University of Houston joins $5M consortium for national defense innovation

looking smart

The SMART Hub is a collection of researchers, engineers, and economic and policy experts looking to “enact a paradigm shift in the use and management of the wireless spectrum.” Photo via Getty Images

The University of Houston has signed on to be a part of an organization that is working toward next-gen technology for defense purposes.

UH has announced its partnership with the Department of Defense Spectrum Innovation Center’s Spectrum Management with Adaptive and Reconfigurable Technology (SMART) Hub, which aims to conduct spectrum research to help with national defense needs. SMART Hub will develop next-generation technologies, and the research team will contribute expertise in spectrum security, economics, communication systems, radar, circuits, policy, and more.

The center is led by Baylor University, and is a collection of researchers, engineers, and economic and policy experts looking to “enact a paradigm shift in the use and management of the wireless spectrum” according to SMART Hub. The consortium is worth $5 million, and comes after UH recently awarded its largest grant in history—$63.5 million from the U.S. DoD. The previous DoD contract aims to support the campus in developing analytical modeling and simulation platforms for the U.S. Army.

Growth in use of electronic devices has led to the jamming of the bandwidth available in the wireless spectrum (radio, TV, wireless phone signals). SMART Hub will focus on new approaches of spectrum communication to assist military and corporate organizations that will confront this issue more than before. SMART Hub will combine efforts of 29 researchers at 17 institutions.

“We will be working on groundbreaking technology that will revolutionize how we use the spectrum,” professor of electrical and computer engineering at Baylor and director of the efforts Charles Baylis said in a news release. “Rather than fixed systems that use the same frequency and stay there, we’re designing systems that can adapt to their surroundings and determine how to successfully transmit and receive. It’s a true paradigm shift that requires the type of collaboration we will have in SMART Hub.”

UH’s SMART Hub team, which will be tasked to produce strategies for enhanced communication in challenging spaces like regions having electromagnetic interference, forests, inner city environments, or mountainous terrains, includes:

  • David Jackson, professor of electrical and computer engineering
  • Zhu Han, Moores Professor of electrical engineering
  • Daniel Onofrei, associate professor of mathematics

From left, the UH SMART Hub team includes: Daniel Onofrei, associate professor of mathematics; David Jackson, professor of electrical and computer engineering; and Zhu Han, Moores Professor of electrical engineering.

The UH software will help DrillDocs customers make better and safer decisions out on the rigs. Photo via Getty Images

Startup taps UH-licensed technology to better optimize rig analytics

here's the drill

A Houston startup has tapped into the know-how of three University of Houston professors to help improve oil and gas drilling operations.

The startup, DrillDocs, has licensed software developed by UH professors Jiefu Chen, Xuqing (Jason) Wu, and Zhu Han that enables real-time analysis of activity at onshore and offshore drilling rigs. Specifically, the software examines video to help classify the volume of cuttings from the shale-shaker components of drilling equipment.

According to the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, cuttings are small pieces of rock that are chipped away by a bit while a well is being drilled. The fragments then travel from the bit to the surface of the water, where they can be "caught" and studied. Drill cuttings often yield the only rock data gained from a well.

"Cutting analysis is an important task for an efficient, low-cost, and risk-free drilling execution," Chen says in a UH news release.

According to the news release, the UH software will study the cutting data to help DrillDocs customers "make more informed drilling decisions, reduce safety and environmental risks, and improve drilling performance and production."

Drilling technicians usually must repeatedly study cuttings manually, which can stifle progress and lead to human errors, according to UH.

Calvin Holt and Francois Ruel co-founded DrillDocs in 2020. The bootstrapped startup is developing the CleanSight system, which monitors shale-shaker components in an effort to reduce drilling costs and risks. DrillDocs' surface-based computer vision system can deliver data via laptops, smartphones, and other devices about the size, shape, and quantity of rocks floating to the surface.

In March, DrillDocs was identified as one of the four most promising startups that participated in a CERAWeek pitch competition.

"We're taking computer vision to the drilling rig," Holt, CEO of DrillDocs, said during his pitch. "Now, for the first time, drilling and geomechanics teams will have unique, real-time data to ascertain the well's condition."

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New AI-focused innovation hub, Rice Nexus, debuts at The Ion Houston

Innovation Station

Rice University unveiled its new AI-focused "innovation factory," Rice Nexus, on Friday, February 14.

The 10,000-square-foot space, occupying two floors at The Ion, aims to support and provide resources for ventures that are looking to scale and have "artificial intelligence (AI) as a central pillar of its innovation strategy," according to a statement from Rice.

