Houston leads Texas with 7 new National Academy of Inventors senior members

top honor

The University of Houston has more faculty named to this year’s senior member class of the National Academy of Inventors than any other Texas institution. Photos courtesy UH.

The University of Houston is now home to seven new senior members of the National Academy of Inventors.

The distinction honors active faculty, scientists and administrators from NAI member institutions that have demonstrated innovation and produced technologies that have “brought, or aspire to bring, real impact on the welfare of society,” according to the NAI. The members have also succeeded in patents, licensing and commercialization, and educating and mentoring.

According to UH, its seven new members represent the largest group from any single Texas institution this year, bringing the university's total senior member count to 46.

UH faculty also represented three of Houston's four new senior members in 2025. Six Houstonians were also named to the NIA's class of fellows late last year.

“This recognition affirms what we see every day at the University of Houston—bold, collaborative innovation focused on improving lives," Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president of energy at UH, said in a news release. "Having seven faculty members named Senior Members reflects our momentum and a culture where discovery moves beyond the lab into solutions that strengthen communities and drive economic growth.”

UH’s new senior members include:

  • Haleh Ardebili, endowed professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and assistant vice president for Entrepreneurship and Startup Ecosystem. Ardebili develops flexible lithium batteries and holds four patents
  • Vemuri Balakotaiah, distinguished university chair and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. Balakotaiah holds is patents, with five pending, and develops mathematical models for the clean energy research.
  • Jakoah Brgoch, professor of chemistry. Brgoch develops next-generation inorganic materials and holds four patents.
  • Jose L. Contreras-Vidal, distinguished professor in electrical and computer engineering and director of UH’s NSF neurotechnology research center. Conreras-Vidal develops brain-machine interface technologies. He holds five patents, with two technologies advancing through clinical trials.
  • Preethi Gunaratne, professor in the department of biology and biochemistry and director of the UH Sequencing Core in UH’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Gunaratne holds five patents in biology and energy technologies and has made significant large-scale genome discoveries.
  • Jae-Hyun Ryou, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Ryou holds 13 patents and has develops innovative semiconductor materials and devices for flexible electronics.
  • Yingcai Zheng, professor in applied geophysics and director of the UH Rock Physics Lab. Zheng's work focuses on energy production, geothermal development and carbon management strategies. He holds two patents.

Other Texas institutions also had strong showings this year. Additional new Texas senior members from NAI institutions include:

Texas A&M University

  • Guillermo Aguilar
  • Stavros Kalafatis
  • Narendra Kumar
  • Heng Pan
  • Xingyong Song
  • Yubin Zhou

Texas State University

  • Bahram Asiabanpour
  • Martin Burtscher
  • Nihal Dharmasiri
  • Alexander Kornienko
  • Ted Lehr
  • Christopher Rhodes

The University of Texas at Arlington

  • Brian H. Dennis
  • Nicholas Gans
  • Frederick M. MacDonnell
  • Charles Philip Shelor
  • Liping Tang

The University of Texas at San Antonio

  • Robert De Lorenzo
  • Marc Feldman
  • Daohong Zhou

The University of Texas at El Paso

  • XiuJun Li
  • Yirong Lin
  • David Roberson

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

  • Thomas John Abbruscato
  • Annette Louise Sobel
  • Sanjay K. Srivastava

Texas Tech University

  • Gerardo Games
  • Dy Dinh Le

Baylor University

  • David Jack

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

  • Upal Roy

This year's class is the largest since the NAI launched its senior member recognition program in 2018. The new senior members come from 82 NAI institutions ad hoe more than over 2,000 U.S. patents. Accoring to the NAI, it has 945 senior members who hold more than 11,000 U.S. patents today.

“This year’s senior member class is a truly impressive cohort. These innovators come from a variety of fields and disciplines, translating their technologies into tangible impact,” Paul R. Sanberg, president of NAI, added in a news release. “I commend them on their incredible pursuits and I’m honored to welcome them to the Academy.”

The Senior Member Induction Ceremony will honor the 2026 class at NAI’s Annual Conference June 1-4 in Los Angeles.

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Both Rice University and the University of Houston were selected by the Department of Energy to receive funds for ongoing research projects. Photo via Getty Images

Houston researchers snag government funds for net-zero emissions projects

seeing green

Rice University and the University of Houston were two of four national institutions to receive sizable grants from the Department of Energy last month to go toward the research and development of projects that will improve CO2 storage to help move the country toward the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Each of the four projects works to advance long-term, commercial-scale geologic sequestration of CO2. According to a release from the DOE, the process of carbon capture and storage (known as CSS) separates and captures CO2 from the emissions of industrial processes before it is released into the atmosphere. Once captured, the CO2 is then injected into deep underground geologic formations, known as caprock.

However, during seismic events, like an earthquake or volcanic eruption, the CO2 can leak through the ground and contaminate the water supply.

