For Chris Reyes, the path from Texas State University student to startup founder has come full circle.

Reyes arrived at Texas State as a nontraditional, first-generation college student without the professional network he would later rely on to build a company. Through PREM, he found mentors — including William Brittain — who helped him see a path into materials science and research.

“One of the keys is mentorship,” Reyes said. For students who may have an idea but not all the pieces to pursue it, he added, building relationships and using the network around them can be just as important.

After Texas State, Reyes earned his Ph.D. at Duke University, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Rice University and worked in the semiconductor industry. Research he began during his doctoral work eventually became the foundation for MATERIAL Hybrid Manufacturing, an advanced materials and manufacturing startup developing custom materials and equipment to 3D print batteries.

When it came time to grow the company, Reyes again turned to his Texas State connections. MATERIAL established operations at STAR Park, the university’s technology incubator, where the company has built a Texas-based research operation and a pipeline for Texas State students and graduates.

[SCOTT TRANSITION + QUOTE(S): Introduce Scott Barrett as the next link in that pipeline—another PREM student mentored by Brittain who joined MATERIAL—and let Scott describe what that transition from PREM research to industry has meant.]