Clean and Pristine: Fort Worth-based Clarus Glassboards Changing the Way We Write on Walls

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Ever been ready to brainstorm with your team but you end up spending more time cleaning the conference room’s filthy whiteboard that still has smudges from the past decade? Clarus Glassboards understands that frustrating feeling and created innovative dry-erase glass surfaces so that “Yesterday’s presentation will no longer be today’s distraction.”

What began as an idea born out of a Fort Worth garage in 2009 has since expanded across the country and the globe. Founded by Robby Whites and Jeremy Rincon, Clarus Glassboards’ major clients include AT&T, Macy’s, Apple, Texas Instruments, Tesla, Twitter, and Amazon. The founders, along with Clarus President Andrew Philipp, were recognized in 2015 as EY Entrepreneurs of the Year.

Whites and Rincon started the company after they lost their jobs in the financial services industry. Because of their experience during the Great Recession, they pursued manufacturing instead of high-tech because they wanted to build a product that was more hands-on. As Whites described, “When we lost our jobs, we want to make something tangible; if you dropped it on your foot it would hurt.”

Made from Vitro’s Starphire glass, Clarus Glassboards would not only hurt if you dropped it on your foot, it probably won’t break either. The Glassboards are anti-glare, durable, and as easy to clean as a bathroom mirror. Better yet, these surfaces come in customizable sizes and colors to fit clients’ diverse needs, whether it’s in the classroom, the office, or the hospital. The company even developed a limited edition ping pong table.

Part of the secret to the company’s success? It builds its product right here in the United States rather than outsource. Whites explained, “Clients appreciate our being able to make a product and ship it quick; they appreciate customization; they appreciate high quality. We have to own and control the manufacturing process.” When Amazon requested hundreds of Glassboards within a few days for its newly opened office in Romania, Clarus was able to respond immediately because it manufactured at home. “No one else in the world could have done that for [Amazon],”Philipp said.

Clarus Glassboards’ product and manufacturing process are a result of constant innovation. Did you know the company’s innovative experiments are considered R&D and could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit? If you are conducting similar experiments, you could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and receive up to 14% on your expenses. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE credits as well as CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Got the Green Thumb Itch but live in the Concrete Jungle? Dallas-Based Gardenuity combines tech and earth to offer a Customized Gardening Experience

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Anyone living in Dallas can tell you that the urban space is not conducive to growing your own crops. But one Dallas-born entrepreneur hopes to change that. Donna Letier with cofounder Julie Eggers kickstarted the lifestyle tech company Gardenuity to cleverly mix modern technology with old-fashioned gardening. Hailed as the “Blue Apron” of gardening, Gardenuity helps urban dwellers get in touch with their green thumb.

“With technology we are changing the language of gardening,” Letier said. With its Gardenuity Match app, similar to Tinder but for plants and gardeners, users can find their ideal plant based on their zip code, food preference, and lifestyle. Geared towards newcomers to gardening who don’t live near agrarian spaces, Gardenuity then sends clients a customized gardening kit complete with pre-portioned soil, custom compost, the plant itself, a portable container, and planting instructions.  Letier explained, “We won’t sell you something that it’s not the right time to plant. We also create custom compost based on your ZIP code, what you’re growing and the time of year. We’ve really customized it down to the ZIP code, which is really cool.”

The company also developed a “concierge” to assist clients through reminders, weather alerts, and growing tips. For instance, if you are keeping plants on a balcony and a heat wave is coming, the concierge would inform you to bring your plants indoors. As well, the app sends recipes to give you ideas for what to cook from the crops of your garden. Through its coaching, Gardenuity hopes to make gardening a little more convenient. Letier said, “Everyone is busy, the one thing no one has figured out how to grow more of is time, but the desire for people to connect with nature continues to grow. Gardenuity can make everyone a modern-day gardener.”

As Gardenuity shows, gardening and technology are not mutually exclusive. Letier and Eggers collaborated with horticultural engineers and seed breeders to develop Gardenuity’s high quality products. They also partnered with technicians to construct their customized state-of-the-art technology. They are constantly in search of developing new ways to improve their products. The company truly lives up to its namesake of “gardening meets ingenuity.”

