Student engineering teams at Rice demonstrated how hands-on design can drive real-world impact at the 2025 Huff OEDK Showcase and competition. Held April 17 at the Ion, the event featured 81 student teams, 93 judges and hundreds of visitors.
For Thiago Pinheiro dos Santos, a doctoral candidate in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Brazil, research is a way to drive positive, meaningful impact across a wide range of real-world domains from energy innovation to medicine.
Rice will increase access by growing the university’s student body, marking an unprecedented growth trajectory that began earlier this decade. The expansion is part of Rice’s commitment to access and is aligned with a strategic vision to solidify its position as a global leader in both teaching and research.
A team of Rice researchers has developed a new way to control light interactions using a specially engineered structure called a 3D photonic-crystal cavity that could enable transformative advancements in quantum computing, quantum communication and other quantum-based technologies.
The Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie) has introduced the 2025 Rice Innovation Fellows cohort, a dynamic group set to lead the future of scientist- and engineer-driven spinout ventures from Rice labs.
Intero Biosystems — a life science company that has developed the first cell-derived human “minigut” replicating cell types, spatial structure and function of the human intestine — took home the grand prize at the 2025 Rice Business Plan Competition.
A team of Rice researchers reported the first direct observation of a surprising quantum phenomenon predicted over half a century ago known as a superradiant phase transition, which occurs when two groups of quantum particles begin to fluctuate in a coordinated, collective way without any external trigger, forming a new state of matter.
The Rice Biotech Launch Pad, a Houston-based accelerator focused on expediting the translation of Rice University’s health and medical technology discoveries into cures, today announced the addition of David Allison to its external advisory board.