research center type nonprofit industry sustainable development policy analysis research and development founded the woodlands texas usa 1982 1 headquarters the woodlands texas united states key people george p. mitchell founder and jim lester president revenue 20 million by 2008 1 number of employees approximately 45 1 website www.harcresearch.org the houston advanced research center commonly referred to as harc is a 501 c 3 not for profit organization based in the woodlands texas dedicated to improving human and ecosystem well being through the application of sustainability science and principles of sustainable development . harc employs a staff of about 45 researchers and administrators . revenues are projected to reach 20 million by 2008 primarily derived from projects supported by government agencies foundations and corporations . 1 contents 1 history 2 three priorities 2.1 air 2.2 energy 2.3 water 3 sources history edit after founding the woodlands in 1974 billionaire philanthropist george p. mitchell began discussions with local universities including texas a & m university rice university and the university of houston in order to establish a center in basic applied and policy research . a feasibility study was conducted by arthur d. little inc. and it was concluded that the woodlands would be a suitable site for such a facility . mr. mitchell then founded the research center in 1982 then named the houston area research center . harc s first research program a laser study of materials was sponsored by the strategic defense initiative program in 1983 . the following year in 1984 the university of texas joined the harc consortium which already included the original universities that mr. mitchell had sought out . in 1985 an act of the texas legislature created harc s geotechnology research institute gtri to improve technology used in oil and gas exploration . that same year the center for global studies was merged into harc as an operating division . the center organized the woodlands conferences managed the mitchell prize competition and developed field work in houston the rio grande and northeast brazil . in 1986 nec chose harc for the location of its nec sx 2 its first supercomputer in north america . the houston area research center changed its name to what harc is presently known to stand for the houston advanced research center in 1990 . construction of harc s microwave imaging facility was completed the following year . new laboratories were opened for dna technology and geographical information systems . in 1993 harc researchers in the high bay test facility set a world record for the highest current through a super conducting cable . working together with varian instruments harc produced the world s first actively shielded magnet for nmr spectroscopy to the university of texas medical branch in galveston in 1995 . after a review of harc programs in 2000 harc leaders decided to narrow the focus of the organization . harc was restructured to be an organization dedicated entirely to the application and development of sustainability science at the regional level . since 2000 harc s six core programs have grown and its revenues have increased fourfold . in 2005 george p. mitchell established the endowment for regional sustainability science which provides stable income for harc s continuing operations . 2 as of 2013 harc engages in projects that help people thrive and nature flourish focusing on the science and engineering needed to understand and address issues related to air quality clean energy and water quality and supply . 3 three priorities edit air energy water air edit harc s air quality & climate program includes air quality research and management air emission reduction technologies emissions monitoring technology and policy and regional impacts of and adaptations to climate change . our air research program is multi disciplinary multi institutional objective and non partisan . harc also serves as research management organization to the texas environmental research consortium to advise policy decisions regarding air and climate . 4 energy edit the mission of the clean energy program is to accelerate development and adoption of clean energy technologies services and policies that enhance regional sustainability . the work of the program includes several areas stationary fuel cells ; combined heat and power generation ; energy market tools and products ; strategic energy planning ; clean energy applications analysis ; and clean energy policy analysis . 5 water edit harc s ecosystems and water resources program emphasizes biodiversity water quality and quantity ecosystem informatics economics policy and social and institutional analysis . the goal of the program is to link ecosystems and water resources to sustainable development through improved understanding of the interactions between humans and these resources and to facilitate regulatory institutional and technological change and improved decision making . 6 sources edit a b c d about harc . the houston advanced research center . 2007 01 23 . retrieved 2007 08 02 . history . houston advanced research center . 2006 04 17 . archived from the original on 2007 08 11 . retrieved 2007 08 06 . the past harc s history . houston advanced research center . our focus air . houston advanced research center . 2013 10 21 . retrieved 2014 02 12 . clean energy . houston advanced research center . 2006 05 26 . archived from the original on 2008 06 06 . retrieved 2008 08 08 . ecosystems & water . houston advanced research center . 2007 07 12 . archived from the original on 2008 06 07 . retrieved 2008 08 08 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title houston advanced research center & oldid 738647478 categories non profit organizations based in texassustainable development navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 10 september 2016 at 07 15 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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