While gardening isn’t typically associated with R&D, Gardenuity clearly demonstrates that it developed its current models through a rigorous process of experimentation with software, horticultural engineering, and app development. Did you know this experimentation is eligible for the R&D Tax Credit? If you are also conducting similar trials, even for a company that isn’t explicitly “R&D”, you could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is Texas’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Texas, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes.  

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative

Luck should have nothing to do with it: Lessons from Hurricane Harvey about Resilient Technology

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Restoration projects continue in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey which had devastated Houston’s infrastructure. Although the destruction was not as bad as it could have been, experts believe that with the increasing likelihood of future deadlier storms, the Lone Star state should invest in more resilient technology. Karl R. Rábago, executive director of the Pace Energy and Climate Center, said in regards to the disaster in Houston, “We’ve dodged a bullet. We should honor our good fortune by not relying on it next time.”

This resilient technology should be directed towards flood management, sustainable power, and ensuring that critical services like fire stations and hospitals could continue to operate in the midst of disasters. During Hurricane Harvey, the W.A. Parish Electric Generating Station, one of the largest power plants in America, had been unable to generate power because of flooding. Water had clogged the station’s conveyor belt, preventing coal from moving throughout the plant and from generating electricity. Consequently, for the future, Joshua D. Rhodes, a postdoctoral researcher at Austin’s Energy Institute at the University of Texas, said, “We’re going to design power plants and oil and gas refineries with flooding in mind. Anything you don’t want to get wet, you move up.”

Diversity of power sources are important as well. Daniel Cohan, a civil and environmental engineering associate professor at Rice University, asserts that Texas should invest in other types of power technology, not just coal and nuclear. Cohan does not believe the solution to resilient technology is to have “a 90-day mountain of coal next to the power plant.” Rather, renewable energies should also be considered.

Additionally, microgrids could help maintain the utility grid, especially near critical services. Because they are local, onsite power generators that are disconnected from traditional power grids, microgrids can still supply electricity into neighborhoods even when the main grids are cut off. According to the Department of Energy, “Depending on how it’s fueled and hot its requirements are managed, a microgrid might run indefinitely.”

Are you engaging in R&D to build more resilient technology? You could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and can get up to 14% on your R&D expenses, even if your experiments were not successful. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is Texas’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Texas, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes.  

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative

 

When Business Insider said In-N-Out, not Whataburger, is Texas’ #1, Texas responded: You don’t mess with the Lone Star State or its Whataburger

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Business Insider announced yesterday it has identified the most popular fast food chains in every state, with Chick-fil-A sweeping most of the country. However, when Texans saw the article’s map, they quickly noticed a major mistake: the article dared to claim that In-N-Out was the Lone Star State’s number one, not Whataburger.

Texans stormed Twitter to express their disagreement and highlight the flaws in Business Insider’s methodology. Business Insider had collaborated with Foursquare, a local search-and-discovery app, to gather data by dividing the number of food chain locations in a given state by the total number of visits to each chain. However, the visits were based on who had checked into the restaurant via Fourquare and not using other metrics. Critics of the study argue that Foursquare is not an accurate source to support Business Insider’s rankings because the app’s popularity has decreased significantly in recent years.

Others pointed out that in terms of number of restaurants alone, Whataburger surpasses In-N-Out on all counts. The latter is a newcomer to Texas, arriving on the scene in 2011, and is concentrated only in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio with a total of 35 restaurants. Whataburger, on the other hand, has hundreds of locations throughout Texas, with nearly 200 in Houston, 150 in Austin, and 134 in North Texas. Whataburger first started in 1950 by Harmon Dobson in Corpus Christi and has expanded to nearly 670 locations in Texas. Whataburger is famous for its distinct burger design: the five-inch bun and tasty, 100% beef quarter-pound patty make for a flat, wide burger that doesn’t fall apart when consumed. It’s a Texas classic.

Case in point: in January 2017, a Fort Worth groom was caught on video dancing with a Whataburger during his wedding. The video has gone viral on Facebook:

 

https://www.facebook.com/CandleLightFilms/videos/1370585132971845/

 

 

In 2016, Texas Monthly conducted a blind taste test between Whataburger and four other fast food chains. The result: Whataburger earned 45 out of a possible 55 points and was the clear winner. There’s no dispute: Whataburger in king.

