The University of Austin (UATX) announced it will build an applied engineering lab adjacent to Elon Musk’s corporate complex in Bastrop County, sharing a video that shows the warehouse-style facility under construction. The site sits southwest of The Boring Company and within a corridor that includes SpaceX and Starlink operations. UATX — co-founded by Bari Weiss and enrolling under 200 students in its second year — did not say whether Musk or his companies are funding the project. The lab will be one of the first structures visible along FM 1209 as Musk-linked development expands in the area.
UATX Plans Applied Engineering Lab Beside Elon Musk’s Bastrop Campus
The University of Austin announces an applied engineering lab to be built near Elon Musk's Boring Co. site. (Ken Ellis/Houston Chronicle)
The University of Austin (UATX) announced plans for an applied engineering laboratory immediately adjacent to Elon Musk’s growing corporate complex in Bastrop County. The school shared a short video on social media showing a warehouse-style facility under construction southwest of The Boring Company’s operations, in the same corridor that hosts significant SpaceX and Starlink activity.
Coming soon: The UATX Applied Engineering Lab, next to @boringcompany @elonmusk
UATX — a private university co-founded by Bari Weiss, founder of The Free Press — recently enrolled just under 200 students for its second full academic year. The university presents itself as an alternative to current higher-education trends and has attracted support from conservative donors who see it as a different model from mainstream campus culture. Its main campus occupies two floors of the historic Scarborough building in downtown Austin.
Elon Musk’s properties along FM 1209 in Bastrop are seen early this year. The University of Austin is planning an engineering lab that would be built just southwest of the Boring Co. which is seen at the center of this image. The campus also includes SpaceX, the social media platform X, a housing community dubbed “Snailbrook” and a convenience store — the Boring Bodega. (Jay Janner/American-Statesman)
The university’s announcement did not specify whether Elon Musk or any of his companies are funding the new lab. Musk has previously promoted private, STEM-focused education: he supports Montessori-style elementary schools near some of his operations in Bastrop and pledged $100 million in 2023 to his charitable vehicle, The Foundation, to develop a STEM-oriented university — a project that has not yet been publicly launched under that organization.
Neither UATX nor The Boring Company immediately responded to requests for comment.
Location And Local Context
The facility sits along FM 1209, a roadway that runs northeast from Texas 71 through farmland and neighborhoods before entering the area dominated by Musk-linked operations. That corridor already includes The Boring Company facilities, SpaceX and Starlink operations, planned space reportedly earmarked for Musk’s social platform X, as well as employee housing, a small grocery, and a park. UATX’s applied engineering lab will be one of the first new structures visible along FM 1209 as the business cluster expands.
As the Bastrop complex grows, the proximity of a university-run applied engineering lab creates potential opportunities for local workforce development, industry partnerships and hands-on STEM training — though specific partnerships or funding sources have not been announced.
