Investors & Entrepreneurs
INDUSTRIAL AFFILIATES PROGRAMS
Industrial Affiliates Programs provide a unique opportunity for the private sector to partner with UT researchers to explore research topics of mutual interest. Companies who join these programs gain access to state-of-the-art research facilities, world-class university talent, and any data and publications shared among members in exchange for an annual membership fee. Because Industrial Affiliates Programs are dedicated to fundamental, early-stage research, members can engage with the university’s research programs, students, and faculty without paying institutional indirect costs or overhead.
For more information on joining or establishing an Industrial Affiliates Program, contact our Licensing and Collaborative Research team.
-
GeoH2
Energy – Renewable
GeoH2 conducts geoscience and economic research to facilitate and advance the development of a hydrogen economy at scale. GeoH2 connects industry professionals in the energy and power sector with researchers in energy geoscience, subsurface engineering, and energy economics to conduct subsurface hydrogen storage research and technology development, perform market feasibility analyses, and explore novel subsurface concepts related to hydrogen.
-
Gulf Coast Carbon Center
Energy – Global Warming & Environmental
Gulf Coast Carbon Center (GCCC) works on technical issues related to long-term geologic storage of CO2 in porous media after CO2 has been captured to prevent build-up of this gas in the atmosphere and ocean. We work on regional and site-specific characterization of storage resources and the parameters relevant to storage and confinement; on multi-phase fluid flow monitoring; and on monitoring to test the correctness of characterization and modeling. We work in the field and in labs. We also do outreach to a wide public, from K-12 students to industries and governments us and globally.
-
Gulf of Mexico Basin Depositional Synthesis Project
Energy – Reservoir Geophysics
The Gulf of Mexico Basin Depositional Synthesis Project (GBDS) is a continuing industry-supported project that studies the Cenozoic and Mesozoic fill in the Gulf of Mexico. The goal of GBDS is to construct and maintain a detailed, comprehensive and integrated synthesis of the depositional history of the Gulf basin. GBDS has defined and mapped a gulf-wide Mesozoic and Cenozoic stratigraphic framework that provides its members context for regional play definition, deep slope and basin reservoir prediction, lease evaluation, and shelf carbon storage site evaluation. Well and seismic reflection correlations between continental margin and deep basin stratigraphies which allows for the investigation of paleogeography, source to sink sediment routing, and the spatial/temporal distribution of highest quality reservoir, source and seal rock. The project makes effective use of well logs, 2D and 3D seismic data, detrital zircon geothermochronology, subsurface pressure data, detailed sedimentological descriptions, and source rock analyses.
-
iMAGiNE
Computing & Automation
The iMAGiNE (Intelligent MAchine enGINEering) consortium provides tools, methodologies, and knowledge for engineering the machines that support intelligent applications, from the smallest circuits to the largest systems. iMAGiNE brings together faculty experts and researchers working on cutting-edge technology from devices and circuits, to hardware accelerators and the software systems running on them, while advancing the development of intelligent systems for rich data collection, machine learning, and smart sensing/actuation. To support the cloud-edge continuum and the applications running on them, iMAGiNE is organized in three thrusts: Cloud, Edge, and Applications.
-
Machine Learning Lab
Computing & Automation
The Machine Learning Lab (MLL) will be the catalyst that expands industry academic partnerships and builds the research base for partner companies, yielding talent development, research expertise, and new opportunities for all involved.
-
Multi-Scale Rock Physics of Unconventional and Carbonate Reservoirs
Energy – Petrophysics
The UT Austin Multi-scale Rock Physics Research Program focuses on developing advanced methods and workflows for integrating multi-scale formation data (i.e., measured physical properties of rock-fluid systems from pore to reservoir scale) to enhance reservoir characterization of challenging formations. Examples of such formations include spatially heterogeneous, tight, unconventional (e.g., organic-rich mudrocks), and carbonate formations. The term unconventional refers to formations with complex pore/matrix structure and composition, where conventional rock physics methods fail to perform reliably. We jointly analyze the outcomes from experimental data, analytical rock physics model development, and numerical modeling to evaluate static and dynamic formation properties for reliable characterization of challenging reservoirs, with the intent to enhance production and recovery factors.
-
Operating System 2.0
Construction
The Operating System 2.0 Industrial Affiliates Program (OS2 IAP) conducts research aimed at defining new ways of doing business in the capital projects industry. The goal is to unlock value that today’s engineering and construction industry simply cannot access. While the systems and work processes that manage capital projects have improved steadily in recent decades, the underlying business model binding investors with construction industry product and service providers is still characterized by a lack of trust, excessive friction in transactions, and burdensome financial waste – preventing real progress.
-
Quantitative Clastics Laboratory
Energy – Reservoir Geology & Simulation
The Quantitative Clastics Laboratory (QCL) is a UT Austin industry research collaboration focused on the sedimentology and stratigraphy of clastic depositional systems, with applications in reservoir modeling, uncertainty in subsurface stratigraphic correlation, and source-to-sink predictions for frontier exploration. Researchers use outcrop, subsurface, and Earth-surface data to investigate the processes and products of fluvial, shallow-marine, and deep-water depositional systems, and they aim to determine the impact of realistic modeling of reservoir architecture and facies distribution on reservoir performance of these systems. Researchers also use multi-proxy provenance analysis to understand external drivers and paleogeography of sediment source areas, drainage networks, and depositional systems in order to predict reservoir presence and quality.
-
Reservoir Simulation
Energy – Reservoir Simulation
The objectives of the Reservoir Simulation Joint Industry Research Project include the development, testing, verification, and application of reservoir simulators for oil and gas recovery processes. The reservoir simulators developed by this research group are used as test beds for new process physics, computational algorithms, physical property models, and other scientific purposes. Recent projects include CO2 and H2 storage and simulation and production forcast from geothermal reservoirs.
-
Rig Automation and Performance Improvement in Drilling
Energy – Reservoir Drilling
The Rig Automation and Performance Improvement in Drilling (RAPID) industrial affiliates program is an interdisciplinary group of researchers and students from multiple engineering disciplines (petroleum, mechanical, civil, computational, etc.) whose objective is to deliver novel solutions for any and every aspect of well construction with the overall goal of reducing drilling/completion time and cost and reducing the number of individuals at the rig site.
-
Science & Technology Affiliates for Research
Computing & Automation
The Science & Technology Affiliates for Research (STAR) program offers opportunities for companies to leverage Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) capabilities and resources to gain a competitive advantage in the 21st century economy. The STAR program promotes mutually beneficial exchange between industry and academia in advanced computing technologies, while fostering innovation and supporting economic development in the state of Texas and across the nation. To achieve these goals, the STAR program supports high-risk/high-gain research, helping companies of all sizes to develop new approaches to solving problems. Affiliates have access to the latest technologies and best-practices in high-end computing, visualization, data analysis, machine learning and artificial intelligence, storage, networking, and applications. They receive expert support and training in using these technologies; and are offered opportunities for joint academic/industrial research.
-
Texas Carbon Management Program
Energy – Global Warming & Environmental
This research program is focused on the technical obstacles to the deployment of CO2 capture from flue gas by amine absorption/stripping. The primary objective is to develop and demonstrate evolutionary improvements to monoethanolamine scrubbing for CO2 capture from coal- and gas-fired flue gas, including power plants and other sources. The strategy is to apply chemical engineering science to understand and quantify the performance of MEA and piperazine absorption/stripping, then to develop innovative, evolutionary improvements.
Discovery to Impact partners with researchers, inventors, investors, and entrepreneurs at every step of their journey in relentless pursuit of changing the world.