Southwest Research Institute

"SWRI" redirects here. For the charity, see Scottish Women's Rural Institutes.

Southwest Research Institute

SwRI Title
Company type	Independent, nonprofit research and development
Founded	1947
Founder	Thomas Slick, Jr.
Headquarters	San Antonio, Texas, United States
Revenue	$548 million (2010)
Number of employees	3057 (2010)
Website	www.swri.org

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 oil businessman Thomas Slick Jr., SwRI provides contract research and development services to government and industrial clients.

The institute consists of 11 technical divisions that offer multidisciplinary, problem-solving services in a variety of areas in engineering and the physical sciences. More than 2,000 projects are active at the institute at any given time. These projects are funded almost equally between the government and commercial sectors. At the close of fiscal year 2010, the SwRI staff numbered 3,057 employees and total revenue was $548 million. The institute provided $6.7 million to fund innovative research through its internally sponsored R&D program.

A partial listing of research areas includes space science and engineering; automation, robotics, and intelligent systems; avionics and support systems; bioengineering; chemistry and chemical engineering; corrosion and electrochemistry; earth and planetary sciences; emissions research; engineering mechanics; fire technology; fluid systems and machinery dynamics; and fuels and lubricants. Additional areas include geochemistry and mining engineering; hydrology and geohydrology; materials sciences and fracture mechanics; modeling and simulation; nondestructive evaluation; oil and gas exploration; pipeline technology; surface modification and coatings; and vehicle, engine, and powertrain design, research, and development.

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.

The institute’s headquarters occupy more than two million square feet of office and laboratory space on more than 1,200 acres in San Antonio. SwRI has technical offices and laboratories in Boulder, Colorado; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Warner-Robins, Georgia; Layton and Ogden, Utah; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Rockville, Maryland; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Beijing, China; and other locations. The institute also provides environmental monitoring expertise at munitions disposal sites at the Umatilla Army Depot at Hermiston, Oregon, and the Pine Bluff Chemical Depot at Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

SwRI’s mission statement is, “Benefiting government, industry and the public through innovative science and technology.” Two of its core values are independence and impartiality.

Technical Divisions

The New Horizons science payload was developed under direction of Southwest Research Institute, and included imaging infrared and ultraviolet spectrometers, a multi-color camera, a long-range telescopic camera, two particle spectrometers, a space-dust detector and a radio science experiment.

SwRI consists of 11 divisions that offer multidisciplinary, problem-solving services in a variety of areas in engineering and the physical sciences. Divisions include:

• Aerospace Electronics, Systems Engineering and Training
• Applied Physics
• Applied Power
• Automation and Data Systems
• Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
• Engine, Emissions and Vehicle Research
• Fuels and Lubricants Research
• Geosciences and Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Signal Exploitation and Geolocation
• Space Science and Engineering

Slick Library

The SwRI library contains a rare book collection containing over 100 titles that document advances in the history of science and technology. Publication dates range from the 16th to the 20th century. Works of major English, European, and American scientists are represented in the collection, including Francis Bacon, Alexander Graham Bell, Robert Goddard, Alexander von Humboldt, Antoine Lavoisier, Isaac Newton, and Joseph Priestley, among others.

Among the most important books in the collection are:

• Aristotle. Meteorologicorum, dated 1571, with extensive early manuscript annotations.
• Borelli, Alfonso. De Motionibus Naturalibus a Gravitate Pendentibus, 1686, the first treatise on capillary phenomena.
• Boyle, Robert. Nova Experimenta Physico-Mechanica de Vi Aeris..., 1661, an investigation of the effect of atmospheric pressure on the boiling point of water.
• Franklin, Benjamin. Experiences et Observations sur L'Electricite..., 1752, the first French edition explaining electrical phenomenon.
• Maxwell, James Clerk. A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, 1873, containing the author's work on electrical and magnetic fields.
• Newton, Isaac. Philosphiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, 1726, the third edition of "the greatest work in the history of science."
• Pascal, Blaise. Traitez de L'Equilibre des Liqueurs..., 1664, the second edition of the first scientific work on hydrostatics and pneumatics.

References

• About SwRI from SwRI homepage
• monster.com company info.

External links

• SwRI website
• SwRI quick facts
• SWRi online product certification directory
• Southwest Research Institute from the Handbook of Texas Online