In this episode of Fort Worth Innovates, Cameron Cushman sits down with John Goff, Chairman of the Fort Worth-Tarrant County Innovation Partnership, to discuss the bold vision behind Texas A&M University Fort Worth and the city’s emerging innovation district. What began as a pandemic-era initiative led by former Mayor Betsy Price to evaluate Fort Worth’s economic future revealed a major gap: the largest U.S. city without a Tier One research university. That insight sparked a transformational partnership to expand Texas A&M’s presence downtown—moving beyond the law school to create a world-class research campus designed to fuel industry collaboration, workforce development, entrepreneurship, and long-term economic growth.

Goff shares how the Innovation District aims to connect corporate leaders with research talent across aerospace, healthcare, agriculture, technology, and beyond—while catalyzing mixed-use development, housing, retail, and investment in Southeast Downtown. With decades of experience in real estate and capital markets, he explains why universities—not corporations—become the defining institutions of cities, and how Texas A&M Fort Worth could shape the region for generations to come.

Learn more about Texas A&M Fort Worth here: https://fort-worth.tamus.edu/

Learn more about the Fort Worth-Tarrant County Innovation Partnership here: https://fwtc-innovate.com/

In this episode of Fort Worth Innovates, host Cameron Cushman sits down with Demetrie King, founder of Market Match, a Fort Worth–based startup revolutionizing market research through swipe-based technology. Inspired by the simplicity of apps like Tinder, Market Match allows consumers to quickly swipe through product options, giving businesses real-time insight into what customers actually want—before they make costly purchasing decisions.

King shares how his background as a vending machine entrepreneur exposed a major disconnect between consumer demand and supplier assumptions, leading him to build a gamified, mobile-first survey platform that dramatically increases engagement. Compared to traditional tools like Google Forms, Market Match generates hundreds of responses in minutes, helping universities, event organizers, brands, and vendors reduce waste, improve forecasting, and better serve their audiences.

🎧 If you’re interested in startups, customer discovery, market research innovation, Fort Worth entrepreneurship, or reducing waste through technology, this episode is a must-listen.

🎧 Subscribe, listen, and share to help spotlight the innovators shaping the future of Fort Worth.

Learn more about Market Match here: https://marketmatch.app/

Learn more about the Fort Worth-Tarrant County Innovation Partnership here: https://fwtc-innovate.com/

In this episode of Fort Worth Innovates, host Cameron Cushman sits down with Dr. Ivett Leyva, Associate Dean for Research at Texas A&M–Fort Worth and professor of aerospace engineering, to explore how Fort Worth is becoming a national leader in aerospace, aviation, and defense innovation.

Dr. Leyva shares her vision for building a new research and innovation ecosystem that connects academia, industry, and entrepreneurs to accelerate the development of next-generation aviation technologies. From digital twins and rapid prototyping to drones, air taxis, hypersonic aircraft, and space engineering, this conversation dives deep into what’s next for safe skies and advanced flight.

Learn why Fort Worth is uniquely positioned as the aviation and defense capital of Texas, how partnerships with industry leaders like Lockheed Martin, Bell, American Airlines, Southwest, and SpaceX are shaping curriculum and research, and why Texas A&M’s new urban campus represents a major shift in higher education and workforce development.

If you’re interested in aerospace innovation, aviation technology, defense research, space travel, or Fort Worth’s growing innovation ecosystem, this episode is a must-listen.

🎧 Subscribe, listen, and share to help spotlight the innovators shaping the future of Fort Worth.

Learn more about the Texas A&M-Fort Worth campus here: https://fort-worth.tamus.edu/

Learn more about the Fort Worth-Tarrant County Innovation Partnership here: https://fwtc-innovate.com/