Dateline Rice for April 10, 2015

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Bracing for a sea change
Pedro Alvarez, the George R. Brown Professor and chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, spoke at Inter-American Dialogue to express his opposition to Nicaragua’s plan to build a $50 million interoceanic canal.
Al Jazeera America
http://bit.ly/1yYhood

Experimental vest could allow the deaf to feel speech
A vest that allows people who are profoundly deaf to “feel” and understand speech is under development by engineering students and their mentors at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine. Brown College senior Evan Dougal is quoted. The Slash Gear article includes a video produced by Rice’s Brandon Martin.
CTV News (Similar articles appeared in 11 other media outlets.)
http://bit.ly/1aQIOXW
Rice U engineers develop vibrating vest for the deaf
Campus Technology
http://bit.ly/1yiv6HL
Electronic vest lets deaf people hear with their torsos (video)
medGadget
http://bit.ly/1FHSSwi
Students develop vest that allows deaf to feel speech
13WMAZ.com
http://on.wmaz.com/1yivBla
Versatile extrasensory transducer helps deaf feel, understand speech
Spring Observer (This article also appeared in Fort Bend Sun, Memorial Examiner and Bellaire Examiner.)
http://bit.ly/1aQJCMp

HOUSTON/TEXAS

In the long term, OPEC is likely to keep prices in check
The Middle East’s oil consumption has surpassed China, despite having less than half the population, which is unsustainable. Jim Krane, the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1Fupc3g

The art-car parade’s rude, lawless roots
Rice’s Owl Car will participate in this year’s Houston Art Car Parade.
Houston Chronicle (This article appeared in the Houston Chronicle’s “Gray Matters” online. Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1DrIxoO

Participants in Avon 39 will walk a marathon and a half to beat breast cancer
Rice will host participants in the Avon Walk to End Breast Cancer.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1Izry77

42 teams from around the world to compete in 2015 Rice Business Plan Competition
Forty-two teams hailing from some of the world’s top universities will vie for more than $1.6 million in prizes at the 15th annual Rice Business Plan Competition at Rice’s Jones Graduate of Business April 16-18. It is the world’s richest and largest student startup competition of its kind and hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and the Jones Graduate School of Business.
Houston Style Magazine
http://bit.ly/1CCsteR

Remember the Astrodome for concerts, too
The Astrodome celebrated its 50th birthday. A 2002 article in Rice’s architecture and design journal Cite about the Astrodome’s effect on rock and roll is cited.
Houston Press
http://bit.ly/1HbeeV5

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Rice students build cheap, flat-packable infant incubator
Rice University engineering students create a low-cost incubator designed to help babies in developing countries recover from neonatal hypothermia. Duncan College senior Carissa Livingston; Brown College senior Amanda Boone; Jones College senior Bailey Flynn; and McMurtry College senior Caleb Owsley are quoted. Jones College senior Zaid Haque is mentioned.
medGadget (This article also appeared in MedicalXpress.com.)
http://bit.ly/1OiEOxj
Rice device gently warms hypothermic infants
HealthCanal
http://bit.ly/1GSDkYh

Amniotic stem cells boost blood vessel growth in hydrogel therapy
Scientists use stem cells derived from amniotic fluid to promote the growth of robust, functional blood vessels in healing hydrogels. Jeffrey Jacot, assistant professor of bioengineering, is quoted. Alumnus Omar Benavides ’14 is lead author. Co-authors are Baker College senior Abby Brooks, Sid Richardson College junior Stephanie Cho and alumna Jennifer Petsche Connell ’13.
Science360.gov (This article also appeared in Medical Xpress, Science Daily, BrightSurf.com, Biology News, Medical News Today, News-Line, ScienceNewsline and e! Science News.)
http://1.usa.gov/1Ehb7do
Amniotic stem cells promote growth of functional blood vessels in healing hydrogels
News Medical
http://bit.ly/1GwQoUE

Water makes wires even more nano
Rice University researchers create sub-10-nanometer wires from a variety of materials by using water as a mask in a simple etching process. The process is promising for microelectronics manufacturers who seek to shrink the circuits in their devices. James Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Professor of Chemistry, professor of computer science and of materials science and nanoengineering, is quoted. Graduate students Vera Abramova and Alexander Slesarev are mentioned.
Space Daily
http://bit.ly/1FHVF8M
Wasser ermöglicht Anordnung winziger Nanodrähte
Extrem News
http://bit.ly/1HZEDDg

