In This Issue

• Heavenly water
• Movies from space
• Rooftop lawn
• Cancer treatment found in the genes
• Flying car
• Texas' own private space program
• A better way to compare
• Sun power
• It's cool to V-Kool®
• A breath away
• World of Innovation

"What do we do with the gift of a new day? How are we going to use it? You can't climb a mountain in one step, so in what direction are you going to start out? All of us need to appreciate the value of using each day to explore what can be accomplished that day with what we have."
- James H. “Red” Duke Jr., M.D.

"I just think if you work on interesting projects, invention is kind of a natural consequence."
- Jack Kilby

"When we can identify a problem and face the problem with confidence and enthusiasm, the solution is on the way."
- Zig Ziglar

A Message from
Comptroller Susan Combs

Texans have always been up for a challenge. As we face the unique hurdles the future will bring, we must apply our ideas and knowledge to finding new solutions. And that’s exactly what innovators from Texas and around the world are doing. We are pleased to offer this spotlight on cutting-edge solutions to address the challenges on the horizon. From the development of new water sources to meet the demands of our state’s growing population to breakthrough methods of battling deadly cancer, this issue of Texas Innovator covers a range of hopeful and exciting news. We’ll greet the future with the typical can-do pioneering Texas attitude.

AGRICULTURAL INNOVATIONS

Heavenly water

Bottling the rainwater from rooftops and then using it for drinking water makes perfect sense, right? It does if you are Richard Heinichen.

Heinichen’s 10-acre “Tank Town,” three miles west of Dripping Springs, does just that. It captures, filters, stores and bottles rainwater for drinking. It is believed to be the only such facility in the world.

Tank Town can capture up to 10,000 gallons of runoff from a one-inch rainfall. After that, it is stored in fiberglass tanks for up to a year, subjected to a series of filtering processes and finally goes through reverse osmosis to become drinkable water. It is a closed-loop system, meaning once it leaves the roof­top, the water is not exposed to outside air again.

Tank Town and its on-site bottling facility can package up to 60 cases a day and could do more, according to Heinichen. Sales have also jumped to around 300 cases per week, with Richard’s Rainwater showing up in several Austin-area markets and restaurants.

Texas’ population is projected to more than double to about 45 million people by 2060, making the development of drinking water sources a high priority in the state.

For more information, contact Curt Tilly, Microspace Communications, (919) 850-4500

---

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Movies from space

Movies are a bigger business than ever, with North American theaters taking in about $13.6 billion in 2005 alone. But actual film stock — and the splices and scratches that plague it — may be nearing the end of its run.

Carmike Cinemas of Columbus, Georgia, the nation’s fourth-largest theater chain, recently inked a deal to receive first-run movies for more than 200 of its theaters by digital transmission via satellite. Carmike plans to feed the digital movies to more than 2,000 individual screens.

For more information, contact Curt Tilly, Microspace Communications, (919) 850-4500

---

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

Rooftop lawn

A Houston-based landscaping company installed the first extensive “green” grass roof on a commercial office building in Webster. The roof is covered with eight inches of lightweight soil and drought-tol­erant grass that does not need mowing.

The grass helps insulate the rooftop, saving electricity and reducing heat generated by the building. Improvements in building energy codes called for by the Federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 could save $55 million nationwide by 2010.

For more information, contact Bruce Gunderson, Picture This Landscape, (281) 326-5296

 Denotes a Texas Innovator