Technology Today

When critical equipment fails, from a chain hoist to an aircraft part, operators want to find out what went wrong. Normal wear and tear, before a failure occurs, can also prompt tests to determine remaining service life for a part or system. A materials science and failure analysis engineer can investigate, digging deep to uncover the root cause of a failure or identify a potential malfunction. This expertise prevents loss of equipment or in extreme cases, loss of life. Listen now as SwRI materials science and failure analysis engineer and metallurgist Dr. Mirella Vargas discusses what is revealed during a thorough analysis, down to the microstructure of metals and materials.

Episode 87: Superheroes, Anime and STEM by Southwest Research Institute

Episode 86: 2025 Rewind by Southwest Research Institute

SwRI built a private, secure, high-velocity 5G network to advance wireless research and development, now and in the future. The versatile network operates on campus with fixed infrastructure or in the field with mobile components without relying on traditional mobile network providers. It currently supports 5G projects in cybersecurity, drone technology, edge computing and more, but it is ready to take on 6G and beyond. Future G capabilities will include artificial intelligence, satellite, virtual reality and holographic technology. Listen now as SwRI RF Sensors and Systems Department Director and 5G expert Jody Little discusses the benefits of a private 5G network, SwRI R&D progress using this new tool and the possibilities of Future G technology.

SwRI picked up two “Oscars of Innovation,” R&D 100 Awards, in the 2025 R&D World Magazine competition. The R&D 100 Awards recognize the most significant technical accomplishments of the year. The prestigious award has honored top tier, revolutionary science and technology for more than 60 years. SwRI was recognized as co-developer on two winning projects, the Copeland Oil-Free Centrifugal Compressor and the Low Mass High Efficiency Medium-Duty Truck Engine. This year, the competition drew entries from 13 countries and regions. SwRI has won 54 R&D 100 Awards since 1971. Listen now as SwRI engineers Dr. Jason Wilkes and Ryan Williams discuss what makes these technologies stand out as innovations of the year and how SwRI’s expertise contributed to the development of the award-winning compressor and engine.

SwRI celebrates a first in its 78-year history — the purchase of land and construction of a new facility outside of its San Antonio headquarters. The 33,000-square-foot, $18.5 million building, equipped to advance national defense technology, is strategically located 3 miles from Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Georgia. The building, featuring conference rooms, labs and new equipment, is expanding SwRI capabilities in electronic warfare (EW) research and development. The state-of-the-art Warner Robins space, which officially opened August 20, is a launch pad for innovative ideas and inspiration. Listen now as SwRI EW experts and Warner Robins engineers Winfield Greene, David Brown and Jarrett Holcomb talk about the new opportunities in the space, the forward-looking EW development underway and why Warner Robins is the ideal community for growth and progress.

SwRI’s NEXTCAR project, funded by the Department of Energy, fuses connected and automated technologies to achieve increased vehicle efficiency. The system demonstrates up to 30% energy savings. NEXTCAR works with all vehicles — electric, hybrid or conventional — without changing the engine or hardware. This is a software solution that goes beyond mapping the best route. The NEXTCAR vehicle can “talk” to its surroundings, like other cars and infrastructure, to determine a full, energy-efficient driving plan. NEXTCAR accounts for details like how many times a driver hits the gas and pumps the brakes, a combination that often consumes more energy. After eight years of research and development, the NEXTCAR connected and automated vehicle technology is complete and ready for the next phase. Listen now as SwRI engineer and NEXTCAR program principal investigator Stas Gankov discusses the advantages of a personal NEXTCAR driving experience, how the system collects valuable data and his call out for collaborators for the next phase.

NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission returned to Earth in September 2023 to drop off a sample of rocks and dust from the near-Earth, carbonaceous asteroid Bennu. The first U.S. mission to collect untouched, pristine material from an asteroid is giving scientists a glimpse into the early solar system and insight into the origins of life on Earth. We featured OSIRIS-REx before collection day in 2020. Now, we revisit the mission with an update on sample collection, the delivery of the “time capsule” to Earth and the research uncovering the secrets of the solar system. Listen now as SwRI planetary geologist and OSIRIS-REx co-investigator and instrument scientist Dr. Vicky Hamilton discusses mission milestones, the research team’s surprise findings and what OSIRIS-REx is uncovering about the ingredients of life. Plus, Hamilton briefs us on the latest developments of NASA’s Lucy mission.

