Southwest Research Institute

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is one of the oldest and largest independent, nonprofit, applied research and development (R&D) organizations in the United States. Founded in 1947 by Thomas Slick, Jr., SwRI provides contract research and development services to industrial and government clients. The Institute is governed by a board of directors, which is advised by approximately 100 trustees.

SwRI initiates contracts with clients based on consultations and prepares a formal proposal outlining the scope of work. Subject to client wishes, programs are kept confidential. As part of a long-held tradition, patent rights arising from sponsored research are often assigned to the client. SwRI generally retains the rights to Institute-funded advancements. It has received nearly 800 patents since 1950, 39 of them in 2005.

SwRI consists of 11 technical divisions that offer multidisciplinary, problem-solving services in a variety of areas in engineering and the physical sciences. Nearly 2,000 projects are open at the Institute at any one time. These projects are funded almost equally between the government and commercial sectors. SwRI’s total revenue for the fiscal year 2005 was $435 million, supported by a staff of 2800. During 2005, SwRI provided $4 million to fund innovative research through its internally sponsored R&D program.

SwRI’s headquarters occupy almost two million square feet of office and laboratory space on a more than convert|1200|acre|km2|sing=on site in San Antonio. The Institute serves clients from more than 20 locations worldwide.

One of its most recent projects is the New Horizons unmanned exploratory mission to Pluto.

External links

* [http://www.swri.org SwRI website]
* [http://www.swri.org/6swsa/work/facts.htm SwRI quick facts]
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