5G is taking over the world of communications, and it’s crucial to powering the IoT. But to stay up-to-date with the latest technology, cell tower providers need better towers—and location matters. That’s where Irving-based Solaris comes in.

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5G Mobilizer
Evelyn Torres

Evelyn Torres leads a team that recently created a brand new 5G antenna design for its high-capacity mobile towers. “The additional radio requirements will be extreme,” she says, but the 5G antenna will be able to support multiple carriers and radios on the same tower. A decade since its founding, the company’s customers today include AT&T, Verizon, the U.S. Navy, and Dow Chemical. In tumultuous 2020, the team also helped restore service in hurricane-damaged areas with its cell-on-wheels towers, known as COWS.

Now in 2021, the Solaris engineering team just redesigned their 60-foot Mini Mobile Tower to include remote operation, the first COW in the industry with that technology. The upgraded tower also includes a more powerful winch and robust axel to support the weight of additional equipment, like all those 5G antennas.

What’s next? CEO Torres hints that expansion is in the making.

Meet the innovator

Evelyn Torres was featured in Dallas Innovates’ Future 50 in Dallas-Fort Worth in the 2021 edition of our annual magazine. We talk with Torres about recent Solaris innovations and how the company is responding to the dual challenges of the pandemic and social unrest. Here’s a takeaway:

On their most notable developments of 2020:

We created a new 5G antenna design – for our high capacity mobile towers. 5G will be the most robust communication service provided to all consumers to date. Solaris has worked hard to be at the forefront of development to ensure that our mobile towers can support multiple technologies including 5G. The additional radio requirements will be extreme, so Solaris Technologies has made a 5G antenna to support multiple carriers and radios on the same tower.

On their response to COVID-19 and social injustice:

Covid has possessed a multitude of challenges for small businesses. We are a manufacturer that requires the safest environment for our employees. To make sure we are in compliance with CDC requirements, we have implemented new protocols to make sure our employees are safe. It is very personal to me because I have one employee’s small child with Leukemia, so we have made it our company mission to keep our company COVID free.

As for social injustice, a diverse workforce helps unite us, and keeping an open dialogue about respect and inclusion is very prominent at our workplace. We value each employee and their contribution no matter what part of the organization they support.

Open communication helps during these times. I believe everyone is going through something, so my open attitude helps our team know that they have someone in their corner.

A version of this story was originally published in Dallas Innovates 2021: The Resilience Issue.

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Our fourth annual magazine, Dallas Innovates 2021: The Resilience Issue, highlights Dallas-Fort Worth as a hub for innovation. The collective strength of the innovation ecosystem and intellectual capital in Dallas-Fort Worth is a force to be reckoned with.