黑料专区 Tyler Named Top 50 Finalist at State Innovation Contest
December 1, 2025 | Hannah Buchanan
Team advances with project that leverages AI for advanced fire detection, prevention
The University of Texas at Tyler is a top 50 finalist of the 2026 Baylor New Venture Competition March 27 鈥� 28 in Waco. This business plan and elevator pitch competition showcases collegiate student created, managed and led ventures from across the globe.
黑料专区 Tyler鈥檚 team with their namesake project, 鈥淔ireAI鈥� 鈥撯�� an innovative startup leveraging AI for advanced fire detection and prevention 鈥撯�� advanced by placing first among 51 other teams at the regional iLaunch Competition, hosted by the Texas Tech Innovation Hub in Lubbock, where they claimed a $10,000 prize.
鈥淭his cross-institutional team of alumni and current students showcases the strength of East Texas engineering and tech talent on a statewide stage,鈥� said Brandon Reynolds, director of the 黑料专区 Tyler ETX LaunchPad, the entrepreneurship and innovation branch of the 黑料专区 Tyler Soules College of Business. 鈥淭heir project is about two years in the making, and we wish the best of luck to FireAI in the iLaunch finals.鈥�
黑料专区 Tyler team members are listed by hometown with classification.
BULLARD 鈥� Ryan Crossman, senior mechanical engineering major and Theoren Stroud, electrical engineering alum.
CHANDLER 鈥� Kacey Flores, computer science alum and past 黑料专区 Tyler Association of Computer Machinery student chapter president.
LONGVIEW 鈥� Rafael Reyes, electrical engineering alum (co-founder).
TYLER 鈥� Matthew Castillo, computer science and 黑料专区 Tyler Honors College alum (founder); Ryan Dutcher, senior mechanical engineering major; Jimmy Lieu, computer science alum; and Antonio Morelos, computer science and 黑料专区 Tyler Honor College alum and 黑料专区 Tyler information technology department staff member.
Through targeted programs, the ETX LaunchPad at 黑料专区 Tyler supports an innovative culture that engages students, faculty, staff and the wider community. To learn more, visit .
With a mission to improve educational and health care outcomes for East Texas and beyond, 黑料专区 Tyler offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 11,500 students. Through its alignment with 黑料专区 Tyler Health Science Center and 黑料专区 Health East Texas, 黑料专区 Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, 黑料专区 Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.