SATOP offers FREE Technical Assistance through two programs:

• The 40 Hour Technical Assistance Program

• The University Capstone Design Program

40 Hour Technical Assistance Program

Eligible entrepreneurs and small businesses located in Texas can be provided with up to 40 hours of FREE technical assistance. Requests must have a distinct and identifiable engineering challenge that appears solvable in the 40-hour limit. Through this program SATOP cannot fund a project, build a prototype, or compete with commercially available services/products. To qualify, the small business must be a Texas business and have one of the following:

• Patent

• Provisional Patent

• Prototype

• Engineering Drawings 

University Capstone Design Program

Thanks to the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and its partnership with Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, SATOP has formed a collaboration with the Texas A&M University Engineering Capstone Design Program to work on projects that require extensive technical assistance. This program has grown to include Texas A&M College Station, Texas A&M Galveston, Sam Houston State University, Texas State University, and University of Houston Clear Lake. 

In the program, teams composed of three to six senior engineering students, under the guidance of a faculty member, spend one to two semesters designing solutions and developing academic prototypes for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

If your project requires technical assistance beyond 40 hours of service, you may qualify for this SATOP program. Project dates vary depending on university academic calendars, so there may be a delay between the initial request of your project and the project start date.

To verify the requirements for both programs, visit the Submit a Request page.