Texas State University Paves the Way for High-Tech Startups
education, technology, university of texas at san marcos,
When two young computer whizzes operating out of a San Marcos garage decided to create their own company‚ they turned to experts at Texas State University for help.
The university not only welcomed them; its academic experts analyzed their invention – a way to drastically speed up the transmission of streaming video. Then university officials came to the table with creative incentives that ultimately sold the fledgling entrepreneurs on starting up in San Marcos.
“With the university’s approval and blessing‚ many other doors came open. The chamber‚ economic development and the mayor got behind this company‚” says John Pepe‚ vice president for marketing of the now-established company‚ Kulabyte. “If it wasn’t for that‚ the company would have had to start in Austin.”
Strategically located between the hubs of Austin and San Antonio‚ San Marcos may be smaller‚ but with the intellectual capital available at Texas State University‚ the region is thinking big.
The campus attracts some 28‚000 students who help fill San Marcos restaurants‚ clubs‚ coffee shops‚ nightclubs and apartments during the school year‚ creating a thriving downtown atmosphere.
But the university’s influence extends far beyond those cyclical economic boosts‚ in close collaborations with the business community.
The university acts not only as an academic resource and incubator for innovative ideas‚ it also plays the role of a facilitator‚ bringing together movers and shakers in business‚ government and community to smooth the way for startups.
Billy Covington‚ the university’s vice president for research and federal relations‚ has seen the evolution since he started in 1999.
“The change that has taken place in eight years has been fairly phenomenal‚ especially with collaborations with industry and companies‚” Covington says.
Top university officials have participated in several negotiations aimed at attracting a new company to the region or keeping established companies from leaving‚ says Kim Moore‚ economic development director at Economic Development San Marcos‚ a public-private partnership.
“Unlike other universities‚ our university has a great open-door policy‚” Moore says. “It is easy for a company to get in‚ and I’ve been told that’s not easy to find.”
At the university’s Nanomaterials Application Center‚ director Walt Trybula works with technology companies to test out new ideas and products. Xitronix‚ one such firm‚ made contact with the university in 2007. Negotiations followed over intellectual property rights; the company moved into the center one month later.
He is also in the advanced research stage with GigaCircuits‚ a company that is working on what he calls “a very significant change” in mobile phones and other wireless devices.
“We are trying to prove these ideas out and turn them around and get them out commercially as soon as possible‚” Trybula says.
Helping grow the region’s economy takes other forms‚ too.
Chemistry professors Gary Beall and Chad Booth created a ballistic polymer that was up to 50 percent stronger than materials in use. Licensing agreements with private companies have already put the material on Cobra helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We have a lot going on‚” says Denise Smart‚ dean of the McCoy College of Business Administration‚ which offers free management and technical assistance to local businesses. “There is so much upside here and so much potential.”
Story by Pamela Coyle
Photo by Brian McCord