"Large scale carbon capture efforts are vital to getting America emissions free by 2050, and how we store this CO2 must be safe, secure and permanent," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. "The R&D investments in new tools and technology to monitor underground activity near CO2 storage sites will help us minimize risk from natural events like earthquakes, safeguard the environment and water supply, and get us that much closer to our clean energy goals."

Rice was awarded nearly $1.2 million from the DOE for its project that aims to develop a new strategy for monitoring seal integrity in the CCS process. The project "has the potential to provide a powerful platform for identifying CO2 leakage through reactivated faults or fracture zones," the statement said.

UH received a nearly $800,000 grant for its project that will work to determine cost-effective seismic data processing technologies that will automatically detect faults on 3D seismic migration images.

The project is being developed by Yingcai Zheng at the University of Houston in collaboration with Los Alamos National Lab and Vecta Oil and Gas and aims will help not only estimate seismic activity, but will also be able to estimate the fluid leakage pathways in certain regions, according to a separate release from UH.

"Most think of applied geophysics as linked to the oil and gas industry," Zheng said in the statement. "While that is true, when we think of the energy transition and how to achieve our goals, it is important to realize that this cannot happen without studying the geophysics of the subsurface – in a way, it literally holds the well-being of humanity's future."

The remaining two projects that received grants from the DOE come from the Battelle Memorial Institute in Ohio and The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. In total the DOE issues $4 million to support the projects.

A number of Houston energy leaders are looking at smarter ways to store CO2. This spring, Joe Blommaert, the Houston-based president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, said that he envisions creating a $100 billion carbon-capture hub along the Houston Ship Channel. And that same month Occidental's venture arm, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, announced plans to construct and operate a pilot plant that would convert carbon dioxide into feedstocks.

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MD Anderson president to retire after nine years, interim successor named

retirement plan

An era is ending at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

On Aug. 26, Dr. Peter WT Pisters announced his plans to retire from his role as president of the comprehensive cancer center. He will work on a smooth transition of leadership with interim president Dr. Jeffrey E. Lee throughout September.

“I first arrived at UT MD Anderson 32 years ago with a passion for doing everything I could to advance our mission to end cancer. Serving as the only faculty member to become president, and now marking nine years in the role, I can say with great pride and gratitude that there is no better place than UT MD Anderson to turn hope into healing for patients and families everywhere,” Pisters said in a news release. “With a timeless strategy, a strong leadership team, unprecedented levels of financial health, and a priceless culture anchored in our deeply held Core Values, now is the right time for me to transition to other opportunities. UT MD Anderson has never been stronger, and its future has never been brighter.”

Pisters assumed the presidency in 2017 and helped launch some of the most cutting-edge new clinics in MD Anderson history. One of those was the James P. Allison Institute, named for the Nobel Laureate scientist who discovered a way to suppress immune response on tumors so that immune cells would attack cancer cells instead. As head of his titular clinic, Allison pioneered several new immunotherapies against cancer.

Pisters also oversaw the creation of the Institute for Data Science in Oncology in 2024, an innovative consortium of scientists dedicated to enhancing single-cell imaging to improve precision in cancer treatments. The institute also brought together teams to use data-driven analytics regarding safety, quality and access.

The UT System Board of Regents praised the leadership and work of Pisters in a statement, wishing him well in the next phase of his career.

“The Board of Regents and I are profoundly grateful to Dr. Pisters for his exceptional presidency over the past nine years and for thoughtfully concluding his service when UT MD Anderson is thriving at its best position of peak performance, strength and impact. We wish him our very best with his retirement and in his next chapter,” Kevin P. Eltife, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, added in the release.

Houston e-commerce giant Cart.com launches government-focused subsidiary

government branch

Houston e-commerce and logistics unicorn Cart.com has launched a new subsidiary.

Cart Government Solutions (CGS), which was announced earlier this week, will provide supply chain and logistics services and software for the federal and state government sectors. The new subsidiary will be headquartered in Washington, D.C., and operate out of about 6 million square feet of secure warehouse space across 14 U.S. facilities, according to a news release from Cart.com. It will support both domestic and overseas logistics.

Industry veteran Gregg Zegras will lead the new entity as president. Zegras previously served as Cart.com's chief revenue officer, according to LinkedIn. Before that, he served as president of Connecticut-based Pitney Bowes Global eCommerce, a digital shipping solutions company.

Remington Tonar, Cart.com's co-founder, will serve as CGS's chief innovation officer.

“Government agencies face procurement and logistics challenges that many commercial platforms simply weren’t built to solve,” Zegras said in the news release. “Cart Government Solutions exists to change that. We’re combining the speed and innovation of a technology company with the compliance rigor, security, and operational depth that federal and state customers require, and we’re doing it with a team that has spent careers working alongside and inside these agencies.”