We depend on clean, safe, reliable fuel for our personal vehicles, delivery trucks, emergency generators, aviation and so much more. Testing is critical to ensure fuel quality and safety. SwRI has conducted fuels and lubricants research since the late 1950s. Decades later, this important program continues the vital work of analyzing fuels to keep people safe and drivers moving, while looking ahead at the alternative fuels of the future. Listen now as SwRI Fuels and Lubricants Research Director Robert Legg discusses how fuel testing impacts everyone, what his team assesses beyond fuels and his top tips for your next trip to the pump.

SwRI is developing a process to produce graphene from carbon dioxide waste. Graphene is a valuable carbon allotrope with a wide range of applications. It is used in electronics like touchscreens, batteries, coatings, biomedical devices and more. While it can occur under the right chemical and thermal reactions in nature, it is not abundant, and it is difficult to produce synthetically in large quantities. SwRI is working on a large-scale solution, forming graphene from carbon dioxide that has been captured and stored to reduce emissions. Listen now as SwRI chemical engineer Michael Hartmann and scientist Miles Salas discuss how they are turning carbon dioxide waste into a feedstock for a useful, high-demand material.

The SwRI Workbench for Offline Robotics Development™ (SWORD™) is simplifying robotics motion planning. The user-friendly software allows developers to flow from computer aided design (CAD) to robotics management with ease. Robotics are used in manufacturing and other industries for “dull, dirty, dangerous” tasks. When designers move out of CAD for the next phase of product development, they often encounter complicated robotics software. SWORD works with CAD, allowing users to stay in a familiar software environment, making robotics more accessible and streamlining workflow. Listen now as SwRI SWORD developers Matt Robinson and Michael Ripperger discuss SWORD capabilities, how the software fits into the production puzzle and how it could benefit businesses, consumers and patients.

What do you know about your bones? SwRI is developing artificial intelligence (AI) for enhanced bone imaging to give patients a clearer picture of bone health. Current imaging methods, such as CT scans, protect patients from excess radiation but don’t provide detailed information on bone structure. SwRI technology runs these existing images through AI to fill in the blanks on bone health. The AI produces higher-resolution bone images with no additional radiation. Healthcare providers get a better picture of fracture and osteoporosis risk. Patients get faster intervention. Listen now as Dr. Lance Frazer, SwRI biomechanical engineer, discusses the benefits of artificial intelligence for bone imaging and shares his top research-backed tip to strengthen our adaptable, living, smart bones.

Launch is approaching for NASA’s Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere or PUNCH mission, led by SwRI. Four suitcase-sized satellites equipped with special instruments are setting out to capture the first images of the solar wind, the stream of charged particles that flows out from the Sun’s corona. PUNCH will examine the solar wind in low-Earth orbit, protected by our planet’s magnetosphere. The mission is exploring space weather and its impact on Earth, including how it affects power grids, satellites and astronauts. Listen now as Dr. Craig DeForest, SwRI space scientist, heliophysics expert and PUNCH principal investigator, discusses the mission’s upcoming launch, how PUNCH will make the invisible solar wind visible for the first time and his inspiration to study the Sun, the star that powers our planet.

SwRI researchers used the machine-learning tool Highlight™ to evaluate dozens of consumer products for chemicals, and the potential for human exposure. They looked at clothing, upholstery, fabrics, rubber and plastics samples and subjected them to various heat settings and solvents. They determined what chemicals were present and whether they could be emitted or extracted with normal use. Researchers identified both chemicals known to be harmful to human health and safe chemicals in the household products. The collaborative study with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was published in the Environmental Science & Technology Journal. Listen now as SwRI analytical chemist Dr. Kristin Favela and chemical engineer William Watson discuss how the study will advance the field of exposomics, the type of products that tested as most risky and the SwRI software tool that illuminated the data.

