This Houston innovator is using data to power industrial reliability and sustainability

HOUSTON INNOVATORS PODCAST EPISODE 92

Ryan Sitton joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss his career in data and reliability. Photo courtesy of Ryan Sitton

Ryan Sitton has had a varied career so far. Formerly working in oil and gas, he started his own company in 2006 to help companies to better utilize their data. Now, still leading Houston-based Pinnacle as CEO, Sitton works with the world's largest companies to solve their problems with data. He also served as Texas Railroad Commissioner and has written two books about decision-making and leadership.

Sitton joined the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss how, despite the multiple hats he wears, at the core of his passion is using data to drive better decision making to drive more sustainable and reliable operations.

"I was basically doing data analytics in the mid 2000s before it was sexy. I was pulling together data in chemical plants and refineries and trying to predict how these plants would behave with the data I had," Sitton says. "I realized early on how there was so much opportunity here — but we don't have the technologies or the methodology to do it."

But over the years, the technology has caught up and now Sitton is able to provide clients with even more data-driven solutions.

"We go into the biggest companies of the world that are trying to have more reliability at the same time as lowering cost," Sitton explains. "We build models that pull together literally millions of pieces of data and we do a combination of engineering analysis and data analysis and data science to give them better predictions — better ways to run their facilities so that they are more sustainable and more profitable."

Sitton's two books — Crucial Decisions, which is out now, and the Myth of Status, which is coming later this year — also center around decision making and leadership.

He shares more about his time at the Texas Railroad Commision and shares how COVID-19 affected business — as well as shares his advice for startups tapping into data-driven solutions — on the episode. Listen to the full interview below — or wherever you stream your podcasts — and subscribe for weekly episodes.


Ryan Sitton's new book, "Crucial Decisions," touches on an array of topics and how data is the key to making the positive and impactful decisions. Photo via Getty Images

Houston energy expert on how big data yields more reliable results

Guest column

Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of need tells us that at our core, humans crave safety and sustenance. When you turn on the light each morning while getting ready for work, or when you check your bank account and see your paycheck arrived on schedule, we expect every aspect of our daily lives to work.

In today's world, we often take these things for granted, until reliability is threatened. Our dependency is revealed in the frenzy over a potential toilet paper shortage and in the panic buying of gasoline in a hurricane. When things in society are consistent, economies thrive. However, when you introduce fear and uncertainty, things begin to spiral. It is in these times that the decisions we make can have the biggest impact on the world around us.

The link between impactful decisions and reliability has brought our society to a pivotal moment in history. We have created a society so reliable and developed that even during the coronavirus lockdown, the basic needs of Americans could be met with only 25 percent of our workforce actively working. By increasing productivity using machines and systems, we have been able to improve our overall quality of life, but not without a price. As a result of such high improvement, we as a society have come to not only expect, but demand, reliability at all times.

When dependability waivers and anxiety rises, those in key decision-making positions are faced with unprecedented situations. Due to distress and a lack of understanding of certain situations, those in decision making positions are often times forced to make decisions based on rapid response and emotion. Because of this, consistency and reliability suffer.

A prime example of an emotional response is the coronavirus shutdown that occurred earlier this year. As a response to the growing fear and panic over the virus, major portions of our economy were shut down; schools were closed; and citizens were confined to their homes.

What followed was the bankruptcy of thousands of businesses, an unprecedented wave of fear throughout society and a disruption to the consistency of our daily lives. We have yet to know what lasting impacts this decision will have on our future economy or livelihood, but we now understand that rapid decision making is often met with long-term consequences.

While there will continue to be disagreements on all sides regarding the handling of the shutdown, what is undisputable is that we as a society have gained an opportunity to learn. We now have the unique advantage of using data in ways that has never been used before in order to make consistently better decisions, allowing us the opportunity to perform at levels we have never thought possible.

Whether it be data advancements in sports (think Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics), or the progression of technology (continuous iPhone updates), we are able to study the improvements of data on society in order to make more reliable decisions. With more powerful data analytics and innovations in data sciences, we are able to positively impact the most vital components of our society in order to make decisions that will drive evolution and reliability.

As the world continues to progress, the decisions we are forced to make have become more complex. With each complicated decision comes the potential for lasting positive or negative impact on society. In shifting from emotional, rapid reactions towards more data and quantitative focused methods, we have the unique and unprecedented opportunity to make our world a more reliable, stable and creative place.

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Ryan Sitton is the founder of Pinnacle and the author of "Crucial Decisions."

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Musk’s SpaceX spends $17B to acquire spectrum licenses from EchoStar

SpaceX Update

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has reached a deal worth about $17 billion with EchoStar for spectrum licenses that it will use to beef up its Starlink satellite network.

The deal for EchoStar’s AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses includes up to $8.5 billion in cash and up to $8.5 billion in SpaceX stock. SpaceX will make approximately $2 billion in cash interest payments on EchoStar debt through November 2027.

