Amid the energy, music and sea of soccer fans at FIFA Fan Festival, Rice University is giving visitors from around the world a chance to experience a different kind of game changer.
At Rice’s booth, fans can climb onto a swing suspended by carbon nanotube fiber cables, explore a striking display that merges a soccer ball with the iconic buckyball and meet students, faculty and volunteers sharing some of the university’s most influential discoveries. The interactive booth connects Rice’s history of scientific innovation with one of the world’s biggest sporting events as Houston welcomes global visitors for FIFA World Cup 2026.
“It’s exciting to be able to welcome hundreds of thousands of people to Houston, and to be able to have our students and faculty involved, as volunteers,” President Reginald DesRoches said. “It’s just a great way to be part of this event.”
DesRoches said Rice’s participation reflects both the university’s commitment to Houston and its role as a global center for research and innovation.
“Whenever you can combine supporting the city with being able to have volunteer opportunities and educational opportunities for our students, it’s a win-win,” he said.
At the center of the booth is a swing supported by carbon nanotube fiber cables developed through research pioneered at Rice and provided by DexMat, a startup company with university roots. The installation allows visitors to experience an advanced material not through a laboratory demonstration but through a familiar and playful activity.
“We want to show something that’s light and flexible and something that can displace steel," said Matteo Pasquali, the A.J. Hartsook Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and director of Rice’s Carbon Hub.
The swing’s cables replace the steel chains typically found on a playground swing with less than an ounce of carbon nanotube material. Together, the two cables can support roughly 1,000 pounds.
Pasquali said the display represents decades of scientific progress. Carbon nanotubes emerged from research inspired by the discovery of the buckminsterfullerene molecule — better known as the buckyball — at Rice in 1985. The breakthrough revealed an entirely new form of carbon and helped launch advances in nanotechnology and materials science, winning the university’s Robert Curl and Richard Smalley the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1996 alongside the University of Sussex’s Harry Kroto
Adjacent to the swing, visitors encounter a display that combines the familiar shape of a soccer ball with the buckyball or C60 molecule, highlighting the connection between the world’s most popular sport and one of Rice’s most celebrated scientific discoveries that helped establish the university as a global leader in materials, quantum and nanoscale science.
“The World Cup is an opportunity to bring people together from around the world, and we wanted Rice to be part of that celebration,” said Thomas Killian, dean of Rice’s Wiess School of Natural Sciences. “As Houston welcomes visitors from across the globe, it’s a fun way to share a piece of Rice and the spirit of curiosity and discovery that defines our community.”
The activation is also creating opportunities for Rice students and alumni to share their own experiences with visitors curious about the university.
“It’s been really fun,” said Daniela Ambriz, a sophomore majoring in business and data science who volunteered at the booth. “There’s been a lot of people coming together for this global event, and it’s been nice to talk about Rice and help people learn more about what the university has to offer.”
Ambriz said Rice’s presence at Fan Festival helps introduce the university to a global audience while strengthening connections within Houston.
“I think it means a lot just to know that more people will learn about Rice University, our accomplishments and our community in general,” Ambriz said. “Community building, especially in the Houston area, is a big thing, so I think that’s really meaningful for people to see.”
Recent graduate Nimah Shukkoor said the exhibit has sparked conversations with visitors of all ages.
“We’ve had a lot of kids playing on the swings and people talking to us about what Rice is like, looking at the brochures and asking about our experiences,” said Shukkoor, who earned bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and philosophy this spring. “It’s been cool to talk about the different clubs and opportunities Rice has to offer and share some of the things I’ve been lucky enough to experience during my time here.”
For Pasquali, the carbon nanotube swing and installation reflect the university’s culture of pursuing bold ideas.
“At Rice, we are always looking at doing something that nobody else is doing, something that most people will think is insane,” Pasquali said. “It also shows persistence — the persistence that through many, many failures over 20 years, and a few miracles that we made happen … you can get to this point.”
For the thousands of visitors passing through Fan Festival each day, however, the experience begins with something much simpler.
“I hope they can just get back that these are just two cool cables and a swing that’s fun,” Pasquali said.