It was a spectacular year of learning about Project Z, a total eclipse, H2-ICE, UHIs, Europa and more. If you listened in 2024, you’re familiar with these topics and are closing the year with a little more expertise in science and engineering. Now, we’re going back, recalling the SwRI technologies, tools, projects and programs that caught our attention this year. Listen now as podcast host Lisa Peña recaps 2024 and takes us through the inspiring and fascinating topics of the year. For all episodes, complete transcripts and photos, visit Technology Today Podcast.

Traumatic brain injury or TBI occurs when an outside force causes a head injury that affects brain function or results in disability or death. TBI can happen to anyone. Causes include a fall, car accident and sports and combat injuries. SwRI researchers are targeting TBI with cutting-edge solutions. The Advanced Military Measure of Olfaction or AMMO is a screening test for smell loss, an indicator of TBI that can signal a need to elevate care. SwRI and The University of Texas at San Antonio are working to prevent TBI with specialized military helmet pads made of material that reacts to changing forces. Listen now as Senior Research Engineer Kreg Zimmern, leading the development of AMMO, and Research Engineer Dr. Daniel Portillo, leading SwRI helmet pad research, discuss pushing boundaries in brain health to screen for and prevent TBI.

SwRI’s Internal Research and Development Program supports scientists and engineers exploring unproven ideas or concepts. The program’s researchers are making impactful discoveries that evolve into solutions for the Institute’s government and industry clients. Over the past decade, SwRI has invested more than $77 million into research and development to benefit humankind, including space instruments, autonomous driving technology, clean energy initiatives and more. The IR&D Program gives curious researchers the freedom and resources to experiment, test and investigate with the goals of advancing science, investing in the future and creating business development opportunities. Listen now as SwRI Executive Vice President and COO Walt Downing, IR&D program administrator, discusses some of the program’s top achievements, how projects are selected for funding and the program’s world-changing contributions to science and discovery.

NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will investigate a vast saltwater ocean beneath the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. The spacecraft, equipped with nine instruments, will gather data in search of ingredients that support life. SwRI designed and built two of the instruments onboard Clipper, the Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph and the Mass Spectrometer for Planetary Exploration. The mission could help answer big questions about the origin of life on Earth and whether that process can occur elsewhere in our solar system. The launch window for Clipper opens October 10 and the spacecraft is expected to enter Jupiter’s orbit in 2030. Listen now as SwRI space scientists Dr. Jim Burch and Dr. Kurt Retherford, principal investigators of SwRI’s Clipper instruments, talk about preparations before launch, mission goals, and the SwRI instruments contributing to our understanding of astrobiology, the study of the potential for life beyond our planet.

When dense concentrations of pavement and buildings replace green spaces, a community risks becoming an urban heat island (UHI). UHI temperatures can be up to 20 degrees higher than surrounding areas, causing heat-related health and safety problems for people in the community. SwRI is working with the city of San Antonio to rapidly identify UHIs and pinpoint areas where people will most benefit from solutions like covered bus stops, water features, green spaces and more. An SwRI-designed tool is integrating and analyzing information from more than 200 sources to strategically combat high temperatures. Listen now as SwRI engineers Shane Siebenaler and Justin Long discuss SwRI’s data fusion tool used to identify areas that most need relief from the scorching summer heat.

SwRI is designing, building and operating the QuickSounder satellite, a collaborative mission between NASA and NOAA and the first in a new generation of low-Earth orbit environmental satellites. NOAA’s low-Earth orbit satellites collect weather data and provide information for the 3-to-7-day forecasts we use to plan our days and stay safe in severe weather. QuickSounder will also provide weather data, but what makes this prototype unique is the fast production timeline and the low construction cost. It is being developed in one-fifth of the time and at one-tenth of the cost of previous weather satellite technology. Listen now as QuickSounder Program Manager Keith Smith and Lead Systems Engineer Steve Thompson explain what the advanced production timeline means for weather forecasting and the challenges of designing and building the weather satellite in record time.