Video of our face monitors vital signs from a distance
Rice researchers are developing a touch-free system that monitors patients’ vital signs via video while compensating for skin tone, lighting and movement. Graduate student Mayank Kumar; Ashutosh Sabharwal, professor of electrical and computer engineering; and Ashok Veeraraghavan, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, are mentioned.
RedOrbit
http://bit.ly/1JvRXjU

Wastewater-raised algae potentially broaden environmental advantages scope
In one of the first studies to examine the potential for using municipal wastewater as a feedstock for algae-based biofuels, Rice University scientists found they could grow high-value strains of oil-rich algae while simultaneously removing more than 90 percent of nitrates and more than 50 percent of phosphorous from wastewater. Meenakshi Bhattacharjee, faculty fellow and executive director of applied algal research, and Evan Siemann, the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of BioSciences, are quoted.
FIS.com
http://bit.ly/1ci24ht

Robots will take your job … but you’ll keep the paycheck
Moshe Vardi, director of the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology and the Karen Ostrum George Distinguished Service Professor of Computational Engineering and professor of computer science, is quoted about the potential of artificial intelligence stealing jobs.
Tech Investing Daily
http://bit.ly/1yiRrF8

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Unprecedented hearing held on lowering pot penalties
William Martin, the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, comments on the unfair legal implications of marijuana legislation.
News Leader (This article also appeared in Sheboygan Press, Visalia Times-Delta, Lansing State Journal, Chillicothe Gazette and the Daily Record.)
http://bit.ly/1IzGiD6

Dover Quartet to perform Friday at Symphony Center
Alumna Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt ’13 will perform with her group, the Dover Quartet, at the Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center in Florida.
Ticket Sarasota
http://bit.ly/1PsCeWY

James D. Schmidt: The serious comic
Alumnus James Schmidt ’92 is featured for his unique teaching methods.
NIU Today
http://bit.ly/1IQQLqy

Top 10 most well-paid CEOs in oil and gas
Alumnus Robert Lawler ’02 is profiled.
Exploration
http://bit.ly/1z29A4T

SPORTS

Watch: Rice adds boy, battling leukemia, to roster in ceremony
Rice football and head coach David Bailiff announced their newest recruit, 7-year-old Fre’derick “Ziggy” Stoval-Redd, who was twice diagnosed with cancer and is currently in remission.
CBSSports.com (Similar broadcasts appeared in Yahoo! Sports and over 75 other media outlets.)
http://cbsprt.co/1NkvXOD
Rice football coaches go young with latest feel-good recruiting addition
Houston Chronicle (This photo was featured on the front of the City & State section in Thursday’s paper. Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1NehnZ7
Rice Owls football team signs 7-year-old
ABC7.com (Los Angeles)
http://bit.ly/1HZnLww
Top trenders: 7-year-old joins Rice football team
NWA Homepage
http://bit.ly/1D32hxz
Rice football: Owls sign 7-year-old leukemia patient (video)
Lost Letterman
http://bit.ly/1FrCmmQ
Boy with leukemia becomes member of Rice football team
ABC 6
http://bit.ly/1yiw6LR

Houston-Rice to play football series in 2017-18
The former annual football rivalry between Rice and the University of Houston will renew with a home-and-home football series beginning in 2017.
KPRC-TV
http://bit.ly/1JvDKDH
Houston, Rice schedule 2017-18 football series
FBSchedules.com
http://bit.ly/1OiVBk3

Volleyball: Former Summer Creek player Harris selected to US Collegiate National Team
McMurtry College sophomore Chelsey Harris was selected to participate in the U.S. Collegiate National Team program.
Atascocita Observer
http://bit.ly/1z1ViRM
36 athletes named to US Collegiate National Team-GJNC
Team USA
http://go.teamusa.org/1aObMaW
Ostrander selected to US Collegiate National Team
KLKN-TV (Lincoln, Neb.)
http://bit.ly/1JvEU1R

Aggies notch comeback win against No. 13 Rice
Rice baseball fell to Texas A&M University 3-1 at College Station.
KAGS-TV (College Station, Texas)
http://bit.ly/1avM3TO
No. 1 baseball team puts hot streak on line against Bulldogs
TheBatt.com
http://bit.ly/1DrVP4z

NEWS RELEASE

42 teams from around the world to compete in 2015 Rice Business Plan Competition
Forty-two teams hailing from some of the world’s top universities will vie for more than $1.6 million in prizes at the 15th annual Rice Business Plan Competition at Rice University’s Jones Graduate of Business April 16-18. It is the world’s richest and largest student startup competition of its kind and is hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and the Jones Graduate School of Business.
http://bit.ly/1yclihY