Part of the company’s success is due to Whataburger constantly developing new ways to improve its manufacturing processes and create new food products. Did you know these processes are considered R&D and could be eligible for up to 14% back on the R&D Tax Credit? If you are also conducting experiments to build the next best American food chain, you could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit.To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is Texas’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Texas, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes.  

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative

Emergency drones used in search of missing toddler in North Texas

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The search continues for Sherin Mathews, a 3-year-old toddler who has been missing from her home in Richardson, Texas since October 7. Emergency drones were deployed yesterday as the latest surveillance measure in hopes of finding the missing girl.

According to the International Business Times, Sherin’s father Wesley Mathews had allegedly left his daughter outside at 3 am as a form of punishment for not drinking her milk. When he returned 15 minutes later, she had disappeared. Police said that though coyotes are often seen in the area, there is little evidence that Sherin was mauled by a bear. Kidnapping also appears unlikely.

Police and volunteers have been searching in fields, creeks, and wooded areas for the missing girl. Locating missing persons is very arduous but every second counts. An officer said, “We’re always hopeful that we can find her alive. But time is our enemy.” Aerial surveillance can offer these extra precious seconds. The North Texas Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Response Team are using emergency drones to search for Sherin. Jamie Moore, Emergency Management Director of Johnson County, stated, “It gives you a much better perspective of what the terrain looks like, what the ground looks like. You can see car tracks for example that might have driven through dirt. You can see where dirt may have been disturbed, and you can see articles of clothing.” While the police cannot disclose all the details, Moore is hopeful the scouting efforts of the emergency drones has provided important information for finding Sherin.

Smaller police departments short on manpower and resources are quickly resorting to investing in drone technology. Compared to helicopters, emergency drones offer air surveillance at a fraction of the cost of an actual aircraft and they can reach areas that aircrafts usually cannot. This week’s search is not the first time drones have been used in police investigations. Emergency drones have been deployed in North Texas since 2015. Earlier this year in March, drones was used in Dallas for the search of 38-year-old Matthew Meinert whose body was found a couple days later. Drones have also been used to hunt down criminals and to scope out critical situations like fires.

Drones are expected to become commonplace in police investigations, especially as the technology advances. “If you can save a life because you were able to locate somebody very quickly, a matter of minutes as opposed to a matter of hours, that’s worth investing in,” said Moore.

Are you developing life-saving emergency drones and aerial surveillance technology through R&D? You could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and can receive up to 14% on your expenses. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is Texas’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Texas, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes.  

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative

Fort Worth plastic surgeon’s non-invasive CoolSculpting demonstrates R&D in cosmetic surgery industry

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Most people wouldn’t immediately think of research and development when they think of cosmetic surgery, but this Fort Worth-based plastic surgeon’s decision to introduce CoolSculpting in her practice demonstrates otherwise.

In a press release earlier today, Kirby Plastic Surgery in Fort Worth announced that it will offer CoolSculpting as a fat reduction treatment. Citing safety and efficacy for her clients, Dr. Emily Kirby asserts that CoolSculpting has improved in recent years and offers the product needed by clients. FDA-cleared, the procedure reduces fat by using cryolipolysis to freeze the skin and destroy fat cells without harming surrounding tissues. It reduces isolated fat bulges without the need for needles, incisions, anaesthesia, and there is no downtime for patients. From a process of research and development, CoolAdvantage was also developed. Building on the findings of CoolSculpting, CoolAdvantage treats more parts of the body, including thighs, chin, and arms, in addition to the abdomen and flanks. It is also faster than its predecessor, cutting down treatment duration from one hour to 35 minutes.

The procedure is non-invasive and more comfortable than traditional plastic surgery treatments. Dr. Kirby states, “A growing number of patients have expressed interest in minimally invasive alternatives to surgery to address effects of genetics, aging and childbearing on their bodies. My priority is to provide patients the results they want in a safe, predictable way.” Plastic surgery is on the rise, with over 11.6 million nonsurgical procedures conducted in 2016 in the United States, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. New technologies are constantly being developed.

