UH launches hydrogen economy program for energy professionals, students

say hi to hydrogen

Houstonians can opt into learning more about the hydrogen economy in this new program from the University of Houston. Photo courtesy of University of Houston

The University of Houston will launch a new micro-credential program titled “The Hydrogen Economy” starting Feb. 20 and running through May 8.

The program is designed for industry professionals, rising seniors, and graduate students. It aims to present the "opportunities and challenges offered by the growing hydrogen sector," according to a statement from UH.

“The energy field is evolving rapidly, and energy professionals need to do the same," Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president of energy and innovation at UH, said in a statement. "What we’re seeing is that the people the companies are going to value are those who can contribute to this transformation.”

The program consists of three badges that are earned via 15-hour modules held over three-week periods. Courses and lectures are held via Zoom weekly with recorded sessions to be viewed independently twice a week.

Participants can complete the entire program (earning all three badges) for $2,000, or earn individual badges for $750 each.

According to UH, the program aims to give participants a solid understanding of:

  • Key characteristics and drivers for hydrogen as the decarbonization fuel of choice
  • Fundamentals for the existing hydrogen market, and how it is poised to change
  • Policy and strategy: Critical factors in building The Hydrogen Economy
  • Hydrogen as a means for transporting and storing renewable energy
  • Current and emerging options for producing hydrogen, including offshore options
  • Basics of hydrogen safety
  • Technical options for storing and transporting hydrogen, including decision factors
  • Fuel cells and their roles in transportation, in the electric grid, and in domestic and commercial power supply
  • Hydrogen fueled vehicles – from forklifts, trains and ships to aircraft
  • Hydrogen as a fuel to decarbonize industry
  • Trade-offs for use of hydrogen vs. electrification vs. advanced renewable hydrocarbon fuels as vectors for decarbonization

The new offering from UH is one of several micro-credential programs UH Energy has launched since 2020. Other programs include:

  • Upstream Energy Data Analytics Program
  • CCUS Executive Education Program
  • Data Analytics for the Process Industries Program
  • Sustainable Energy Development Program
  • Environmental, Social and Governance in Energy
  • Rubbers in Extreme Environments

For more specifics about the Hydrogen Economy Program, click here

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Houston ranks No. 2 for share of AI talent in professional services

AI surge

Houston’s professional and business services sector—think law, accounting, consulting, and engineering firms—grabs one of the industry’s biggest shares of AI talent.

A report from commercial real estate services giant CBRE ranks Houston No. 2 among the top 50 U.S. and Canadian tech markets for the concentration of AI talent in professional and business services.

Houston’s share of AI talent in professional and business services stands at 26 percent, the report shows. Washington, D.C., tops the list at 31 percent. At 25 percent, Dallas-Fort Worth claims the No. 3 spot.

CBRE based the AI ranking on data from the LinkedIn networking platform.

The company’s researchers tallied 11,709 AI-related tech jobs in Houston. Nationwide, data scientists lead AI-related job growth in the U.S., according to the report.

“AI software and hardware developers are currently the most sought-after tech talent by employers,” the report says.

Houston faces AI talent gap

DoubleTrack, a provider of AI and data consulting, reported in June that Houston faces an AI talent gap.

“The places where businesses say they will adopt AI over the next six months, well ahead of where they are today, are mostly the same places already short on talent: Miami, Houston, and Denver among the metros, South Dakota and South Carolina among the states,” DoubleTrack said.

This labor shortage comes amid Houston’s ascent as an AI hub. For instance, a factory being built here by AI chipmaker NVIDIA and electronics manufacturer Foxconn will produce AI supercomputers and infrastructure systems.

Houston’s place in the sphere of tech talent

Overall, Houston ranks No. 32 in the CBRE report among the top 50 U.S. and Canadian markets for tech talent. The San Francisco Bay Area claims the top spot, with Austin at No. 5 and DFW at No. 8.

CBRE relied on 13 metrics to rank tech talent markets, including concentration of tech talent, tech talent pipeline, and research-and-development investments.

Here are other Houston details from the report:

  • In 2025, Houston’s tech talent workforce numbered 104,080, up 7.3 percent over the past three years.
  • Houston’s average wage for tech talent within the tech industry was $120,216 in 2025, up 13.3 percent over the past three years.

New pilot program for air taxis, Project Nexus, takes flight in Texas

Project Nexus

By 2029, Texas skies could be buzzing with air taxis, much like they are with drones today.

