News Releases

Richard Baraniuk named to National Academy of Engineering

Rice University engineer, OpenStax founder Richard Baraniuk is named a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Clearly, this heart beats strong

In time for Valentine’s Day, engineers at Rice University and Waseda University provide a realistic view of what happens inside a beating heart.

Rare earth elements await in waste

Rice University scientists applied their flash Joule heating process to coal fly ash and other toxic waste to safely extract rare earth elements essential to modern electronics and green technologies.

Anastasios Kyrillidis wins NSF CAREER Award

Rice computer scientist will explore the theory and design of non-convex optimization algorithms, which are increasingly important for machine learning.

Rice student Jasmine Manansala to compete in 'Jeopardy!' National College Championship Feb. 8

Rice's Jasmine Manansala, a Brown College senior majoring in computer science and cognitive science, is a contestant in the "Jeopardy!" National College Championship that begins airing Feb. 8.

Rice team’s mask strategy passes muster

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a team at Rice University went looking for and found a way to make standard surgical masks better at keeping out small airborne droplets that might contain the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Energy transition could be headed for ‘valley of death,’ says report

Investments in oil and gas have decreased in favor of alternative energy in recent years, but with alternative energy technologies still able to supply only a small fraction of useable energy, rushing the transition would be a costly mistake, according to a new report from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Matthew Jones wins NSF CAREER Award

Rice chemist Matthew Jones wins an NSF CAREER Award to study controlled growth of metallic nanoparticles for biomedicine, energy storage and computing.

Nathan Dautenhahn wins CAREER Award

Rice University computer scientist Nathan Dautenhahn wins a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to pursue simplified, automated security for sophisticated software.

Machine learning fine-tunes flash graphene

Rice University scientists are using machine learning techniques to streamline the process of synthesizing graphene from waste through flash Joule heating.

Access to gig economy may spur small business creation, study finds

Access to the gig economy may help facilitate the creation of new businesses, according to a new study. The gig (or short-term job) market is often more transitory than the traditional freelancing market. The flexibility and low barrier to entry of these jobs gives would-be entrepreneurs fallback opportunities that reduce their financial risk, argues Yael Hochberg, professor in entrepreneurship and finance at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business.

Pastors serve as primary source of mental health care for Black, Latino congregants

A new study of Black and Latino Christians found they often turn to their pastors for mental health care or information on mental health resources, even when those clergy feel ill-equipped to offer help or advice.

Geoff Wehmeyer wins CAREER Award

Mechanical engineer Geoff Wehmeyer wins an NSF CAREER Award to study nanoscale heat transfer.

Architecture’s Brittany Utting wins top honor for ‘Deep Geologies’

Brittany Utting wins the 2022 Course Development Prize in Architecture, Climate Change and Society for her Rice Architecture studio on the relationship between resource extraction and the built environment in Texas.

Deep dive into juvenile justice data shows opportunity for targeted, early intervention

A Rice University Texas Policy Lab (TPL) analysis of juvenile justice data reveals most youths in the Harris County juvenile justice system are "one and done" — that is, they only have one interaction with it.