Innovation Watch 2021: Tom’s Top Five

by: Tom Hochstatter, President

We’re all wrapping a tumultuous year as December wanes into Christmas and then on into the new year. I’d like to take a breath and celebrate the positives of 2020. While tragedy has befallen so many directly and indirectly, we do have much to be positive about: Covid-19 vaccines have been shipping now around the clock, economies are slowly coming back to life, and inventors & innovators continued innovating even during the darkest months of 2020. We are thankful here at Techson that our business rebounded strongly in the second half of the year which means our clients’ business is on the mend too; we’ll mark another record revenue year in 2020.

So, what have we got to look forward to in 2021? Tons of brilliant innovation and red-hot technology sectors, that’s what. This is also the time of year near Christmas through the new year I like to assess what’s been hot in the headlines and what’s piqued my creative interests to keep tabs on for the new year. I’ve selected five I’m keeping track. What about you?

Geothermal Energy Production

What was old is new again: geothermal energy production. Geothermal has been around for many decades, but I am quite interested in the advancements of geothermal energy production as a future clean/green energy source. We’ve seen up close and personal the economic impact the pandemic has had on the fossil fuel industry here in Texas specifically. We are on a slow march to reduce and then end fossil fuel consumption and the promise of endless and affordable geothermal energy production is too much to ignore. What will be intriguing is watching the established oil & gas players morph their technology, focus and processes to embrace the subterranean heat; the catch - the heat required to tap this bounty is too hot for most existing tools and technology. Look for innovations and patent protection in this arena.

Autonomous Transportation and Its Electrification

There isn’t a mode of transportation that’s not taking significant new investor dollars or corporate R&D budgets from established players. Whether it’s container ships, helicopters, personal aircraft, drones, to scooters and now submarines, autonomy is where it’s at. Tesla continues to push the personal car autonomy with its Autopilot. From Detroit to VW and across Europe every major car manufacturer has an electric car or truck option now or very soon. Can you say Ford Bronco or Hummer? I’m watching battery technology from grid storage to the battery life in your smart phone. The amount of innovation will explode in both of these intertwined sectors.

Global Space Race

Just in the past month we’ve had Japan return a space craft from a speeding asteroid that left earth back in 2014. China returned a moon voyage with lunar samples. SpaceX launched and then docked their Dragon X capsule with a four-person crew to the ISS. Virgin Galactic registered to sell 100 million shares and numerous tech companies are splattering low orbit satellites to provide internet broadband to everyone. There will be so much to track in patents as scientists explore propulsion systems, materials advancements, human sustainment systems for all those beyond Musk looking to get to Mars - and back.

Drugs - The medicinal and the recreational

I started tracking the cannabis markets in earnest earlier in 2020 as more (US) states ratified it for either medicinal uses or full on recreational use. As of the last election, five more states advanced their cannabis access on top of Canada legalizing it back in 2018. North America is getting higher than ever before (and I think that’s a good thing - cannabis has been stigmatized for far too long). We just saw the biggest merger in the sector with Aphria and Tilray agreeing to tie up; we’ll see much more consolidation. With so much attention we are seeing a surge in both patent filings and trademark registrations as well as the expected fighting among the early market leaders. I am going to expand my drug watch list to include the famed “Magic Mushroom” or Psilocybin mushrooms. I am excited to read and review new studies that show promise in this (currently) quite illegal substance for broad medical applications: anxiety, depression, PTSD, among other chronic illnesses.

You - The Inventor

Finally, it’s easy to get caught up in the “big advances” in major innovation areas and forget the actual individuals that brought us the best in 2020 and before. I like to read and learn about the women and men behind the inventions too - like the Turkish-German power couple behind Pfizer’s vaccine for instance. Or the teams right here in our backyard: the Geothermal Entrepreneurship Organization in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin.

What are you watching in 2021? Let’s keep each other informed and educated, perhaps entertained too.

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