Are you also developing new or improving existing body sculpting technologies? Did you know this constitutes R&D? If this sounds like you, you could be eligible for an R&D Tax Credit, even if your experiments and trials haven’t been successful. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE credits as well as CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Ericsson chooses Austin as site of new design center for city’s “bustling tech and start up scene”

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When deciding where to open its next 5G design center, the Swedish telecommunications juggernaut Ericsson knew that Austin was the right choice.

With its highly skilled talent and growing reputation as a leader in the start-up tech industry, Austin has attracted many processor manufacturing companies and now Ericsson is joining the neighborhood. Many of Ericsson’s partners and suppliers are also based to Austin, making the city an obvious choice instead of California’s Silicon Valley. In an interview with Fierce Wireless, Sinisa Krajnovic, Head of Development Unit Networks at Ericsson, said, “We did analysis across the whole world. We had considered several places seriously and our choice was Austin for this.” Similarly, “Austin is one of the fastest-growing cities in the US with a bustling tech and start-up scene,” Niklas Heuveldop, Head of Ericsson North America, told Business Insider. “We want to capture the great talent on-hand there, enabling us to increase digital ASIC capabilities even further and be close to some of our key global customers.”

Ericsson’s new design center in Austin will focus on testing and developing the Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a microelectronics processor. Intended for cell phones and mobile devices, these are 100 times faster and more cost and power efficient than the average personal computer processor. Located in Austin’s tech neighborhood, the new design center will collaborate with nearby silicon manufacturing plants to design solutions and prepare for the commercialization of the 5G network.  Joining the company’s teams in Sweden and China, the Austin design center is part of Ericsson’s global strategy to develop “faster, better, and greener 5G products to bring into the Ericsson portfolio by 2019,” said Krajnovic. The 5G design center in Austin is expected to be up and running by the end of this year. It is currently recruiting designers and developers.

Ericsson’s expenses from R&D experiments conducted in Austin are eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and the company could receive up to 14% in return. If you are also conducting R&D testing to develop and manufacture processors, you could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit. Contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE credits as well as CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

 

 

Swipe Right for Your Next Career Move: Austin-based Bumble launches Professional Networking App

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When dating app Bumble first launched on the tech scene in 2014, it revolutionized online dating with its “women make the first move” approach. Now four years later with 20 million users worldwide, 800 million matches and counting, the Austin-based company is set to change the online professional scene with its new networking app, Bumble Bizz. The networking app was released on the Apple App store earlier this week in the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, and Germany.

Built into Bumble’s original app and drawing on its features, Bumble Bizz would connect users based on geographic location and users can swipe left or right to indicate whether they want to connect for mentoring or networking.  Swiping right means interested to connect while left signifies disinterest. Users are matched when both swipe right. They then have 24 hours to connect or else the connection disappears. Unlike Bumble which only features an image and short biography, the networking app would also include a digital resume highlighting skills and past work experience.

Bumble CEO and founder Whitney Wolfe Herd explained the company developed Bumble Bizz because many Bumble users were already using the app for professional connections in addition to romantic ones. Like its original app, Bumble Bizz sets the stage for women to initiate contact. Herd said, “We’ve stayed focused on creating a community with a foundation built upon positivity, respect, confidence, and encouraging women to make the first move.” The company’s head of brand Alex Williamson further added that Bumble Bizz was to create a “safe space for women to network”, given the higher risk of harassment for women in the professional sphere.

In response to media calling Bumble Bizz the potential “LinkedIn killer”, Herd has emphasized that the networking app functions differently from LinkedIn’s platform. For one, Bumble Bizz is more informal and casual compared to LinkedIn. The 24-hour time limit to make a connection, moreover, creates a sense of urgency instead of accumulating connections that are “dead” over time and not actively cultivated. Herd said, “We’re trying to give you access to people right here, right now around you, hyper-relevant to you, and create real-life connections.”

The networking app has launched on Apple. It will be available on Google Play on October 18. By the way, Bumble will be using its networking app to look for potential employees at its Austin office. If you’re interested, get started on Bumble Bizz today.

Building networking apps and changing the way we interact online? You could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and can receive up to 14% back on your research and development expenses. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

 

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE credits as well as CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Security in a Heartbeat: Texas Tech Researcher develops “cardiac password”

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From passwords, thumbprints, retina scans, to facial recognition, there’s no shortage of identity authentication features for phones and computers. But Changzhi Li, a researcher from Texas Tech University, envisions an even more intimate security method: a “cardiac password” which can identify users by their heart waves.

