Texas A&M-Fort Worth’s future programs are coming into focus

As the windows of the Texas A&M-Fort Worth downtown campus go up, the vision for the academic programs and business hubs that will be part of the urban university are coming more into focus.

“We’re building this campus, and we’re building this kind of innovation district,” said Robert Ahdieh, chief operating officer of Texas A&M-Fort Worth. “But really it’s the content that’s going to flow into those buildings that really is going to be transformative.”

Ahdieh is directing the academic offerings that the campus will bring. Many of those programs will be in the university’s Law and Education Building that is scheduled to open in 2026.

The campus will have academic programs in engineering, nursing, business and performance, visualization and fine arts, Ahdieh said. One class in visual production is already here, operating in rented space in Winfield Place.

Amy Waer, the dean of the Texas A&M College of Medicine, said that officials plan to build out their medical program, with more medical students doing their clinical rotations and Texas A&M sponsoring more residencies in the Fort Worth area.

“We can’t have them have all of the clinical activities and experiences in Bryan College Station. There’s just not that scope of work,” said Waer speaking on a panel at the innovation summit. “(We’re) looking forward to continuing to grow our medical students’ presence here, and then also around graduate medical education.”

She said that the more doctors who graduate and do residencies in Texas, the greater likelihood they will stay and practice in the state.

Darryl Heath, executive director of the Fort Worth and Tarrant County Innovation Partnership, the organization that partners with Texas A&M, said that they’ve met with more than 70 companies across the metroplex during the past two years.

“We started with just interviews that said, ‘If you had a Tier One university moving down the street from you, how could they add value to your bottom line?’” Heath said.

The response has been strong, including positive interactions with around 70 Dallas-Fort Worth companies.

“The majority of them are in Fort Worth and/or Tarrant County, but there are a few on the east side of the metroplex as well,” he said.

Among the companies participating in Thursday’s summit were the area’s largest aerospace companies, such as Lockheed Martin, Bell and Elbit Systems. Also participating were companies such as American Airlines, Cook Children’s Health Care System, JPS Health Network, Texas Health Resources and Baylor Scott & White, as well as a number of startups. On the gaming and entertainment side, Powerhouse Animation attended, as well as 101 Studios, which works with “Yellowstone” writer and producer Taylor Sheridan. On the agricultural side, Heath said the school is involved with vertical farming pioneer Eden Green, Standard Meats and some of the ranching organizations in the area.

Tim McLaughlin, dean of the school of performance, visualization and fine arts at Texas A&M University, said the Legislature gave the college millions of dollars to build a production studio in College Station and in Fort Worth.

“We will make this technology tool set happen in a big way to help lure media and entertainment here to Texas, but also to turn and pivot that technology toward other industries,” said McLaughlin, speaking on a panel in downtown Fort Worth this week.

The university will be key to future fortunes of the city, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker made clear.

“If you understand who we are as a city and our history and our heritage, we started as a fort right on the Trinity River, when no one thought we’d be successful,” Parker told a group of business and Texas A&M leaders assembled at the PalmWood Event & Conference center in Fort Worth on Feb. 27. “You fast forward to now, all of these decades later, 175 years later … and we have to ask ourselves, what do we want the next 175 years to look like?”

The business leaders who came to the innovation summit last week met in industry-specific groups to chart a way forward for their ideas. It wasn’t just a brainstorming session, Heath said. There would be working groups coming up with action plans.

“Our goal is to activate this year as many of these ideas as we can, to get them up and running,” Heath said. “There are a number of key ideas that we believe will ultimately be magnets and draw small startup companies into them.”

While the Research and Innovation Building that will house these innovation hubs has not yet broken ground, Heath said, they’re going to look into using temporary space to get the ideas moving now.

The Focus Hubs 

Aerospace & Aviation Innovation Hub 

This hub will focus on establishing a state-of-the-market research facility focused on aerospace and aviation-related research facilities focused on aerospace and aviation-related industry academic partnerships. This facility will be a front door to many Texas A&M System research labs in College Station while also providing an industry-driven laboratory for collaboration and student engagement.

Agriculture & Food Innovation Hub 

The hub will serve as a major connecting point, enabling industry partners to collaborate with Texas A&M AgriLife Research faculty and researchers in a unique urban setting.

Extended Learning & Workforce Education Hub 

The hub will focus on creating a stronger pipeline of talent in North Texas. It will provide space and programming to target upskilling of the current workforce and prospective job seekers.

Entrepreneurship, Startup Support & Commercialization Hub 

Focused on the innovation pipeline, from the initial idea to commercialization, this hub will key in on the local startup ecosystem. The hub looks to reduce barriers to commercialization and advance research in the area and will have an initial focus on the areas of AI in medicine and imaging, visualization and gaming.

Healthcare Innovation Hub 

Focuses on creating a platform for the Texas A&M System and local hospital systems to collaborate on health care initiatives that advance research. The hub is currently piloting a North Texas Biobank concept that will provide long-term tissue and data storage as a proof of concept for a broader statewide Texas A&M initiative.

Media & Entertainment Hub 

The hub will focus on supporting local growth in the media and entertainment industry through related partnerships with the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts. The primary focus areas include virtual production studios for cross-industry utilization, technology and storytelling and workforce development.