As Houston prepares to welcome the world for the FIFA World Cup this summer, Rice University’s Center for STEM Engagement is leveraging the global spotlight to connect local students with hands-on science and technology — reinforcing Rice’s role as an Official Houston World Cup 2026 Host City Supporter.
Through a series of soccer-themed outreach efforts this month, including a recent interactive STEM Career Impact Day at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and an activation at a Houston Dynamo FC match in partnership with ConocoPhillips, Rice is introducing local students to STEM concepts through the lens of the world’s most popular sport.
At HPE’s headquarters in Spring, Texas, about 150 students participated in World Cup-inspired activities designed to spark early interest in STEM fields.
“Today we have over 100 students from a junior high in Houston. We’re taking them around campus, doing different activities with them — we’ll have them open up servers and learn what’s inside, and Rice is here doing a STEM activity as well,” said Marissa Davis ’10, director of mechanical and thermal engineering at HPE and a Rice alumna.
The event reflects a shared commitment between Rice and its industry partners to engage students at a critical stage in their academic journeys, Davis said.
“The goal is to get kids at the right age interested in STEM,” Davis said. “At this junior high level, you can spark that interest in science and math and help them choose the right path when they go to high school and college.
“It’s really important for these activities to be fun and stimulating for kids so that it sparks that interest.”
For Davis, the experience also underscored the lasting connection between Rice and its alumni.
“It’s really cool for me … I made sure to wear my Rice ring today just because I knew Rice would be here,” she said. “It’s great that Rice continues to give back to younger students and that I can help promote that.”
The partnership with HPE is part of a broader strategy by the Rice Center for STEM Engagement to expand access and awareness through community-based programming tied to major moments like the World Cup.
“Our purpose is to provide high-quality STEM experiences and engagements,” said Matthew Cushing, executive director of the center. “They’ve been a great collaborator … inviting us out to their engagement events for students in the Houston area.”
By connecting STEM learning to real-world contexts, the center aims to broaden students’ understanding of potential career paths.
“These experiences unlock that imagination for students — it creates a space for them to imagine what’s possible,” Cushing said. “These engagement experiences provide those opportunities.”
At the HPE event, that approach came to life through Sphero robotic soccer activities, where students controlled app-powered devices to simulate gameplay while learning physics and engineering concepts.
Students navigated the robotic “soccer players” across a miniature pitch, applying concepts like momentum and force while gaining exposure to coding — blending play with technical learning in a way that mirrors the center’s broader mission.
“Today, we are building excitement around the upcoming FIFA World Cup through a series of STEM-inspired educational activities designed to engage and inspire students,” said Debbie Heath, director of operations and marketing at the center. “We’re not just playing soccer today — we’re teaching kids STEM concepts such as the physics of the ball… acceleration, speed, force and motion.”
Across both the Dynamo activation and the HPE event, organizers say the goal remains consistent: to connect inspiration with opportunity as Houston steps onto the global stage.
“Our goal is to inspire students to pursue future careers in STEM,” Heath said.