taking flight

Houston Airports to explore launching electric, autonomous air taxis

The Houston Airport System announced a Memorandum of Understanding with Wisk Aero, a fully-owned subsidiary of Boeing. Photo via wisk.aero

A fleet of electric and autonomous air taxis is expected to take flight in Houston, thanks to a partnership between a California startup and the Houston Airport System.

HAS announced a Memorandum of Understanding with Wisk Aero, a fully-owned subsidiary of Boeing, which recently announced a similar partnership with the city of Sugar Land. For the next year, the company will identify vertiport infrastructure at Houston's three airports — George Bush Intercontinental Airport, William P. Hobby Airport, and Ellington Airport.

“During my time in the Texas senate, I voted for legislation supporting advanced air mobility. This public-private partnership marks a significant step forward for the City of Houston as we invest in innovative and sustainable modes of air transportation,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire says in a statement. “The collaboration underscores our commitment to pioneer advancements that will shape the future of urban mobility.”

Wisk will also develop Houston-area relationships and chart out flight paths for self-flying, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis. The company's Generation 6 aircraft is autonomous, but a human supervisor remotely oversees every flight.

"Houston is at the forefront of aviation and aerospace innovation, so it’s only fitting that Houston Airports take the first steps to explore the next generation of air transportation,” says Jim Szczesniak, director of aviation for Houston Airports. “Our partnership with Wisk represents a bold step towards revolutionizing air mobility not just within our city, but across the entire Greater Houston region."

Earlier this year, Wisk partnered in a similar capacity with Sugar Land. The company and HAS will also work with the Federal Aviation Administration on this initiative.

“Our partnership with Houston Airports solidifies Wisk’s commitment to creating new and efficient ways to travel within the Greater Houston area and furthers our relationship with infrastructure and regulatory partners in the region," adds Brian Yutko, CEO at Wisk. “Connecting suburbs to Houston’s airports, business centers and prime tourist destinations through autonomous, sustainable air travel will create a new form of urban mobility and have tremendous economic and workforce impacts, supporting the growth of the Houston region.”

In addition to early infrastructure planning for maintenance and training facilities in Houston, the partnership means Houston Airports and Wisk will collaborate on integrating AAM into HAS's long-term plans.

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This article originally ran on InnovationMap.

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A View From HETI

The Welch Foundation has awarded funding through two of its newest grant programs. Photo via Getty Images.

Houston-based The Welch Foundation has issued $700,000 in additional funding to support chemical research through two of its newest grant programs.

The foundation has named the recipients of its Welch eXperimental (WelchX) Collaboration Retreat and Pilot Grants and the Welch Postdoctoral Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation Grants.

The WelchX grants were awarded to teams of two Texas researchers who presented "innovative and collaborative ideas" addressing challenges in the clean energy space, according to the foundation.

Researchers from Texas universities gathered in Houston earlier this summer to discuss the theme “Chemical Research for Grand Challenges." They then paired off into nine teams and submitted proposals for the $100,000 pilot grants. The seven selected teams, several with ties to Houston, and their research topics include:

  • Yimo Han, Rice University, and Yuanyue Liu, The University of Texas at Austin, “Stabilizing Copper Electrocatalysts for CO2 Conversion”
  • Ognjen Miljanic, University of Houston, and Indrajit Srivastava, Texas Tech University, “Ping-Pong' Afterglow Luminescence in Self-Assembled Molecular Cubes”
  • Raúl Hernández Sánchez, Rice University, and Andy Thomas, Texas A&M University, “Accelerating Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agent Discovery via Rapid Injection NMR: Improving the Detection of Lithium for Disease Diagnostics”
  • Benjamin Janesko, Texas Christian University, and MD Masud Rana, Lamar University, “Cyber Twin Chemical Ensembles for Near-Infrared-Emitting Graphene Quantum Dot Therapeutics”
  • Ivan Korendovych, Baylor University, and Dino Villagrán, The University of Texas at El Paso, “Selective Bio-Inspired Electrochemical Probes for PFAS Analysis and Degradation”
  • Samantha Kristufek, Texas Tech University, and Kayla Green, Texas Christian University, “CIRCUIT: Critical Ion Recovery using Conductive and Ultrafiltration Intelligent Technology”
  • Fang Xu, The University of Texas at San Antonio, and Hong Wang, University of North Texas, “Visualize Molecular Adsorption on Supported Ni-porphyrin Model Catalysts via Substitute Effect”

The Welch Postdoctoral Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation provides three-year fellowships to recent PhD graduates to support clinical research careers in Texas.

The foundation previously announced that it would name fellows from Rice University and Baylor University who would receive $100,000 annually for three years. This year's recipients and their research topics include:

  • Teng Yuan, Rice University, “Unlocking New Chemistry of Nonheme Iron Enzymes for α-Amino Acids and γ-Lactones Synthesis”
  • Katelyn Baumler, Baylor University, "Crystal Growth of Ln2Fe4Sb5 Phases Toward the Study of Novel Quantum Properties”

“As these programs become more established, it is thrilling to see the new research our awardees are exploring,” Adam Kuspa, president of The Welch Foundation, said in a news release. “The Foundation is very pleased by the applications that we continue to receive describing exciting new research projects to advance chemical research.”

This additional funding comes on the heels of the foundation doling out $27 million for chemical research, equipment and postdoctoral fellowships earlier this summer. The foundation made 85 grants to faculty at 16 Texas institutions at the time. Read more here.

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This article originally appeared on our sister site, Innovationmap.com.

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