Texas State University Plays Crucial Role in Attracting Army Futures Command to Central Texas
Yvonne Rhodes | August 15, 2018
Austin selected as future home of military innovation efforts
On July 13, 2018, the U.S. Army announced Austin, Texas as the location for its new Futures Command headquarters. Numerous factors were considered, with proximity to an urban hub (rather than on a base or military installation) and available technical talent being among the most important. Austin was hand-picked out of 15 finalist cities based on its position within the Texas Innovation Corridor, a cluster of premier academic institutions, including Texas State University, extending from Georgetown, southward via I-35 to San Antonio.
Texas State played a key role in the Army’s decision. The university partnered with other agencies and organizations through the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and its consortium of higher education institutions to showcase the region’s research and development, computer science and engineering strength.
The University’s Role Moving Forward
Texas State’s continued role in the consortium will be to support the defense-centric innovation, workforce development and veteran support efforts, among other priorities, for Futures Command. With multiple locations in proximity to Austin, including the Texas State Round Rock Campus, the university will also play a key role in providing resources to the program.
Companies at Texas State’s Science, Technology, and Advanced Research (STAR) Park are focused on innovation directly supporting military applications, including point of care diagnostics and portable devices for recharging electriconics in the field.
“Texas State has one of the largest and best-equipped group labs for polymer and nanocomposite synthesis and characterization in the United States,” said Walt Horton, chief research officer and associate vice president for research and federal relations at Texas State.
According to Horton, Texas State is engaged in research with major implications for military operations including high-impact polymers for ballistics protection, shape memory and self-healing systems, lowdielectric polymers for electronic applications and conducting polymers. The university’s nanocomposite research includes ablative materials for rockets, flame-retardant materials, engineering composites, food packaging and thermal and electrically conducting materials.
“Futures Command is an enormous win for our region and Texas State since we have such a strong R&D operation relative to the military,” said Texas State University President Denise Trauth. “Texas State is proud to be a part of the higher education community that helped bring the Army to Austin. We are at the ready to support the Army's future force modernization enterprise.”
More on Futures Command
Maintaining cyber security, identifying credible threats, providing soldiers with the weapons and equipment needed to serve effectively and leading the forefront of technical innovation are only some of the challenges Futures Command will tackle. The Command’s goal is to fine tune and implement a modernization strategy to ensure readiness for potential conflicts that could lie ahead.
Secretary of the Army Hon. Mark T. Esper commented, “the establishment of the Army Futures Command is the best example of our commitment to the future readiness and lethality of the force.” He added, “Army Futures Command will help fulfill the Army Vision by addressing the key shortcomings of the current acquisition system, providing unity of command, effort, and purpose to the entire modernization enterprise.”
“This is a big year for the Army because we believe that we need to significantly reform the way the Army does research and development, testing and evaluation, procurement, and everything else that contributes to the modernization process,” said Gen. Mark A. Milley, Chief of Staff of the Army.
For more information on the Army Futures Command, visit the Army’s website and press release here.
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For more information, contact University Communications:Jayme Blaschke, 512-245-2555 Sandy Pantlik, 512-245-2922 |