Civil and Environmental Engineering

Rice-built reactor yields green ammonia and purified water

Rice engineers have developed a revolutionary reactor design that could decarbonize ammonia production while also mitigating water pollution.

Rice’s Sylvia Dee working to improve projections of extreme droughts, floods

Rice climate scientist Sylvia Dee has won a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the agency’s most prestigious early career honor.

‘Enriching the conversation with different perspectives’: Rice Architecture launches Global Workshops program

A group of students from Rice’s School of Architecture and George R. Brown School of Engineering visited Barcelona, Spain, in June as part of a global “Building Ecologies” workshop.

SSPEED Center, Rice Engineering to launch nature-based carbon credit research projects

The Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center and the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice have announced plans to launch two research projects on nature-based carbon credits funded through a gift from Emissions Reduction Corp.

‘Symbolic of the hard work and talent’: Rice graduate programs rate highly in latest US News rankings

A number of Rice graduate programs are rated among the nation’s best in the latest edition of U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” rankings.

European Academy of Sciences honors Rice’s Pol Spanos with prestigious award

Rice’s Pol Spanos, the Lewis B. Ryon Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, has been awarded the 2024 Blaise Pascal Medal in Engineering by the European Academy of Sciences.

Rice’s Jamie Padgett wins Charles Martin Duke Lifeline Earthquake Engineering Award

Rice’s Jamie Padgett has been awarded the 2024 Charles Martin Duke Lifeline Earthquake Engineering Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Two Rice faculty elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Rice professors Pedro Alvarez and Antonios Mikos have been elected fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest learned societies in the nation.

Rice architect Juan Jose Castellon’s installation project named finalist for 2024 Forge Prize

A sustainable shade system installation created by Rice Architecture’s Juan José Castellón has been selected one of the three finalists for the 2024 Forge Prize by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC).

Rice study shows coal-based product could replace sand in concrete

A new study by Rice researchers found that graphene derived from metallurgical coke, a coal-based product, through flash Joule heating could serve not only as a reinforcing additive in cement but also as a replacement for sand in concrete.

Rice engineers propose hybrid urban water sourcing model

Houston’s water and wastewater system could be more resilient with the development of hybrid urban water supply systems that combine conventional, centralized water sources with reclaimed wastewater, according to a study by Rice engineers published in Nature Water.

Rice’s Pedro Alvarez wins Chinese Chemical Society’s Outstanding Achievement Award

Pedro Alvarez, the George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice, received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Chinese Chemical Society for his “long-term systematic contributions in basic research and technology development in the field of environmental chemistry.”

Rice announces strategic collaboration agreement with Indian Institute of Science

As part of its strategic global initiative, Rice University leadership recently traveled to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) where the two institutions agreed to collaborate to develop shared research and industry engagement around the themes of data science, energy and materials.

Annual SSPEED Center conference welcomes international flood-control experts

The Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center at Rice hosted its 11th annual conference last month at the university’s Anderson-Clarke Center.

Global temperature variations impact the planet’s water cycle

A new study by Rice climate scientist Sylvia Dee and an international team of collaborators sheds light on the impact that global temperature variation over the past 2,000 years has had on the planet’s hydrological cycle.