You where thinking about John Carmack, who designed Doom and Quake and is now running Armadillo Aerospace up in the Dallas area.
Of course Elon Musk of PayPal fame has done some rocket engine testing for his SpaceX company's rocket in Central Texas.
With so many Internet mogels running rocket companies in Texas, it can be confusing keeping up on their progress. :)
Indeed! Thank goodness there are only three of any consequence.