In 2024, SwRI continued solving some of humankind’s most difficult technical challenges, from Deep Sea to Deep Space®, and practically everywhere in between. We continued adding staff members and new facilities while also supporting the communities where we live and work. In this 2024 Annual Report, we hope to provide you with some insights into our many different technical accomplishments, our continued mission-focused successes, our financial stewardship and the continued growth and development of our people and facilities.
Our Fiscal Year 2024 consolidated revenue and net assets grew to record levels while working to meet the growing needs of our clients. This past year, we completed $35 million in major facility projects, including the indoor Spherical Near-Field Antenna Range featured on the cover of this report. This specialized resource expands SwRI’s antenna testing capabilities. We are also investing $195 million in other new facilities that are currently under construction, including the first SwRI-owned building outside of San Antonio (Warner Robins, Georgia) and the Center for Accelerating Materials and Processes, which will help advance the science, engineering and technologies needed for the production of high-speed aerospace propulsion systems.
In October of 2024, NASA’s Europa Clipper mission launched with two SwRI-led instruments on board. The spacecraft is on its way to Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. Once there, our MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration, or MASPEX, instrument will collect and identify gas molecules from Europa’s surface with unparalleled precision. In addition, our Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph, or Europa-UVS, will capture data used to determine the composition of Europa’s gases and surface materials. But we’ll have to be patient. The Europa Clipper doesn’t reach Jupiter until 2030.
Meanwhile, we continued to make progress in decarbonizing the transportation industry. In 2024, we modified the internal combustion engine (ICE) of a semi-trailer truck to run on hydrogen (H2) fuel while producing ultra-low emissions. Our H2-ICE vehicle hit the road for the first time in 2024, demonstrating an option for heavy-duty applications with the potential to reduce tailpipe carbon dioxide emissions by a staggering 99%.
SwRI is also working to become a net-zero greenhouse gas campus. We have installed additional solar arrays and are recovering residual energy from many of our research programs to help power our operations. We are also developing plans to use condensates and recycled water to reduce our use of potable supplies. And we have installed an AI-powered fire detection system that provides continuous real-time outdoor fire detection for our campus and the surrounding parts of San Antonio.
Growth, expansion and a vision for the future guided SwRI’s year. Please read on to learn more about our extraordinary staff, programs and progress in 2024.
Adam L. Hamilton, P.E.
President & CEO