University Star

Texas State’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research Park has found companies with unique products to fill vacancies in its building.

S.T.A.R. Park will house and assist startup companies in its McCarty Lane location, said Executive Director Stephen Frayser. Companies hoping to apply for a space had to satisfy two tests to be eligible. The companies must be creating a unique, new product working toward a significant impact. The startups must have an affiliation with the university, such as offering formal internship programs or licensing intellectual property.

Frayser said the park is not only a real estate location, but an environment for beneficial interaction between the university and businesses.

“It is a physical place that embodies experiment and (is) a bridge between the academic world and the business world,” Frayser said. “It is a technical research incubator that provides an environment to assist entrepreneurial, tech-based, scalable businesses to reach high probabilities of success.”

The first company to officially be housed on the S.T.A.R. Park premises is MicroPower, which teamed up with Texas State in 2009 to develop energy-saving technology. MicroPower is working on developing a semi-conductor microchip that can turn heat directly into electricity, which saves energy, according to its website.

 Amanda Gregory, associate scientist at MicroPower, said the company will gradually move to its new S.T.A.R. Park location.

Frayser said although producing energy saving semi-conductors is not a new idea, MicroPower is very close to creating a cost-effective product for a global market, setting it apart.

The S.T.A.R. Park is still in the startup stage, and growing pains are being worked out, Frayser said. One growing pain is two final undisclosed companies are bringing the facility to full capacity.

“Two other companies will move in as soon as we get some minor plumbing issues sorted,” Frayser said. “(It will be) a very short period of time. With those three (companies), we will have met our capacity.

The 6,700 square foot, one-story building sits on 38 acres, and is the second research park Frayser has directed. He was the president of the Nebraska Technology Park for nine years before accepting the position at Texas State in November.

According to the Office of Commercialization and Industrial Relations webpage, Frayser’s accomplishments include assisting in the creation of 2,400 jobs and $68 million in new capital investments.