science Symposium

The Future of Automated Science Symposium is the inaugural annual event focused on automated science. As a new and emerging field, bringing together AI, infrastructure at scale, and high-throughput experimentation, Automated Science can offer new paradigms for scientific investigation.

Hear from academic and industry leaders from Carnegie Mellon University, Emerald Cloud Lab, and Opentrons. Learn about the exciting future of Automated Science and network with like-minded scientists and engineers.

This event is on Thursday, September 12, from 8:30 am to 4:15 pm at TMC Helix Park. Click here to register.

September 13 — 17th Annual Advances in Neurology Symposium

There have been significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of many neurological diseases. Attempts to cover these scientific advances have been made through peer-reviewed journals, national and international society meetings, and consensus statements. This program will emphasize evidence-based strategy for the current treatment of neurological disorders and cutting-edge research in novel therapeutics.

This event is on Friday, September 13, from 8 am to 5:15 pm at Houston Methodist Research Institute. Click here to register.

September 17-20 — Gastech Conference

The Gastech Conference is an essential forum for energy professionals to shape the future of the industry. It sets the industry's critical agenda by driving energy security and transitions. More than 1,000 speakers will discuss the real-world strategies and business models that deliver energy security, shape climate actions for industry-wide decarbonization, and support a sustainable, affordable, and reliable multi-faceted energy system.

This event begins Tuesday, September 17 at 10 am and runs through Friday September 20 at George R. Brown Convention Center. Click here for the full schedule and to register.

September 19 — Carbon to Value Initiative Year 4 Kickoff

The Carbon to Value (C2V) Initiative is a multi-year collaboration between The Urban Future Lab (UFL), Greentown Labs, and Fraunhofer USA. This partnership is driving the creation of a thriving innovation ecosystem for the commercialization of carbontech—technologies that capture, convert and store carbon dioxide (CO₂) into valuable end products or services.

Celebrate the kickoff of Year 4 of the Carbon to Value Initiative, meet the startups that were selected for this year’s cohort, and hear from industry experts.

This event is on Thursday, September 19, from 5:30 pm to 8 pm at Greentown Labs. Click here to register.

September 24 — TMC Cappucino Connections

Mingle with the Texas Medical Center community and learn about exciting upcoming projects while enjoying complimentary cups of coffee.

This event is on Tuesday, September 24 from 8:30 to 10:30 am at TMC Innovation Factory. Click here to register.

September 25-27 — Innovation for Day One

Innovation for Day One is a conference organized by the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies and the maternal newborn health community to explore groundbreaking tools and approaches for healthy outcomes for mothers and babies in resource-limited communities.

This event is from Wednesday, September 25 through Friday, September 27, at the Bioscience Research Collaborative on Rice University's campus. Click here to register.


Scott Gale, executive director of Halliburton Labs, joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to share his call to action for Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week. Photo courtesy of Halliburton Labs

Houston innovator calls for collaboration from energy tech community

HOUSTON INNOVATORS PODCAST EPISODE 226

Scott Gale will be the first to admit that hosting a week of curated events targeted to a group of individuals within the tech and energy space isn't a novel idea — Climate Week NYC has been taking over Manhattan for over a decade. But Gale believes Houston deserves to have its own time to shine.

Earlier this month, Halliburton Labs, Rice Alliance, and Greentown Houston announced the inaugural Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week 2024 to take place in September, but Gale, executive director of Halliburton Labs, says he hopes this is just the beginning of Houston organizations coming together to collaborate on the initiative.

"I think we have a really awesome initial coalition. Whether your the fifth company or organization to raise its hand to do something that week or the 50th — it really doesn't matter," Gale says on the Houston Innovators Podcast. "It really is an open invitation — and I want to make that super clear."



Gale says that he's looked at some of the successful week-long events — like SXSW and others — and the key factors are calendar coordination and cross promotion. Now that Houston has the week set — September 9 to 13, 2024 — it's time for everyone to fill that week with a density of events anywhere around Houston to showcase the city's innovative energy community.

Those interested can learn more or submit their event information online.

The initiative falls in line with how Gale has led Halliburton Labs from its early days in 2020 to now with a focus on community. While the corporate world always needs eyes on its return on investment, supporting the innovation ecosystem has been a bit of a leap of faith – and it always will be.

"There's always this idea of having a line of sight to the outcomes (of your investment). And when you're interfacing with or investing in the startup community, you don't have the benefit of line of sight. A lot of the things that are being solved for are just too early stage. And that can be really hard for corporates to wrap their heads around," Gale says.

"One of the things that we got to was this idea that you can invest in the startup community, and you don't know where the returns will come from, but you know they will come," he continues.

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Texas A&M pilots $59M program for autonomous helicopters to fight wildfires

Autonomous firefighting

Texas A&M University's George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex will receive $59.8 million to develop a way for autonomous helicopters to fight to wildfires in the state.

The funds appropriated from the Texas legislature will go toward acquiring up to four UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and developing their autonomous configuration, as well as to facilities, tools and equipment for research, testing and integration of firefighting capabilities over the next two years, according to a release from Texas A&M.