According to the company, CGS will focus on meeting compliance and security requirements in the public sector. Some of the services the new entity will offer include:

  • Inventory management
  • Cold-chain and specialty storage for pharmaceuticals, medical devices and regulated goods
  • Enterprise-grade supply chain software
  • Government-compliant webstores and online ordering portals
  • Cybersecurity operations

Cart.com has been serving the public sector since 2022, when the company began distributing COVID-19 health supplies nationwide, according to the news release. Through that pandemic-era contract, the company reports it moved more than 725 million units, with an average of under two days per shipment.

Cart.com was founded in Houston in 2020, though it briefly moved its headquarters to Austin. The company reached unicorn status with its $60 million Series C raise in 2023. It most recently raised $180 million in growth capital from private equity firm Springcoast Partners in March, which put the startup over the $1 billion in fundraising mark in just six years.

At the time, Cart.com said it planned to scale its logistics network, expand AI capabilities and develop workflow automation tools.

Houston-based KBR Inc. also recently launched a government services spinoff. Read more here.

2 Houston universities named best colleges of 2027 by Princeton Review

A-Plus Ratings

Back-to-school season has returned in full force, and that means it's time for college rankings. Two Houston universities in particular are being hailed as the top of the class for 2027.

The high caliber schools — Rice University and University of Houston — earned new acclaim in The Princeton Review's ranking of the "Best 392 Colleges" for 2027.

The Princeton Review's 35th annual "Best Colleges" rankings are determined by a survey of 172,000 current college students that gave "candid feedback" about their schools and their experiences. The flagship guide does not rank the schools overall, but it does rank them across 50 different categories, including best-run colleges, best quality of life, happiest students, best athletic facilities, among others.

In all, 14 Texas institutions were highlighted in the overall list of the 392 best colleges.

Schools don't pay to be included in the guide, but The Princeton Review clarified that schools could pay for a "featured" designation. No Houston university paid to be featured in this year's guide. Trinity University in San Antonio and Southwestern University, a private school in the Austin suburb Georgetown, were the only two Texas schools that paid to be "featured."

Rice and UH have been on a winning streak in separate reports of the best universities worldwide, best graduate schools, and best online degree programs.

In addition to being included in the overall list, Rice was highlighted as one of the Best Value Colleges, Colleges That Create Futures, and it earned high marks in Princeton Review's Mental Health Honor Roll 2026. The home of the Rice Owls also starred in the regional Best Southwest list that contained 41 universities across Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

"Rice University stands out as a leading research university where academic diversity and a wide array of interdisciplinary institutes and centers make it easy for students to explore multiple areas of interest," the school's profile says. "At Rice, 'knowledge isn’t siloed — students are constantly crossing disciplines and interests in ways that feel natural rather than exceptional.'"

Rice earned the following rankings on 14 other lists:

  • No. 1 – Lots of Race/Class Interaction
  • No. 3 – Best College Newspaper
  • No. 9 – Friendliest Students
  • No. 11 – Best Quality of Life
  • No. 13 – Great Financial Aid
  • No. 14 – Top 50 Best Value Private Colleges
  • No. 17 – Their Students Love These Colleges
  • No. 18 – Top 20 Best Value Private Colleges Without Aid
  • No. 18 – Best Student Support and Counseling Services
  • No. 19 – Best College Dorms
  • No. 21 – Students Study the Most
  • No. 24 – Best Campus Food
  • No. 24 – Best College Radio Station
  • No. 24 – Best-Run colleges
The University of Houston also appeared in the Best Southwest, Best Value Colleges, and Colleges That Create Futures lists, and it was named a top Green College, which examined schools that "share superb sustainability practices, a strong foundation in sustainability education, and a healthy quality of life for students on campus



UH earned five more accolades:

  • No. 1 – Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies
  • No. 1 – Top Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies in the Southwest
  • No. 8 – Most Politically Moderate Students
  • No. 15 – Financial Aid Not So Great
  • No. 42 – Top 50 Best Value Public Colleges
In the school's profile, students say they had an overall positive experience thanks to UH's excellent academic offerings and dedicated faculty members.

"Students confirm that 'the research and other academic opportunities... are very accessible to students who seek it out,'" the profile says. "This includes taking advantage of UH’s vast alumni network (more than 325,000 and counting), not to mention its location in the corporate center of Houston, where 'the opportunities that are provided are immense.'"

The 12 other public and private universities in Texas included in The Princeton Review's 2027 guide are:

  • The University of Texas at Austin
  • Southwestern University, Georgetown
  • Baylor University, Waco
  • Texas A&M University - College Station
  • Trinity University, San Antonio
  • Texas State University, San Marcos
  • Angelo State University, San Angelo
  • Texas Christian University, Fort Worth
  • University of Dallas, Irving
  • Southern Methodist University, Dallas
  • The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson
  • Austin College, Sherman
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A version of this story originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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