Dateline Rice for Aug. 14, 2015

FEATURED ITEMS

Bioengineers advance computing technique for health care and more
Rice scientists have developed a big data technique that could have an impact on health care and more. Amina Qutub, assistant professor of bioengineering, and graduate student Wendy Hu are quoted.
Science360.gov (This appeared on the home page.)
http://news.science360.gov/files/
Algorithm clarifies ‘big data’ clusters
Scientific Computing (This article also appeared in R&D Magazine, News-Medical, NewsonFeeds.com, Electronic Products and Nigerian Herald.)
http://bit.ly/1MrNKST
Bioengineers advance computing technique for health care, more
Science Daily
http://bit.ly/1WosmkP

NSF Science Now: Episode 36
Edward Knightly, professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science, is featured for the first system that allows wireless data transmissions over UHF channels during active TV broadcasts, which was developed by Rice engineers.
Science360.gov (This appeared on the home page.)
http://1.usa.gov/1N7AR0p

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Textbooks are going digital, but will that put college bookstores out of business?
Richard Baraniuk, the Victor E. Cameron Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of Rice’s OpenStax College, is quoted about the future of textbooks.
Forbes
http://onforb.es/1EoPEeY

What to do when satisfied B2B customers refuse to recommend you
Utpal Dholakia, professor of marketing at Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business, authored an op-ed offering suggestions on how to receive recommendations and references from satisfied business-to-business customers.
Harvard Business Review
http://bit.ly/1N6l4is

Phoenix ‘peer’ cities guide Prop.104 light-rail expansion
Kyle Shelton, postdoctoral research fellow at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, is quoted in an article about Phoenix’s limited, yet expanding, light rail service.
AZCentral.com
http://bit.ly/1NfyLuv

Improvement in women’s education in Middle East has not translated to economic, political success
Women in the Middle East and North Africa may fare less well than their male peers in accumulating “wasta,” a form of social capital integral to their ability to exercise full political, economic and social influence, according to an issue brief from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Morocco Gazette (This article also appeared in Alpha Galileo.)
http://bit.ly/1IO3dIV

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Houston’s most interesting men 
Two prominent alumni — fitness center founder Henry Richardson ’09 and neuroscientist David Eagleman ’93 — are included in a slideshow of local successful men.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.) 
http://bit.ly/1Pn54H6

The most popular college majors at Texas colleges
Rice is included in a slideshow of the most popular college majors at Texas colleges.
Houston Chronicle (This article also appeared in San Antonio Express-News. Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1PcFQdQ

Kids can be kids at supportive camp
Rice University’s chapter of Camp Kesem, an organization dedicated to helping children through and beyond their parent’s cancer, hosted a reunion for campers to reunite with their families Aug. 7.
Jewish Herald-Voice
http://bit.ly/1IO3Ulw

BROADCAST

Record-breaking political ad money coming in race for Houston mayor
Mark Jones, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, professor of political science and fellow in political science at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, comments on the fundraising for the Houston mayoral election and the confusion over Texas’ voter photo identification requirement, which potentially discouraged as many as 9 percent of registered voters from voting in the November 2014 elections in the Latino-majority U.S. Congressional District 23.
KPRC-TV
http://bit.ly/1LbjBqO
Voter ID confusion may have turned an election
Athens Daily Review (Similar articles also appeared in Huntsville Item, CNHINews.com, Weatherford Democrat and Orange Leader.)
http://bit.ly/1hC6HWe
Concejo de Houston incluye en boleta de noviembre propuesta para cambiar los periodos de mandato de sus miembros
La Voz de Houston (An English translation is not available.)
http://bit.ly/1J6f1YF

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Rice and Penn State open a new research center for the development of 2-D coatings
The National Science Foundation has funded a new center at Rice and Pennsylvania State University to collaborate with industry on the development of novel, multifunctional two-dimensional coatings. Pulickel Ajayan, the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Materials Science and NanoEngineering and of chemistry, and Jun Lou, an associate professor of materials science and nanoengineering, are quoted.
AZO Materials
http://bit.ly/1NfEm47
Rice, Penn State open center for 2-D coatings
Phys.org (This article also appeared in My Informs and e! Science News.)
http://bit.ly/1HLm43D
Rice, Penn State open center for 2-D coatings: National Science Foundation selects universities to develop atom-thin materials with industry partners
Nanotechnology Now
http://bit.ly/1Moc5HK

Rice and UTHealth scientists awarded $1.02 million NSF grant to examine how the brain processes language
The National Science Foundation has funded a Rice University and University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School effort to understand how the brain processes language and help people who lose the ability to communicate. Behnaam Aazhang, the J.S. Abercrombie Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is quoted. Aydin Babakhani, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is mentioned.
News-Medical
http://bit.ly/1Ppay49

3-D stackable non-volatile RRAM enables 20GB arrays
Scientists at Rice University have created a solid-state memory technology that allows for high-density storage with a minimum of errors. James Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Professor of Chemistry, professor of computer science and of materials science and nanoengineering, is quoted. Co-authors are research scientist Jae-Hwang Lee and postdoctoral researchers Yang Yang, Gedeng Ruan, Nam Dong Kim and Yongsung Ji.
EE Times Asia
http://bit.ly/1N7qMk2
Discovery may boost memory technology
Space Daily
http://bit.ly/1LaAuyX

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Classical Notes: California Symphony’s future looks bright with Bergauer on board
Alumna Aubrey Bergauer ’05 is featured. Pierre Jalbert, professor of composition and theory, is mentioned.
San Jose Mercury News (This article also appeared in Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times and My Informs.)
http://bayareane.ws/1N7j0GT

NEWS RELEASE

Rice University freshmen move to campus Aug. 16
Freshmen in Rice University’s Class of 2019 can expect a Texas-sized welcome Sunday as they move to campus and participate in O-Week, the weeklong orientation program to familiarize incoming students with their new campus, residential colleges and classmates.
http://bit.ly/1hCd7ER