Oct 9, 2026 · 33 min · 10 segments
This week on Austin Tech Connect, host Thom Singer (CEO of the Austin Technology Council) talks to Mitch Weller. Mitch is an Army veteran, tax attorney at Frost Law, and one of the "Vets in Tech"…
Thom SingerHost
So we met at the Ecosystem Space happy hour, and one of the things you talked about was Vets in Tech has a slice called Vets in Space.
... what, what are you doing i-in, in that arena, and why do you think Austin is an important area for that, uh, Vets in Space to be focused on since we have so much happening in the, in the space world?
Um, just in my, you know, handful of travels around here, um, I've gotten connected with, uh, HiCom, uh, sorry, HiCam, uh, advanced, uh, engineer-- or sorry, advanced manufacturing in the local area.
Um, I've, uh, taken a look at, uh, Prot Town, uh, which is also working on, uh, novel technologies and allowing people to do everything from build nuclear reactors to, um, you know, test, uh, 3D printing of buildings and, uh, explosive drones, um, you know, hydrogen extraction from the air.
So this is an area where they very much take serious the building of the hardware, uh, that, you know, a lot of other places can't or won't sustain.
Uh, and, you know, given that space requires, uh, or is so much different set of engineering challenges, uh, you're really talking about training people on a completely different, uh, set of objectives and a different set of skills.
Um, you know, just talking about doing underwater welding as opposed to space welding, you're gonna be dealing with a totally different, uh, set of constraints with no oxygen, um, or with oc- like concentrated oxygen around you.
So it's just the opportunities are massive, and the people that are in this, uh, immediate area will have access to companies that are going to have needs, um, and need to develop skill sets that other places just will not talk about.
You're not gonna be welding, uh, you know, on these or working on that kind of technology, welding at that level of precision, uh, if you are, like, welding together cars or motorcycles, uh, you know, somewhere across the country.
Um, and this is a place where they're also making the investments in manufacturing.
So there are so many employers that are already developing these, um, technologies, and now Blue Origin discussed last night that they're actually launching their program.
Yeah, their plan is to hire, over the next decade, 2,000, you know, well-paid, high-tech jobs, uh, out in Hutto.
And, uh, as soon as that's successful, I get the impression that that's going to expand.
They're really gonna see that, uh, you know, launching spacefaring missions, um, and, uh, recruiting that talent out here is just gonna be so much easier.
So we met at the Ecosystem Space happy hour, and one of the things you talked about was Vets in Tech has a slice called Vets in Space.
... what, what are you doing i-in, in that arena, and why do you think Austin is an important area for that, uh, Vets in Space to be focused on since we have so much happening in the, in the space world?
Um, just in my, you know, handful of travels around here, um, I've gotten connected with, uh, HiCom, uh, sorry, HiCam, uh, advanced, uh, engineer-- or sorry, advanced manufacturing in the local area.
Um, I've, uh, taken a look at, uh, Prot Town, uh, which is also working on, uh, novel technologies and allowing people to do everything from build nuclear reactors to, um, you know, test, uh, 3D printing of buildings and, uh, explosive drones, um, you know, hydrogen extraction from the air.
So this is an area where they very much take serious the building of the hardware, uh, that, you know, a lot of other places can't or won't sustain.
Uh, and, you know, given that space requires, uh, or is so much different set of engineering challenges, uh, you're really talking about training people on a completely different, uh, set of objectives and a different set of skills.
Um, you know, just talking about doing underwater welding as opposed to space welding, you're gonna be dealing with a totally different, uh, set of constraints with no oxygen, um, or with oc- like concentrated oxygen around you.
So it's just the opportunities are massive, and the people that are in this, uh, immediate area will have access to companies that are going to have needs, um, and need to develop skill sets that other places just will not talk about.
You're not gonna be welding, uh, you know, on these or working on that kind of technology, welding at that level of precision, uh, if you are, like, welding together cars or motorcycles, uh, you know, somewhere across the country.
Um, and this is a place where they're also making the investments in manufacturing.
So there are so many employers that are already developing these, um, technologies, and now Blue Origin discussed last night that they're actually launching their program.
Yeah, their plan is to hire, over the next decade, 2,000, you know, well-paid, high-tech jobs, uh, out in Hutto.
And, uh, as soon as that's successful, I get the impression that that's going to expand.
They're really gonna see that, uh, you know, launching spacefaring missions, um, and, uh, recruiting that talent out here is just gonna be so much easier.
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