TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 22 "Anyone who has an idea, but says they can't do it yet because they don't have the tools, this place removes the hurdles to taking that first step," Cohn said. "I know I am going to fail 20 times before I find something that works, so I want to get it behind me as fast as I can." According to Cohn and his team, there is nothing that can't be built in the space. The CDI @ TMC is outfitted with everything from laser cutters to 3-D printers, from wet lab- oratories to hand-cranked mills and automated lathes. One of Cohn's favorite tools is the water jet, which can cut through metal in seconds. To cut metal in his garage at home, Cohn goes at it with a hacksaw, which can take hours. With the water jet, it takes about a minute. At the CDI @ TMC, contemporary furniture with whimsical flourishes greets visitors, including an oversized architect lamp that looks like it jumped out of a Pixar movie. Secluded work- spaces are reminiscent of nap pods found in Silicon Valley. The Houston office of Gensler, a design and architecture firm, oversaw the project. "Our point of departure for the project was Billy's home garage, the space that he feels most free to exper- iment and create with all his tools and materials at hand," said Joni Calkins, architecture and senior associate at Gensler. "We were given an amazing old industrial space with tall volumes and great natural light, to which we added not only lab benches and lots of advanced manufacturing machinery, but also elements that would seem industrial in nature, but would facilitate collaboration and be comfortable for the people working in the spaces. "In the tall space, we installed a conference room made from two large shipping containers and painted bright blue. It appears as an amazing industrial object from the outside, but inside it's completely comfortable, outfitted with flexible furnishings and great technology. We had many custom furniture pieces fabricated for the project that utilized existing materials salvaged from the space, including the industrial maple flooring that became table tops and wall cladding. Our goal was to add an authentically Houston quality to the space that is indicative of Houston's engineering and manufac- turing heritage." One of the walls is outfitted with light boxes that will display device suc- cesses and failures, said Carlos Amaro, operations manager at the CDI @ TMC. Amaro is an expert at maintaining cre- ative spaces. Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, he was senior engineering design technician at Rice University. The CDI @ TMC can fit up to 30 engineers from Johnson & Johnson, Amaro said, some of whom will begin to work in the space by the end of the year. The new center is an amalgamation of early-stage ideas, great teams, investors and large companies, said Arjun "JJ" Desai, M.D., chief operating officer of JLABS and the CDI @ TMC. The big idea is to bring all these players together in a focused, creative environment. "Entrepreneurs are looking for safe havens for their companies to grow," Desai said. "We want to be that funnel." While startup hubs on the East and West coasts continue to be popular, they are bursting at the seams; it is expensive to get a decent workspace and time with investors, Desai said. While the CDI will focus on ideas stemming from Johnson & Johnson, Desai hopes the facility will become a place where entrepreneurs can take ideas from academia and move them quickly into commercialization with help from Johnson & Johnson and others. Entrepreneurs wouldn't have to scramble to find investors or fly off to South America to conduct clinical trials, Desai said. They could do all that in Houston within four city blocks, fostering a rapid cycle of innovation that is cost efficient and resourceful. Carlos Amaro, operations manager at the Center for Device Innovation, stands inside two shipping containers that have been transformed into a conference room. Protective gear is available at the CDI @ TMC.

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