To kick off the "Project Nexus" pilot program in Texas, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, and Texas Department of Transportation officials attended an event September 10 at Fort Worth Alliance Airport, which serves as the launchpad for a statewide pilot program that could result in air taxis, self-piloted planes, and vertical take-off-and-landing aircraft permanently buzzing across the skies of Texas.

It was the first demonstration in Texas of next-generation aircraft under the pilot program; Texas is the sixth state to participate in the program.

Air taxi service on the radar
The federal government has teamed up with aviation companies BETA Technologies and Joby Aviation, as well as the Texas Department of Transportation, to develop regional air taxi service in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and eventually Houston.

Roger Venables, Fort Worth’s aviation director, said in January that he foresees regular air taxi service becoming a reality in the next five years.

On September 12, a Joby-made electric air taxi took a roundtrip flight between Fort Worth Alliance and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport to test flight operations.

The mission was part of a five-day test involving Fort Worth Alliance and DFW Airport flights, and flights over the Fort Worth Stockyards, Toyota Motor North America’s Plano headquarters, and other sites.

A new facility at Fort Worth Alliance will be Joby’s long-term home for regional flight operations.

Building a 'framework' for electric aircraft
TxDOT said Project Nexus is aimed at creating “a scalable system” to connect urban areas, rural communities, and neighboring states as air mobility technology advances.

In a TxDOT release, Marc Williams, the agency’s executive director, said the pilot program will “build a framework for how electric aircraft could one day connect people, goods, and communities across the state.”

Three-phase project will test flight capabilities

Initial flights in the third-year pilot program won’t carry passengers, according to TxDOT. Instead, the flights will gather data, validate air travel routes, and help improve the safety of air mobility technology.

The first phase of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Project Nexus will feature piloted aircraft such as helicopters and fixed-wing planes. CultureMap previously reported Plano-based VertiPorts by Atlantic, which develops takeoff and landing sites for airplane-helicopter hybrids, would be part of Project Nexus.

The second phase will involve testing airborne medical and cargo logistics. This includes transporting critical medical supplies or donor organs between rural and urban hospitals in the Austin and San Antonio areas.

In the third and final phase, passengers will fly aboard air taxis across the Texas Triangle. Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio anchor the triangle.

“In Texas, we don’t wait for the future to arrive, we build it,” Cruz said in the TxDOT release. “The Lone Star State is pushing the boundaries by testing the next generation of aircraft through Project Nexus.”

“These technologies will connect communities, expand access to jobs and services, and strengthen supply chains,” the senator added. “What starts in Texas will help shape the future of aviation throughout the entire country.”

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston-area NASA contractor plans Nasdaq IPO

going public

Webster-based NASA contractor Rothe Development Inc. has filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to go public.

Rothe, a minority- and woman-owned business, hasn’t yet identified how many shares it will sell and how much money its IPO might raise. Rothe plans to offer Class B common stock on the Nasdaq exchange.

CEO Karen Wheeler-Hall owns all of the Class A shares and would retain majority control after the IPO, according to the SEC filing. The company plans to use $2.4 million of the IPO proceeds so Wheeler-Hall can pay off a loan from the seller for her 2021 acquisition of Rothe.

From last December to this May, the company raised about $2.1 million in a pre-IPO private placement at $1 per share, the SEC filing shows.

Rothe runs NASA training lab in Houston

Founded in 1967, Rothe supplies engineering, technology, operations and technical services to NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, other federal agencies, commercial space operators, and regulated industries.

Rothe is likely best known for operating NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston. The lab trains astronauts for spacewalks and simulates space missions. It supports NASA’s International Space Station and Artemis programs.

Company sees room for growth

In the SEC filing, Rothe said it operates in several expanding markets driven by rising investments, including space exploration, national security, cybersecurity and digital infrastructure.

“We believe these market trends create significant opportunities for continued growth across both government and commercial sectors,” the company said.

Rothe generated nearly $126.4 million in revenue last year, up from $117.3 million the previous year. However, the company swung to a $700,000 operating loss in 2025 versus $1.8 million in operating income in 2024.

At the end of 2025, Rothe’s workforce comprised 385 employees and 25 subcontractors. The company also works in the cybersecurity, computer engineering, software development, multimedia and communication, and commercial calibration sectors, according to its website.

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