The space will be home to a dedicated AI venture accelerator and is already serving as a home base for several startups with ties to Rice. The companies include:

  • Solidec, a climate-tech company co-founded by Rice professor Haotian Wang, research scientist Ryan DuChanois and alumnus Yang Xia
  • Coflux Purification, co-founded by Rice students Alec Ajnsztajn, Jeremy Daum and Dana Vazquez with collaboration from professors Rafael Verduzco and Pulickel Ajayan
  • BeOne Sports, a sports performance technology company founded by Rice alumni
  • Voythos, which uses AI to predict the future health of patients with cardiovascular disease

Sanjoy Paul will lead Rice Nexus as executive director. Paul previously worked at Accenture LLC as a managing director of technology and is a lecturer in Rice's Department of Computer Science.

“We created the Rice Nexus in the Ion for Rice faculty, students and alumni to transform their breakthrough ideas into venture-ready startups,” Paul Cherukuri, Rice’s chief innovation officer and vice president for innovation, said in the release.

“With Sanjoy Paul at the helm, we are not only integrating AI into the core of our innovation efforts but also ensuring that Rice founders have the leadership, expertise and support they need to rapidly build and scale transformative companies.”

The space is part of Rice's latest 10-year strategic plan known as Momentous, which was announced in October. Rice University President Reginald DesRoches spoke with the Houston Innovators Podcast on the university's growth last fall. Click here to listen, and explore photos of the new space below.

  

Photo courtesy Rice University

Texas county will hold election to make Elon Musk's Starbase its own city

Tesla Town

A Texas county recently approved holding an election sought by SpaceX that would let residents living around billionaire Elon Musk's company decide whether to formally create a new city called Starbase.

The election was set for May 3 and votes can only be cast by residents living near the launch site that is currently part of an unincorporated area of Cameron County, located along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In December, more than 70 area residents signed a petition requesting an election to make Starbase its own municipality. Most of the residents are company employees and the community includes more than 100 children, according to copies of the petition obtained by The Associated Press.

Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño said the county reviewed the petition and found it met the state's requirements for the incorporation process to move forward.

“If the election passes, this will be the newest town in Cameron County since Los Indios in 1995,” Treviño said in a statement. “We look forward to seeing the outcome of this election.”

SpaceX responded to a request for comment by referring to the company's earlier statement in December.

Kathryn Lueders, Starbase's general manager, previously said that the incorporation would streamline certain processes to build amenities in the area. Some local environmental advocates have expressed worry about what the effects would mean for development.

SpaceX's launch site broke ground in Texas in 2014. Only 10 of the roughly 250 lots of land within the proposed new city limits do not belong to the company.

More than 3,400 full-time SpaceX employees and contractors work at the Starbase site, according to a local impact study issued by the county last year.

Musk has long been planting business roots in Texas and has spread them far and wide across the Lone Star State. The billionaire moved to Texas in 2020 and relocated to or expanded a number of his companies in the state, citing the state’s business-friendly climate.

Tesla’s massive 10-million-square-foot Gigafactory, where the company makes its Cybertrucks, opened near Austin in 2022 and will also serve as the company headquarters.

Texas lands top 10 spot in new future of tech study

report

Texas is among the top 10 states making the biggest investments in digital innovation, according to a new study.

The study, conducted by web-hosting company Hostinger, puts Texas in eighth place among the states when it comes to these key metrics:

  • Financial impact of the digital economy
  • Amount of venture capital and grants received by digital startups
  • Number of government-run tech hubs
  • Presence of top-rated business incubators

“To many, the Texas story is one of oil magnates and real estate tycoons. But in recent decades, the state has emerged as an innovation and high-tech hub,” according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

On a scale of 1 to 100, Texas received a score of 79. California nabbed the top spot with a score of 100. Appearing behind California and ahead of Texas in the ranking are:

  • No. 2: New York
  • No. 3: Washington
  • No. 4: Illinois
  • No. 5: Massachusetts
  • No. 6: Missouri
  • No. 7: Wisconsin

In terms of ranking factors, Texas benefited the most from landing at No. 2 among the states for its impact on the digital economy. The study pegged Texas’ digital economic impact at $141.7 billion, well below California’s impact of $492.8 billion.

Hostinger relied primarily on government data on 31 states to come up with the ranking. “The research provides a detailed ranking based on a composite score that reflects each state's overall investment and capacity for digital innovation,” the company says.

More than 30,000 businesses in Texas participate in the digital economy, according to the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA). Those businesses employ more than 633,000 people and account for over six percent of the state’s GDP, a key measure of economic strength.

“As technology companies face increasing scrutiny through state and national legislation and litigation, it’s crucial to recognize the significant positive impacts of the digital economy that resonate across the United States,” says the CCIA.

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