Rice University is an official partner for UNESCO World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development, which will be held at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters March 4, marking the start of a yearlong global campaign to highlight the essential role of engineering in addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
Proclaimed an official International Day by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Engineering Day is jointly organized by UNESCO and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO). The 2025 theme, Shaping Our Sustainable Future Through Engineering, underscores how engineering plays a critical role in achieving the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The initiative will include a range of events, films, articles and news features, all hosted on the official World Engineering Day website.
As a leading research institution, Rice has long championed engineering innovation. With a focus on collaboration, the university partners across disciplines and industries to create real-world solutions, including sustainable water treatments through the WaTER Institute, low-carbon innovations via the Rice Advanced Materials Institute and carbon reduction technologies in the Woodside-Rice Decarbonization Accelerator.
This year, Rice’s George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing is celebrating its 50th anniversary, marking five decades of groundbreaking research and education in engineering.
“For 50 years, Rice has brought together world-class engineers in an intimate environment that fosters collaboration over competition to develop pioneering solutions for both local and global challenges,” said Luay Nakhleh, the William and Stephanie Sick Dean of Engineering and Computing and professor of computer science and biosciences at Rice. “Through our work focused on health and well-being, energy and sustainability, resilient communities, advanced materials and future computing, we are proud to contribute to the mission of World Engineering Day and to inspire the next generation of engineers.”
Rice’s commitment to international research collaboration is further strengthened by the Rice Global Paris Center, which opened in 2022. As Rice’s hub in Europe, the Paris Center fosters exchange and cooperation with global partners, facilitates high-priority research collaborations and provides immersive undergraduate and graduate experiences in France and beyond.
With the WFEO spanning 100 countries and representing over 30 million engineers, World Engineering Day serves as a springboard for policymakers, governments, educators and industry leaders to elevate the visibility of engineering and its impact on sustainable development.
“World Engineering Day 2025 is all about putting engineering in the global spotlight, showing
how engineers are leading the way in the effort to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal targets and inspiring the next generation to find out more about what a career in engineering has to offer,” said Jacques de Mereuil, executive director of the WFEO, in a statement.