With a strong oil and gas industry and scarce human resources, the research community, just like the producing sector, is challenged with accomplishing needed R&D and product development quickly and in a cost-efficient manner. Accelerating technology development is key for the developer to begin getting that return on investment, and for the user, it is critical to begin applying the technology to realize opportunities and solve problems. An alternative developed by the Texas-based, for-profit corporation, Texas Institute of Science (TxIS) bears examination. According to TxIS, its process delivers 25% faster time to market, plus significant cost savings.

TxIS relies upon its network of 15,000+ Ph.D. professors and research scientists, who reside in 200+ departments in 60+ universities and research institutes in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Asia, to perform the work. The core of the business model is to assemble a real-time, multi-phase, multi-site and multi-discipline “virtual research group” connected and communicating through the Internet, tailor the group’s activities to the client’s project and actively manage the project to its successful conclusion. Typical clients are those whose success depends on an ever improving technology but have limited engineering/science resources to produce the required technology. In addition to geophysics & exploration, other areas of expertise include signal processing, mechanical & material sciences, optics, nanotechnology, communications technology and robotics.

TxIS’s network of 15,000+ scientists gives it great flexibility in tailoring disciplines and identifying/selecting experts that fit the client’s program. If need be for rush jobs, “parallel research” groups can be assembled. Historically, the proven time-to-market is about 25% faster than a traditional scientific group. Clients and researchers communicate, but it is TxIS who assumes full responsibility for completing the program on time and at budget. Ownership of all created patents belongs to the clients.

not establish “Technology Trend” departments so it is difficult for them to aim and guide new research properly. Knowing exactly what is known, has been tried and where technology is going helps companies avoid critical missteps that can be costly if not fatal to technology development efforts. “You can work on a new research for a year before you find out that component vendors took a different route, or research has gone to a different, more productive way,” noted John Plohetski, Vice President of Technology Development. Eight out of ten projects at TxIS start with a Feasibility Study. This gives the client a chance to decide which of the three TxIS-recommended solutions is the most advantageous to pursue. “By taking on projects on a step-by-step way, we can almost guarantee success,” said Laslo Olah, President of the Institute. “We go into projects with our eyes wide open,” he added.

And things get going quickly. According to Hossein Pasvar, Vice President of Research Programs, “On average, within two hours after the client sends the project description we have a good idea who are the most probable resources for the project and that gets concrete within four to six days.”

the parties. Resource and client will  sign contracts and non disclosure agreements (NDAs) with TxIS; financing and payments flow the same way.

“One of the most critical issues for us has been confidentiality and document control,” said Dan Alvarado, Senior Scientist. “We are clearly aware that clients bring their best ideas, technology plans, objectives, and many times their problems to us. We have the tightest document control I have ever seen in my 35 years as a professional engineer. All of our scientists are under NDA and we also inspect their organizations by our regional offices.”

Once a project starts, TxIS opens up all communication channels between the Clients’ engineers and the Institute’s scientists. “Most of the time we bring the lead scientists to visit with our client, because this is the best way to have people work together,” said Hossein Pasvar. “When we turn the project result over and leave, all credits, publications, announcements belong to the clients’ Engineering Department. We have the attitude of “the engineering department” invited us, we worked under their direction, we augmented their existing force, so the recognition belongs to them.” Plohetski noted that a project contracted for one of their oil & gas clients in August 2007 has since turned into 27 projects, proof that the system works when one works it properly.