Unconventional students at Rice: The blazing-fast bioengineer

Hannah Jackson won the best of both worlds at Rice: athletics and academics. Set on majoring in bioengineering, Jackson chose the university for its engineering background and proximity to the Texas Medical Center.

“I’ve been able to do some really great things here and found a good balance,” she said.

A track and field athlete, Jackson broke the Rice 200-meter record, running it in 23.14 seconds in 2018. She was also part of Drill Team Six, winner of this year’s Brown School of Engineering Design Showcase and Poster Competition, which created a device to simplify the placement of screws that secure metal rods to fractured bones in limbs. The process could cut the time, effort and number of X-rays necessary to complete the procedure.

“One of my favorite experiences of my collegiate career was going to Tokyo for the summer,” she said. “I conducted research at the Institute of Tokyo Technology. It really changed my world perspective and was a mind-blowing experience.”