For the second consecutive year, Texas A&M University has been named one of Fast Company magazine’s Most Innovative Companies, joining business icons including Google, Nvidia and Walmart. Texas A&M is recognized for its research enterprise and engineering school — showcasing the scale of what 25,000 future engineers and 4,300 faculty can do when they have a united purpose. Together, Texas A&M works to build a brighter, safer world — solving the world’s toughest challenges. The award, noting research into a self-healing polymer that could be used across a multitude of daily and national security platforms, illustrates Texas A&M’s mission to be a force for good.
Of the companies listed, Fast Company says, “In an era of uncertainty, these leaders prove that the only way forward is to stay in motion.”
Texas A&M is one of only two universities selected for the honor for 2026, joining the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, and will be featured in the March/April 2026 issue of Fast Company magazine, on fastcompany.com and at Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies Summit and Gala in New York City in May.
Texas A&M graduates are also prominently represented on the Most Innovative Companies list, with the five Aggie founders of Dude Perfect behind the group’s No. 9 ranking in Media and News and fellow Aggie Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, leading Roku to No. 5 in the Video category.
Fast Company is a world-leading business media brand, with an editorial focus on innovation in technology, leadership, world-changing ideas, creativity and design. The magazine, launched 30 years ago by two former Harvard Business Review editors, chronicles how changing companies create and compete, highlights new business practices and showcases the teams and individuals who are inventing the future and reinventing business. The Most Innovative Companies list has, since 2008, been the definitive source for recognizing organizations that are transforming industries and shaping society.
Research that changes what is possible
Texas A&M is redefining what plastics can be — and what innovation should do — by creating a self-healing, recyclable material that combines extreme performance with environmental responsibility, proving that strength, sustainability and intelligence can coexist at an industrial scale.
Aerospace engineering and materials science researchers at Texas A&M have uncovered new properties of an ultra-durable, recyclable, smart plastic — paving the way for transformative applications in the defense, aerospace and automotive industries.
The breakthrough — funded by the U.S. Department of War and published in Macromolecules and the Journal of Composite Materials — was led by Dr. Mohammad Naraghi, director of the Nanostructured Materials Lab and professor of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M, in close collaboration with Dr. Andreas Polycarpou at The University of Tulsa.
Their work explores the mechanical integrity, shape-recovery and self-healing properties of an advanced carbon-fiber plastic composite called Aromatic Thermosetting Copolyester (ATSP), which holds the potential to transform commercial and consumer industries, from aerospace to the automotive sector. ATSP is also a more sustainable alternative to traditional plastics. Its recyclability makes the material an ideal candidate for industries aiming to reduce environmental waste without compromising durability or strength.
“What’s really exciting is that this material isn’t just ultra-durable — it’s also adaptive. From on-demand healing in damaged aircraft to enhancing passenger safety in vehicles, these properties make it incredibly valuable for future materials and design innovations,” Naraghi said.
As a world-class, research-intensive public institution, Texas A&M’s spirited scholars, innovators, students and graduates are a force for good and find energy, strength and unity from a shared duty: to lead, to serve and to solve society’s greatest challenges together. More than 4,300 faculty members and researchers, spanning colleges, schools and disciplines, are discovering solutions for the good of Texas, the nation and the world, from the ocean floor, the factories and the fields, to outer space.
Texas A&M is No. 12 in the North America sector for its contributions in “potentially transforming wide swaths of commercial industries.” Fast Company notes these awardees are “adopting the region’s best impulses and working to correct some of its greatest shortcomings. In the march towards progress and efficiency, automation solutions are leading the way.” Other companies listed in this area include Databricks, Arteris and Warp.
Engineering impact at scale
Texas A&M’s engineering scope and impact is virtually unmatched, with:
- 15 academic departments.
- 24,524 students (fall ’25), the largest Top 10 public undergraduate engineering program in the nation (U.S. News and World Report)
- More than 1,600 research projects.
- Research funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, affiliated national laboratories and more.
- U.S. News and World Report recognized the university’s biological and agricultural engineering program as No. 1 in the nation in 2025.
Texas A&M is ranked by the Wall Street Journal as the best university in Texas and No. 1 in the Southeastern Conference. The university was recently recognized for having the highest return on investment for bachelor’s degrees among public universities in Texas, according to The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. Views of Texas A&M video content on YouTube grew from 311,000 in 2023 to over 30 million in 2024 (+9,360%), propelling Texas A&M to be named the most recognized university in the state of Texas and No. 6 among all U.S. public universities in the latest Global University Visibility rankings compiled by higher education research and consulting firm American Caldwell.
