Choose Washington Blog
New virtual reality lab opens at UW.
A $6 million infusion of capital from Facebook, Google and Huawei has allowed the University of Washington to open a new virtual reality and augmented reality research hub. The UW Reality Hub is one of the first of its kind at a major university and is housed in the...
Blue Origin buys more land to expand.
Washington's commercial space cluster keeps growing by leaps and bounds. The latest announcement comes from Blue Origin, which purchased 31 acres of property near their current world headquarters in Kent, Washington for expansion. The four parcels sold for $14 million...
Governor Inslee forms new aircraft council.
Governor Inslee has formed a new Choose Washington NMA Council (a great name, BTW) to show Boeing why they should build their new middle-of-the-market plane in Washington State. The council hopes to show Boeing that building the new plane in Washington makes the best...
The nuts and bolts of fighting rust.
A revolution in materials along side advances in manufacturing techniques is creating an industry sector focused on higher performance, increased safety and lower costs. Washington State businesses like Seattle-based Modumetal are on the leading edge of redefining...
93% of all jobs? Well, technically!
Looking at all the construction cranes dotting the skyline, it's hard not to notice that there's a technology boom going on in Seattle right now. But a new report by the real estate firm CBRE confirms it, noting that an astonishing 93% of all downtown office jobs in...
New CLT plant in Spokane Valley to break ground.
Katerra is breaking ground on a new plant in Spokane Valley that will soon be turning out cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glulam, materials that can be used to replace concrete and steel in high-rise buildings. The 250,000 square foot factory will eventually employ...
The future: robots building complex aircraft.
For over a century, Washington State aerospace innovators have been pioneering new materials and methods for manufacturing commercial aircraft. The future of advanced manufacturing belongs to those who design and build robots that will populate the factories. MTorres,...
Brewing better proteins for industry.
The metabolic changes that happen in the time-tested process of fermentation are now being applied to the development of new proteins that can result in advanced materials, specialty chemicals for agriculture and improved pharmaceuticals. Seattle-based Arzeda...
Perimatics is UW innovation lab’s 127th startup.
The hits just keep coming for the University of Washington's CoMotion innovation lab. Perimatics is the latest in the long list of spinoffs CoMotion has spawned, its 127 startup to date. The new company is the brainchild of Kalyani Velagapudi and Bala Nair and is...
Mercedes opens Washington office.
Tapping into Washington's huge IT talent pool seems to be the norm rather than the exception these days. Joining a passel of other world-famous names making their home here, Mercedes-Benz is the latest to announce that it has opened a new engineering center in the...
A very SAFE boat indeed.
Every company likes to claim it started in someone's garage. In the case of SAFE Boats, which is celebrating its 20th year, it's true! - you can still drive by the garage on Port Orchard's Mullenix Road. “We literally started as small as you could be,” said Scott...
Washington economy snags top honor.
If there were an Olympics for businesses, Washington would be on the podium right now. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation has released its 2017 State New Economy Index and Washington took the #3 spot, ranking just behind California and Massachusetts....