Regents approve Center for Research Commercialization project

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
University News Service
May 20, 2011

Regents of the Texas State University System Friday approved the design development documents for the Center for Research Commercialization project at Texas State University-San Marcos.

The TSUS Board of Regents met on the campus of Texas State University-San Marcos on Thursday and Friday, May 19 and 20.

The project, designed by Philo Wilke Architects of Houston, has an estimated cost of approximately $7 million, with funding coming from Higher Education Assistance Funds, an Economic Development Administration grant and the City of San Marcos. American Constructors of Austin has been selected to manage the project.

The new facility, located on a 40-acre site at Hunter Road and McCarty Lane in San Marcos owned by the university, will serve as a technology accelerator for start-up and early-stage businesses, and will provide university and commercial tenants access to secure wet labs, clean rooms and office space. Green and bio-technology companies will be a major focus, and backers hope that San Marcos' convenient location between Austin and San Antonio will work to attract corporate research interest from those cities' technology communities.

Interdisciplinary partnership will be a major selling point of the facilities, incorporating expertise from the McCoy College of Business Administration and the Materials Science, Engineering and Commercialization program at Texas State. The OCIR was established in 2007 to support research in the field of commercialization, particularly energy, security and health science. It supports these emerging companies by offering business planning knowledge and aids in identifying potential joint funding ventures.

The Texas State University System is the oldest multi-campus system in Texas and plays a critical role in the educational and economic development of the state. Its eight component institutions are Texas State University-San Marcos, Lamar University, Sam Houston State University, Sul Ross State University, Sul Ross State University Rio Grande College, Lamar Institute of Technology, Lamar State College-Orange and Lamar State College-Port Arthur.