Rice University experts available at CERAWeek

MEDIA ADVISORY

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Rice University experts available at CERAWeek

HOUSTON – (March 2, 2018) – Ten experts from Rice University will be speaking at CERAWeek, an international gathering of energy industry leaders and experts, government officials and policymakers, and leaders from the technology, financial and industrial communities as well as energy technology innovators. For the second year in a row, Rice is an academic partner for the event. This year marks the 37th anniversary of the gathering, which will be March 5-9 at the Hilton Americas-Houston, 1600 Lamar St. The conference is ranked among the top five “corporate leader” conferences in the world.

Rice has been chosen to provide the most experts as speakers and panelists of all those participating at the weeklong conference.

Rice’s Energy and Environment Initiative is leading Rice’s involvement in the conference.

Below is a schedule of Rice’s speakers at CERAWeek. All are available for media interviews after their scheduled appearance.

Monday, March 5:

Who:  Charles McConnell, executive director, Rice’s Energy and Environment Initiative.
What: Welcome presentation to the Future Energy Leaders program.
When: 9:30-11:30 a.m.

Who: Lydia Kavraki, professor of bioengineering and computer science.
What: Presentation, “Computation of Robot Motion — An Essential Tool for Automation.”
When: 1:30-2 p.m., Innovation Agora, fourth floor, Agora Pod No. 1.

Who:  Jan Odegard, executive director, Rice’s Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology.
What: Panel, “Waves of Innovation: Oceans, Technology and the Energy Future.”
When: 3:10-3:55 p.m., Innovation Agora, fourth floor, Agora Studio.

Who:  Sibani Lisa Biswal, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and of materials science and nanoengineering.
What: Panel, “Driving Innovation in Mobility: Formula E.
”
When: 6:45-7:15 p.m., Innovation Agora, fourth floor, Agora Studio.

Who:  Peter Rodriguez, dean and professor of strategic management, Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business.
What: Remarks, “The Workforce of the Future, Accelerating Into the Present.”
When: 7:30-9 p.m., Insight Dinner.

Tuesday, March 6:

Who:  Marie Lynn Miranda, provost and professor of statistics.
What: Panel, “Inclusion and Diversity: Faces of the Energy Future.”
When: 7:30-8:40 a.m., Innovation Agora, fourth floor, Agora Studio.

Who:  Moshe Vardi, director of Rice’s Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology and professor of computer science.
What: Presentation, “AI and the Workforce of the Future.”
When: 11:30 a.m.-noon, Innovation Agora, fourth floor, Agora Pod No. 1.

Who:  Matthew Brake, assistant professor of mechanical engineering.
What: Presentation, “Tribomechadynamics — The Future of Oil and Gas Efficiency.”
When: 3:30-4 p.m., Innovation Agora, fourth floor, Agora Pod No. 1.

Thursday, March 8:

Who:   Reginald DesRoches, dean of Rice’s George R. Brown School of Engineering.
What:  Panel, “Building the Resilient Grid of the Future: Microgrids and Beyond.”
When: 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Innovation Agora, fourth floor, Agora Studio.

Who:  Sibani Lisa Biswal.
What: Presentation, “Microfluidic Visualization of Oil Processes: A Real ‘Reservoir-on-a-Chip.'”
When: 11:30 a.m.-noon, Innovation Agora, fourth floor, Agora Pod No. 1.

Friday, March 9:

Who:  Charles McConnell.
What: Main stage program, “Building the Energy Innovation Ecosystem.”
When: 11 a.m.-noon.

Who:  Fred Higgs, professor of mechanical engineering and faculty director of the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership.
What: Closing presentation to the Future Energy Leaders program.
When: 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Media who want to cover events at CERAWeek must obtain credentials from the conference organizers. Visit here for more information.

For more information on Rice’s involvement at CERAWeek or to schedule an interview with a speaker, contact David Ruth, director of national media relations at Rice, at david@rice.edu or 713-348-6327.

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This news release can be found online at news.rice.edu.

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,970 undergraduates and 2,934 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for quality of life and for lots of race/class interaction and No. 2 for happiest students by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. To read “What they’re saying about Rice,” go to http://tinyurl.com/RiceUniversityoverview.