UT Tyler named Top 50 Finalist at State Innovation Contest

Tyler—The University of Texas at Tyler is a top 50 finalist of the 2026 Baylor New Venture Competition in Waco, March 27 – 28. This business plan and elevator pitch competition showcases collegiate student created, managed and led ventures from across the globe. 

UT Tyler’s team with their namesake project, “FireAI,” an innovative startup leveraging AI for advanced fire detection and prevention, 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. 

“This cross-institutional team of alumni and current students showcases the strength of East Texas engineering and tech talent on a statewide stage,” said Brandon Reynolds, director of the UT Tyler ETX LaunchPad, the entrepreneurship and innovation branch of the UT Tyler Soules College of Business. “Their project is about two years in the making, and we wish the best of luck to FireAI in the iLaunch finals.” 

UT Tyler team members are listed by hometown with classification. 

BULLARD – Ryan Crossman, senior mechanical engineering major and Theoren Stroud, electrical engineering alum. 

CHANDLER – Kacey Flores, computer science alum and past UT Tyler Association of Computer Machinery student chapter president. 

LONGVIEW – Rafael Reyes, electrical engineering alum (co-founder). 

TYLER – Matthew Castillo, computer science and UT Tyler Honors College alum (founder); Ryan Dutcher, senior mechanical engineering major; Jimmy Lieu, computer science alum; and Antonio Morelos, computer science and UT Tyler Honor College alum and UT Tyler information technology department staff member. 

SOURCE UT Tyler