SpaceX and EchoStar will enter into a long-term commercial agreement which will allow EchoStar’s Boost Mobile subscribers to access SpaceX’s next generation Starlink Direct to Cell service.

Shares of EchoStar surged 19% before the market opened Monday.

Last month AT&T said that it will spend $23 billion to acquire wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar, a significant expansion of its low- and mid-band coverage networks.

EchoStar said that it anticipates that the AT&T deal and the SpaceX transaction will resolve recent inquiries from the Federal Communications Commission about the rollout of 5G technology in the U.S. The FCC had been calling for hearings on whether Echostar was properly using the spectrum that it is now selling, and its efforts to make 5G more available to communities.

EchoStar said Monday that it will use the proceeds from the sale partly to pay down debt. Current operations of Dish TV, Sling and Hughes will not be impacted, the company said.

Houston students develop cost-effective glove to treat Parkinson's symptoms

smart glove

Two Rice undergraduate engineering students have developed a non-invasive vibrotactile glove that aims to alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease through therapeutic vibrations.

Emmie Casey and Tomi Kuye developed the project with support from the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK) and guidance from its director, Maria Oden, and Rice lecturer Heather Bisesti, according to a news release from the university.

The team based the design on research from the Peter Tass Lab at Stanford University, which explored how randomized vibratory stimuli delivered to the fingertips could help rewire misfiring neurons in the brain—a key component of Parkinson’s disease.

Clinical trials from Stanford showed that coordinated reset stimulation from the vibrations helped patients regain motor control and reduced abnormal brain activity. The effects lasted even after users removed the vibrotactile gloves.

Casey and Kuye set out to replicate the breakthrough at a lower cost. Their prototype replaced the expensive motors used in previous designs with motors found in smartphones that create similar tiny vibrations. They then embedded the motors into each fingertip of a wireless glove.

“We wanted to take this breakthrough and make it accessible to people who would never be able to afford an expensive medical device,” Casey said in the release. “We set out to design a glove that delivers the same therapeutic vibrations but at a fraction of the cost.”

Rice’s design also targets the root of the neurological disruption and attempts to retrain the brain. An early prototype was given to a family friend who had an early onset of the disease. According to anecdotal data from Rice, after six months of regularly using the gloves, the user was able to walk unaided.

“We’re not claiming it’s a cure,” Kuye said in the release. “But if it can give people just a little more control, a little more freedom, that’s life-changing.”

Casey and Kuye are working to develop a commercial version of the glove priced at $250. They are taking preorders and hope to release 500 pairs of gloves this fall. They've also published an open-source instruction manual online for others who want to try to build their own glove at home. They have also formed a nonprofit and plan to use a sliding scale price model to help users manage the cost.

“This project exemplifies what we strive for at the OEDK — empowering students to translate cutting-edge research into real-world solutions,” Oden added in the release. “Emmie and Tomi have shown extraordinary initiative and empathy in developing a device that could bring meaningful relief to people living with Parkinson’s, no matter their resources.”

New Austin tower eclipses Houston landmark as Texas' tallest building

Tallest in Texas

Texas officially has a new tallest tower. The title moves from Houston, for the JPMorgan Chase Tower, to Austin, for Waterline at 98 Red River St. The new tower will contain mixed-use spaces including apartments, offices, a hotel, restaurants, and retail. It is scheduled to open in full in 2026.

Waterline held a "topping out" ceremony in August, when the final beam was added to the top of the tower. It now reaches 74 stories and 1,025 feet — just 23 feet taller than the JPMorgan Chase Tower.

Waterline height comparison Waterline is now the tallest building in Texas.Graphic courtesy of Lincoln Property Company

According to a press release, hundreds of construction workers and team project members attended the Waterline ceremony, and more than 4,750 people have worked on it since the project broke ground in 2022. An estimated 875 people were working onsite every day at the busiest time for construction.

The Waterline site is on a 3.3-acre campus with lots of views of Waller Creek and Lady Bird Lake. The building contains space for 352 luxury apartments, 700,000 square feet of offices, a hotel called 1 Hotel Austin with 251 rooms, and 24,000 square feet of retail stores and restaurants.

The only space that is open to new tenants already is the office space, with residential soon to follow. The hotel and residential units are expected to open in fall 2026.

Waterline tower Austin A view from above, shot by drone.Photo courtesy of Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential

“Seamlessly integrated with Waller Creek, Waterloo Greenway and the hike-and-bike trail around Lady Bird Lake, Waterline will quickly become a top downtown destination and activity center," said Lincoln executive vice president Seth Johnston in a press release. Project improvements will also make it far easier for people to access all of the public amenities in this area from Rainey Street, the new Austin Convention Center, and the rest of the Central Business District."

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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