Dateline Rice for April 16, 2015

FEATURED ITEM

Student entrepreneurs to make their pitches at Rice
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. Keith Kreuer of OWL Investment Group; Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship; and graduate student Jason Sanders are quoted. Sanders and graduate students Gabrielle Matringe, Dmitri Tsentalovich and Francesca Mirri are pictured.
Houston Chronicle (This is featured on the front page of the Business section. Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1JMEnJ4
Heading to Houston for business plan competition
Tulane University
http://bit.ly/1IOntfz
42 teams selected to vie for over $1M in prizes at Rice Business Plan Competition
Memorial Examiner
http://bit.ly/1Ii9paR

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Cobalt ‘thin film’ splits water in 2
A Rice lab produces a thin-film catalyst for both hydrogen and oxygen generation. The material could replace expensive metals like platinum in water-electrolysis devices that produce hydrogen and oxygen for fuel cells. James Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Professor of Chemistry, professor of computer science and of materials science and nanoengineering, is quoted. Postdoctoral researcher Yang Yang is mentioned.
Futurity
http://bit.ly/1GONURr
Cobalt film a clean-fuel find: Rice University discovery is efficient, robust at drawing hydrogen and oxygen from water
Nanotechnology Now (This article also appeared in Phys.org, ScienceNewsline, BrightSurf.com, Product Design & Development and e! Science News.)
http://bit.ly/1CRurYQ
Cobalt-based thin film serves double duty as catalyst that draws hydrogen and oxygen from water
Scicasts
http://bit.ly/1cyQBKg

Cooling device numbs skin prior to getting a shot
If the Rice University freshman engineering design team Comfortably Numb has it their way, children will be less fearful and feel less pain when they go to the doctor’s office for a shot. The research team includes freshman Greg Allison, Andy Zhang and Mike Hua; they were guided by Ann Saterbak, professor in the practice of bioengineering education, and Jane Grande-Allen, the Isabel C. Cameron Professor of Bioengineering.
Breitbart (Similar articles appeared in 11 other media outlets.)
http://bit.ly/1FYkbpe
Cooling device numbs skin prior to getting a shot
UPI
http://bit.ly/1HwZoIw
Comfortably numb: Students create 3-D printed numbing device for injections
3DPrint.com (This article also appeared in 3Ders.org.)
http://bit.ly/1CRwTP4
WTMJ-AM (Milwaukee)
http://bit.ly/1ELXjHP

Video camera could record indefinitely, powered only by light from the image it captures
Columbia researchers are presenting their newly designed digital camera that functions without outside power at the International Conference on Computational Photography at Rice.
Gizmag (Similar articles appeared in 27 other media outlets.)
http://bit.ly/1E5DpZH
Columbia scientists invent a camera that powers itself — no battery necessary
Yahoo! Tech
http://yhoo.it/1FWXFdy
Fully self-powered prototype video camera
AZo Sensors
http://bit.ly/1b6BbwC
Here’s a new video camera prototype that runs without battery
Deccan Chronicle
http://bit.ly/1JMHYHh
Scientist creates world’s 1st self-powered camera
News Everyday
http://bit.ly/1IhTVne
Now, a battery-less video camera that doesn’t need charging
News Hub
http://bit.ly/1yvAlDF
Now, a battery-less video camera that doesn’t need charging
Zee News
http://bit.ly/1cz1XxY
La telecamera si ricarica da sola, senza batterie
La Stampa (An English translation is not available.)
http://bit.ly/1yy2jz2

HOUSTON/TEXAS

The Sears that looks like it’s wrapped in cardboard
An article about the Sears building on South Main mentions that Rice Management Company owns the land.
Houston Chronicle (This article appeared in the Houston Chronicle’s “Gray Matters” online magazine and was featured on the front of the Extra section in Wednesday’s online Chronicle. Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1CRO432

‘Zero Motivation’ takes comical look at life in military
The film “Zero Motivation” will show at Rice Cinema April 17.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1aAcMOJ

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Carbon-nanotube electrodes make better brain connections
Microscopic carbon nanotube fibers invented at Rice University may provide the best way to communicate directly with the brain. The research could enable new strategies for treating neurological disorders like Parkinson’s. Matteo Pasquali, professor and chair of chemistry and professor of chemical and bimolecular engineering, is quoted.
Chemical & Engineering News
http://bit.ly/1J6SsAe

Unique electronic qualities of double-walled carbon nanotubes
Double-walled carbon nanotubes have unique electronic properties that may someday be tuned for semiconducting applications or for strong, highly conductive nanotube fibers, according to researchers at Rice University. Enrique Barrera, professor of materials science and nanoengineering, is mentioned. Graduate student Matias Soto is quoted.
IConnect007.com
http://bit.ly/1azYY6O
Nanotubes with 2 walls have singular qualities: Rice University lab calculates unique electronic qualities of double-walled carbon nanotubes
Nanotechnology Now
http://bit.ly/1FY75bo

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Candidates aiming for Latino voters
Experts are claiming that the Latino community may not necessarily prefer Sen. Ted Cruz or Sen. Marco Rubio as president despite their Cuban-American roots. Mark Jones, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, professor and chair of political science and fellow in political science at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted.
The Daily Iowan
http://bit.ly/1CRPP09

Rice University students create sensory substitution device to allow deaf people to ‘feel’ sound
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.
The Daily Orange
http://bit.ly/1H9VEfw
Vibrating vest to let deaf people ‘feel’ sound
Hearing Times
http://bit.ly/1DLH390
Vest helps deaf ‘feel,’ understand speech
Communications of the ACM (This article also appeared in Memorial Examiner.)
http://bit.ly/1HxhgCZ

Art notes: Dartmouth art show and performance honor Christina Porter
A performance in honor of Dartmouth College student Christina Porter, who died in 2005, will feature four of her poems set to music by Pierre Jalbert, professor of composition and theory at Rice’s Shepherd School of Music.
Valley News
http://bit.ly/1ELDlgs

Bill Arhos was founder of ‘Austin City Limits’
Alumnus Bill Arhos ’57 died at the age of 80.
The Bulletin
http://bit.ly/1IOonZo

SPORTS

Take a look back at vintage photos from Texas colleges and universities
A photo from Rice football’s 1947 game against the University of Southern California is included in a slideshow of vintage photos from Texas colleges and universities.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1HbdsXP

Cougars set to rebound against Bearcats
Rice baseball beat University of Houston 11-0 at Reckling Park.
The Cougar
http://bit.ly/1cz0Fmw

Alabama sweeps season series with UAB
Rice baseball played against the University of Alabama at Birmingham in a three-game series in Birmingham.
Roll Bama Roll
http://bit.ly/1IOweGo

Model athlete: UNT’s Bardabush takes on dual career
Several women’s tennis teams will play at Rice’s George R. Brown Tennis Center.
DentonRC.com
http://bit.ly/1b6rIW1
Blue Raiders face WKU Thursday
GoBlueRaiders.com
http://bit.ly/1DncHs5