SMU

Calendar: Not-to-Miss Events for Innovators in Dallas-Fort Worth

North Texas has plenty to see, hear, and watch. Here are our editors' picks. Plus, you'll find more selections to "save the date."
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The Last Word: SMU ‘Big Ideas’ Winner Creates Laundromat Libraries for Pint-Sized Readers
by | Mar 10, 2026
Adzich has been working with groups like students from the Hockaday School who conduct book drives and raise $150 to provide a "bookshelf" for laundromat libraries around Dallas. Adzich has used that output to set up and maintain four Dallas-area laundromat libraries.
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The Last Word: Weitzman’s Bob Young On Why Grocers Are Racing to Build in DFW
by | Jan 8, 2026
“Retail follows rooftops, and today’s grocers are expanding.”

Bob Young
Executive Managing Director
Weitzman
…on why Dallas-Fort Worth leads the nation in new retail construction, speaking at Weitzman’s 36th annual retail forecast at the George W....

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SMU Researchers Scale Juicebox-Sized Infrasound Sensor to Expand Field Research
by | Dec 27, 2025
The portable, pocket-sized Sapphire microbarometer detects low-frequency waves from events like earthquakes, explosions, and ocean activity nearly 500 miles away.
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‘There’s So Much Energy in Our Space’: Innovators, Investors Invigorate Sold-Out 2025 Venture Dallas Conference

by | Nov 5, 2025
From North Texas founders including John Carmack and Ben Lamm to investors like John Redgrave of DTX Ventures and Draper’s Andy Tang, the summit's speakers tackled hot topics from humanoid robots and tech transfer to AI, VC trends and Y’all Street. A call was also heard for more risk-taking by DFW’s innovation ecosystem: ‘We’ve got to be bravery hunters.’
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Entrepreneur and Investor Trey Bowles Partners with SMU Impact Lab as Fund Manager and Advisor
by | Oct 23, 2025
Bowles will advise the Lab’s leadership team and students on fund strategy, investment process, and entrepreneurial execution, and will bring "a practical investor’s perspective" to the lab’s mission of supporting ventures that create measurable social impact.
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Garland Students Team With SMU Engineers on Affordable, Sustainable Building Blocks
by | Sep 10, 2025
Compressed earth blocks made from Dallas soil could offer a low-cost, eco-friendly alternative to traditional masonry. A team of Garland High School summer student researchers got hands-on experience with the solution at SMU's Lyle School of Engineering.
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SMU-Led Team Develops Nanomaterial to Withstand 1,000°C Heat—But 3D Print at Room Temperature
by | Aug 24, 2025
The breakthrough could impact industries from aerospace to energy. “This new method can revolutionize the material science field,” says lead researcher Amin Salehi-Khojin.
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It's a milestone year for the region’s top tech honors: A quarter-century strong, the 25th annual Tech Titans Awards lands in Frisco on September 12.

North Texas Innovators Named Finalists for the 25th Annual Tech Titans Awards

by | Jul 25, 2025
From startup founders to Fortune 500 CIOs, here’s who’s in the running for this year’s honors. The City of Frisco will be the first “Host City Sponsor” for Tech Titans Oscar-style presentation ceremony.
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How a Dallas Nonprofit Is Launching Girls Into STEM
From oil spill experiments to AI-powered avatars, GEMS Camp gives girls hands-on experiences that build skills and a path to STEM. The camp, founded by a former teacher, has reached more than 1,300 participants—and 85% have pursued science, technology, engineering, or math in college.
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Dallas Energy Startup’s 3D Solar Towers Win Global Airport Innovation Prize
Founder Mohammed Nije grew up without electricity. Now his Dallas startup, Janta Power, is piloting his power-dense solar technology at DFW and airports worldwide—earning global recognition for a design he says uses less land, generates more power, and can lower energy costs.
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SMU Dinosaur Choir Brings Prehistoric Sound to Life
by | Jun 18, 2025
Who knew they were singers? At Southern Methodist University in Dallas, students and researchers are resurrecting the sounds of dinosaurs using breath, code, and 3D-printed skulls. Fresh off international recognition, the Dinosaur Choir’s latest performance is a prehistoric piece titled “Anger at the Asteroid.”
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SMU, Applied Research Partner To Develop Microrobots for Eye Hemorrhage Injuries

by | Mar 13, 2025
An SMU professor and his students are collaborating with Vermont's Applied Research Associates to develop "microrobots" to treat a vision-impairing eye condition. If successful, the new, less invasive treatment could help everyday Americans—and U.S. military servicepeople, too.
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UT President Jay Hartzell To Become SMU’s New Leader
by | Jan 7, 2025
SMU has been in the headlines recently, from its selection to the 2024 College Football Playoff to its $1.5 billion SMU Ignited gifts campaign to its leadership role in bringing the federal Texoma Semiconductor Hub to Dallas. Now it's made waves once more—by snagging a new president from its burnt-orange rival in Austin.
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SMU Researchers’ ‘Lab-on-a-Chip’ Test Earns $100K Grant
by | Dec 30, 2024
The Lab-on-a-Chip test can detect immune responses to infectious pathogens in two to three minutes, using just a drop of blood or saliva on a "microfluidic" chip. Funding for the researchers' grant came from Dallas-based Lyda Hill Philanthropies.
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DFW Clean Ports Project: Clearing the Air Near Southern Logistics Hubs
by | Nov 14, 2024
SMU researchers and the Southern Dallas Inland Port Transportation Management Association are working with officials from Wilmer and Arlington to address air quality challenges caused by heavy truck traffic around key logistics hubs in the region. Professors from SMU's Lyle School of Engineering are bringing their expertise in remote sensing and transportation to bear on the EPA-funded project.
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