Existing security measures are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Hackers have consistently proven their ability to hack passwords and use fake thumbprints to gain unauthorized access and penetrate existing security defenses. Countermeasures for increased cyber security, however, are often invasive and inconvenient, such as requiring users to continuously re-log in or re-scan their thumbprints every few minutes. Instead, the project, developed by Li under Wenyao Xu from the University of Buffalo, seeks to create a method that is both secure and user-convenient.

Theoretically, the “cardiac password” would work similar to a police radar that measures the speed of a car but instead measures the speed of a heartbeat and how that movement changes over time. Xu said, “No two people with identical hearts have ever been found.” Building on the assumption that each person has his or her own unique heart and waveform, the “cardiac password” involves releasing a radio frequency signal to measure and authenticate the user’s signature heartbeat. When the user walks away from the computer or if another person attempts to log in, the device would automatically lock down.

The “cardiac password” would not be invasive since it would continuously authenticate the user without the user’s active participation. Li explained, “This system does not ask people questions or require us to do anything like type in a password or do a finger scan or face scan. You just do whatever you want to inside your office, and the system sends out a signal to check out your cardiac waveform without letting you know it is doing it.” The signals would also be less powerful than Wi-Fi and the radiation from cellphones and therefore, would not pose a severe health concern.

This project is still in its development stages. The team is currently testing different sensitivity devices and hardware that could be used for the “cardiac password.” From there, Li would better assess the feasibility of the project. He also recognizes that the project would need to account for signal changes in the user’s heartbeat, such as aging or pacemakers. Li and Xu hope the “cardiac password” would one day be used for computers, cell phones, and even in airport identification.

Are you also engaging in R&D experiments to develop new cyber-security measures? Did you know that If you conduct your R&D projects in universities, you could receive up to an additional 20% credit for your expenses? To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

 

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE credits as well as CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

The Dallas to Houston Bullet Train: Boosting Transportation and Economic Growth the Texan Way

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Imagine a bullet train so fast it could transport you from Dallas to Houston comfortably in 90 minutes instead of driving in traffic for six hours on congested highways. Texas Central Partners is making that dream a reality with construction for the bullet train slated to begin late 2018 and early 2019 and to be completed within five years.

The bullet train would be the first of its kind in the United States. At speeds up to 200 mph, the train would carry 400 passengers to three major stops: Houston, Dallas, and the Brazos Valley Region. Nearly 14 million people travel between Houston and Dallas each year by air or by road, and congestion has significantly increased on the highways since 2012. The Interstate 45 between the two major Texan cities is also known as the second deadliest highway in the country because of its vulnerability for accidents.

Texas Central Partners is building its prototype based on Japan’s N700-I bullet train and Shinkansen system. With its 52-year record of zero fatalities, the N700 technology is known as the safest in the world. Texas’ bullet train will be built on an elevated double-track rail to further ensure public security so as not to intersect with highways and roads. The company’s External Affairs Director Holly Reed explained the state is a test for the rest of the United States: “The project is in Texas, but it’s on a national stage. It’s the right project being done the right way at the right time.”

Aside from the transportation benefit, the bullet train’s construction is expected to increase economic activity in the North Texas area. 10,000 jobs would be created from the renovation efforts alone while another 1,000 jobs would be added to the newly growing American high-speed rail industry. Costs of the project are an estimated $15 billion. Texas Central was adamant from the outset that funding for the bullet train would not come from government grants or subsidies. Instead, it would be financed by private sources. According to Reed, “This is an example of Texas doing things its way. It’s an entrepreneurial-led project being driven by free-market principles.”

Reed added that it follows the spirit of Texas innovation, “It’s a big idea, not any different than the first semiconductor that was built at TI (Texas Instrument) or when NASA put a man on the moon. This is an example of a project that has the principles that made all of those companies great.”

If you are also developing ideas and projects to improve Texas’ transit systems like the proposed bullet train, you may be eligible for the R&D tax credit which could save you up to 14% on your expenses. To find out more on how you can save money, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE credits as well as CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.