Rice hosts Army research summit

Eighteen academic institutions gathered at Rice University April 24 and 25 for the first Partnership Summit 2018: Universities of the Southwest. The event brought together stakeholders in the Army Research Lab (ARL) South, a partnership centered at the University of Texas at Austin to give the lab a physical presence in the region. According to the Army, the lab leverages “regional expertise and facilities throughout the south central region to accelerate discovery, innovation and transition of science and technology.” An Army press release noted the summit focused on the areas of power and energy, artificial intelligence and machine learning, synthetic biology, human performance, human agent teaming and cybersecurity.

The sessions included research overviews from each institution collaborating or planning to collaborate with the lab. Army representatives stayed for presentations and lab tours by Rice researchers. Rice’s Yousif Shamoo, vice provost for research, and Heidi Maupin, ARL South regional director, gave opening remarks. Carolyn Nichol, an assistant research professor of chemistry; Enrique Barrera, a professor of materials science and nanoengineering, and Richard Tapia, University Professor and the Maxfield-Oshman Professor of Computational and Applied Mathematics, presented on Rice’s behalf.

At top, attendees check out posters by participating institutions. Below, Tapia speaks to the gathering. (Photos by John Marsh)