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TECHNOLOGY |
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Houston has been rated among the country's top 10 high-tech "hot spots" based on all industries that employ more than three times the national average of scientists, engineering and computer professionals. Hewlett Packard USA, the entity formed when Hewlett Packard and Compaq Computers merged in 1001, is the largest computer manufacturer in the world. Hewlett Packard USA, Texas Instruments and BMC Software are just three of the most prominent employers in Houston's technology sector. Expansion of biotechnology operations in recent years has moved Houston into the forefront of the industry. Much of Houston’s biotechnology industry is focused in the Texas Medical Center, world-renowned as the largest medical care and research center in the world, providing more than 64,000 jobs. Approximately 5 million patients annually are treated at the Texas Medical Center, which is comprised of 14 hospitals with 6,170 beds and covers 675 acres. The doctors and healthcare facilities are considered some of the best in the country. Baylor College of Medicine’s Human Genome Sequencing Center is part of the Human Genome Project, the international consortium that completed the identification and order of 3 billion DNA letters that make up man’s 46 chromosomes.
NASA’s Johnson Space Center is the hub of Houston’s aerospace industry and is Mission Control for all U.S. manned space flight communications and control. Several aerospace companies, such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Honeywell, Raytheon and United Space Alliance, reside in the area due to the presence of the Johnson Space Center. Located in Clear Lake, just south of downtown Houston, NASA impacts the area economy by providing in excess of 3,000 jobs.
Houston is a leading center of nanotechnology research and commercialization ventures. Nanotechnology – creating functional structures at the atomic level (a nanometer is a billionth of a meter) – is an excellent fit for Houston. Houston’s concentration of expertise in energy, medicine and aerospace provides an abundant pool of talent to support the development of nanotechnology applications in those fields. Rice University is one of four Texas universities that have created nanotechnology research centers. Rice has both the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology and the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology. Rice has some 40 researchers pursuing nanoscale research in chemistry, physics, biosciences, computer sciences and engineering, including bioengineering. |