The BCDC was also selected to work with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on its Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation System (ALIAS), which works to reduce risks for pilots and aircraft in high-risk missions.

"Working together with Texas, we have an opportunity to use autonomous helicopters to completely change the conversation around wildfires from containing them to extinguishing them,” Stuart Young, DARPA program manager for ALIAS, said in a release from DARPA.

The BCDC program will incorporate DARPA's automation toolkit, known as MATRIX, which has already demonstrated fully autonomous flight capabilities on approximately 20 aircraft platforms. MATRIX, which was developed by California-based Sikorsky Aircraft, was previously tested in proof-of-concept demonstrations of autonomous fire suppression in California and Connecticut earlier this year, according to DARPA.

“I am proud we are working with DARPA in a manner that will benefit Texas, the Department of Defense, and commercial industry,” retired Maj. Gen. Tim Green, director of the BCDC, said in the release. “Wildland firefighting will be the first mission application fully developed to take advantage of over a decade of work by DARPA on its Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation System (ALIAS).”

The BDC will test fully automated and semi-automated ALIAS-equipped aircraft on highly complex firefighting tasks. The complex will also work with Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi’s Autonomy Research Institute, the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, the Texas A&M Forest Service and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station on the project.

John Diem, director of the innovation proving grounds at BCDC, will serve as principal investigator for the project.

“Advancing system capabilities through the last stages of technology maturation, operational testing, and concept development is always hugely exciting and rewarding,” Diem added in the release. “The best part of my career has been seeing systems I tested move into the hands of warfighters. Now, I’m proud to help ensure ALIAS is safe and effective in protecting life and property – and we will do that through realistic and challenging testing.”

Baylor, Rice win $500,000 to launch humanities-driven health AI center

ethical AI

Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University have been awarded a $500,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to create the Center for Humanities-based Health AI Innovation (CHHAIN).

The new center and three-year initiative aims to create ethically responsible and trustworthy AI for health care that uses history and patient narratives to shape the technology, according to a release. It represents a collaboration between the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor and the Medical Humanities Research Institute at Rice. Ultimately, the researchers aim to establish a national model for integrating the humanities into the design and implementation of health AI.

Vasiliki Rahimzadeh, assistant professor at Baylor in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, and Kirsten Ostherr, director of the Medical Humanities Research Institute at Rice, will serve as co-directors of the new center, which will be housed within the Center for Medical Ethics.

The team will also engage in strategic collaborations with Kirstin Matthews, Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and its fellow in science and technology policy, as well as Dr. Quianta Moore, executive director of the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute. An interdisciplinary team of medical humanities and bioethics scholars from Baylor, Rice, and partners in the Houston area will complete the group.

“CHHAIN represents a bold new model for integrating the humanities into health innovation,” Ostherr said in a news release. “It will create a collaborative space where humanities scholars, patients, developers and clinicians can come together to explore the human dimensions of health AI—trust, narrative and lived experience. These are essential perspectives that are too often missing from technology development, and CHHAIN is designed to change that."

CHHAIN’s work will revolve around three key points:

  • Defining trustworthy AI through patient voices
  • Translating humanities insights into clinical AI settings
  • Public engagement and policy translation

“For AI to truly improve health outcomes, it must be designed with patient trust and wellbeing at its core,” Rahimzadeh said in the news release. “CHHAIN will provide a dedicated space to explore critical bioethics questions, such as how we ensure AI respects patient autonomy, addresses the needs of underserved communities and integrates meaningfully into clinical care. Our goal is to translate these insights into real-world health settings where AI is already shaping patient experiences."

CHHAIN's research mission was also developed thanks to pilot funding from the Margaret M. and Albert B. Alkek Department of Medicine at Baylor and a grant from Rice's Provost's TMC Collaborator Fund.

Texas A&M, the University of North Texas and the University of Texas at El Paso were also home to some of the 97 projects that received a portion of the $34.79 million in fundning from the NEH. See the full list here.

Houston booms as No. 2 U.S. market for retail construction in 2025

Construction Zone

Get ready for a gigantic cartload of new shopping opportunities in Houston. A new report indicates the equivalent of 21 Walmart supercenters is under construction in the region.

The report, published by commercial real estate services provider Lee & Associates, says Houston has nearly 3.9 million square feet of retail space under construction, making it the second most active market for new retail space in the U.S.

To put that in perspective, given the average Walmart supercenter measures 182,000 square feet, the 3.9 million-square-foot total would work out to 21 new supercenters being built in the region.

Dallas-Fort Worth is by far the most active U.S. market for new retail space; DFW leads more than 60 U.S. retail markets with nearly 7.15 million square feet of space under construction. The amount of retail space going up in DFW represents 15 percent of all retail space under construction in the more than 60 U.S. markets tracked by Lee & Associates.

Houston and Austin aren’t too far behind Dallas-Fort Worth, though.

Third-ranked Austin area has more than 3.4 million square feet of retail space being built.

What’s behind the surge in retail construction across Texas? Population growth.

Data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau shows Houston was the second-fastest-growing metro from 2023 to 2024. DFW was the country’s third-fastest-growing metro from 2023 to 2024, based on the number of new residents, and Austin landed at No. 13.

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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