Experts from Rice University will be presenting throughout CERAWeek, an annual energy conference organized by S&P Global. The conference, taking place March 23-27 in Houston, will involve a broad selection of industry and academic experts speaking on relevant and pressing energy issues.
The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, along with the Houston Energy Transition Initiative and TEX-E, will also host the annual Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition March 24-25. The event features two days of presentations by energy tech ventures. On the first day, 50 companies will pitch on energy transition ideas, followed by one-on-one meetings with investors and scouts to robustly connect ideas to avenues for executives. On the second day, 36 venture groups will compete in a pitch competition for one of three awards. On both days, students will compete on the university track for the TEX-E Prize, which includes $50,000 in startup cash.
Rice experts and their panels at CERAWeek include:
Adrian Trömel, interim vice president for innovation, chief innovation officer, associate vice president of the office of innovation
- Monday, March 23, 1:30-2 p.m.
- Collision Course: How Houston’s Ion District Turns Proximity into Innovation
Amy Dittmar, the Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, professor of finance and economics
- Monday, March 23, 7-8:30 p.m.
- AI: Changing Organizations and How People Work
Daniel Preston, assistant professor of mechanical engineering
- Tuesday, March 24, 9:30-10:15 a.m.
- Innovation at the Interface
David Sholl, executive vice president for research, professor of chemical and biological engineering
- Tuesday, March 24, 1-1:30 p.m.
- Accelerating Idea to Impact: Carving New Ways to Innovation
- Thursday, March 26, 2:15-3:05 p.m.
- Materials of the Future
Luis Pacheco, nonresident fellow of the Baker Institute for Public Policy
- Tuesday, March 24, 5:25-5:55 p.m.
- Venezuela’s Turning Point? Politics, Oil and the Test of Investment
Sahar Bakhshian, assistant professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences
- Wednesday, March 25, 9:30-10:15 a.m.
- The Science of Geologic Carbon Storage
Marie Contou-Carrere, executive director of the Rice Sustainability Institute
- Wednesday, March 25, 10-10:30 a.m.
- Sparking Innovation: The Impact of Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Reginald DesRoches, Rice University President
- Wednesday, March 25, 11:20-11:50 a.m
- Skills for Tomorrow, Today: Cultivating Workforce Agility
Rachel A. Meidl, fellow in energy and sustainability, deputy director of the Center for Energy Studies at the Baker Institute
- Wednesday, March 25, 12:30-1 p.m.
- Advanced Plastics for a Circular Economy
David Satterfield, director of the Baker Institute
- Thursday, March 26, 7:15-8:20 a.m.
- War in the Middle East: US Policy, Strategy and Implications
Carrie Masiello, the W. Maurice Ewing Professor of Biogeochemistry, Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, professor of chemistry and biosciences and director of Rice Sustainability Institute
- Thursday, March 26, 9:30-10:15 a.m.
- Nature-Based Solutions: A Focus on Biochar and Enhanced Rock Weathering
Jonathan Ajo-Franklin, professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences
- Thursday, March 26, 10-10:30 a.m.
- Geothermal: Charting Progress on Technological Advancements
Matteo Pasquali, director of the Carbon Hub; the A.J. Hartsook Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Thursday, March 26, 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
- Advanced Materials with Low-Carbon Intensity
Rice energy experts are available to comment on energy innovation, carbon management and critical minerals as well as energy markets, oil, geopolitics and grid reliability.