Editor's note:Another week has come and gone, and it's time to round up the top headlines from the past few days. Trending Houston tech and startup news on InnovationMap included tons of innovation news out of Houston's universities, from startup cohorts to new tech.
Houston universities reveal teams for summer accelerators
Four Houston accelerators will be working together this summer to advance nearly 30 university-associated startups. Photo via UH.edu
The University of Houston and Rice University have announced the cohorts for their summer accelerators that advance university-founded startups and small businesses.
The two schools run four programs in tandem with each other every summer for about a decade. There are nearly 30 companies this year being accelerated across the four programs, which are:
- Rice's OwlSpark is focused on early-stage startup teams.
- UH's RED Labs is focused on early-stage startup teams.
- Rice's BlueLaunch is focused on non-tech small businesses.
- UH's RED Launch is focused on non-tech small businesses.
"A very cool part of the program is that we partner every summer with Rice University's OwlSpark and Blue Launch," says Liana Gonzalez-Schulenberg, managing director of RED Labs. "It creates this really incredible network across the universities and allows both schools to bolster and benefit from each other." Read more.
3 Houston universities score top spots for grad programs in Texas, new national report says
Rice University's Jones School of Business ranked No. 2 in Texas and No. 24 overall. Photo courtesy of Rice University
The 2023 results are in, and U.S. News and World Report has deemed three Houston universities among the best grad schools in the state, with some of its departments landing among the top 70 in the country.
Rice University's Jones School of Business ranked No. 2 in Texas and No. 24 overall in the nation, while the Brown School of Engineering earned the No. 30 spot among engineering schools, and third best program in Texas. Additionally, the university's department of psychology landed the No. 1 spot for its industrial and organizational psychology program.
Houston's University of Texas Health Science Center earned the No. 3 spots in Texas for its masters and doctorate nursing programs, with the programs earning the No. 28 and No. 33 spots overall in the nation.
The University of Houston earned the No. 5 spot in Texas for its graduate education program, and No. 70 nationally. It is the No. 63 best business school and No. 69 best engineering school in the nation, according to the report. Read more.
Local university gets green light to launch new building at Houston Spaceport
City of Houston has entered into an agreement with Texas Southern University to develop an aviation program at the Houston Spaceport. Photo via fly2houston.com
With a financial boost from the City of Houston, the aviation program at Texas Southern University will operate an aeronautical training hub on a two-acre site at Ellington Airport.
The Houston Airport System — which runs Ellington Airport, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Hobby Airport, and Houston Spaceport — is chipping in as much as $5 billion to build the facility, which will train aeronautical professionals.
On May 3, the Houston City Council authorized a five-year agreement between the airport system and TSU to set up and operate the facility. Read more.
Rice University taps 2 partners to increase access to prototyping technology
Rice University announced a new partnership between two tech companies to allow for the community to have access to prototyping tools. Photo via Rice
A Houston university has entered into partnerships with two businesses to provide on-site prototyping and additive manufacturing services and equipment.
Rice University’s Office of Innovation announced its partnerships with Redwood City, California-based Carbon and Austin, Texas-based manufacturer TyRex Group today. The arrangement includes making additive manufacturing equipment, prototyping, and design facilities and services available on campus.
“Collaboration is the fastest way to get technology out of the lab and into the real world,” says Paul Cherukuri, vice president of innovation at Rice, in a news release, adding that 3D printing "allows you to create things you couldn't otherwise make, and it lets you go very quickly from an idea to a prototype and downstream to a product.” Read more.
University of Houston receives $20M donation, renames nursing school
The University of Houston's nursing program has received a significant gift to address the nursing industry's workforce shortage. Photo via UH.edu
A University of Houston alumnus and his wife have donated a historic gift to strengthen nursing education and research at his alma mater.
Andy and Barbara Gessner's $20 million gift to the UH College of Nursing was announced this week during National Nurses Week. The contribution will go toward scholarships and fellowships for students, as well as support programming and research to address the shortage of nurses in the workforce. The college has been renamed in honor of the gift to the Andy and Barbara Gessner College of Nursing.
The Gessners’ support of the College of Nursing is inspired by the many caring and giving nurses they know, including their late mothers, who were both nurses. Gertrude Smith Gessner and Mildred Roberson Pottenger dedicated their lives to delivering compassionate health care to their patients and serving their communities with distinction.
“We believe in nurses and we need more of them right now,” Andy Gessner, whose mother and mother-in-law were both nurses, says in a news release. “We’re all going to need a nurse at some time in our lives, and there's just not enough in the workforce or being educated for the future. The primary intent of our gift is to make more nurses available when we need them, now and in the future.” Read more.