Civil and Environmental Engineering

Houston refines hunt for COVID in wastewater

There are many ways to test municipal wastewater for signs of the virus that causes COVID-19, but scientists in Houston have determined theirs is the best yet.

Seven research teams win Carbon Hub funding

Carbon Hub, Rice University's zero-emissions research initiative, has awarded seed grants for seven projects that will rapidly advance its vision for transforming the oil and gas sector into a leading provider of both clean hydrogen energy and solid carbon products that can be used in place of materials with large carbon footprints.

Rice mourns death of Ilinca Stanciulescu, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering

Ilinca Stanciulescu, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice, died Sunday after battling cancer. She was 49.

DARPA backs Rice sensor to detect COVID-19 virus in air

Researchers receive funding for up to $1 million to develop a real-time electronic sensor able to detect minute amounts of the airborne virus that causes COVID-19 infection.

Failed storage tanks pose atmospheric risks during disasters

Rice engineers model hypothetical threats from toxins released when aboveground storage tanks fail during a storm.

Industrial-strength brine, meet your kryptonite

A thin coating of the 2D nanomaterial hexagonal boron nitride is the key ingredient in a cost-effective technology developed by Rice University engineers for desalinating industrial-strength brine.

NSF renews Rice-based NEWT Center for water treatment

The National Science Foundation renews the Rice-based Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment Center for five years. The Engineering Research Center is dedicated to enabling access to clean water around the world.

Civil engineers Nagarajaiah, Erazo awarded Takuji Kobori Prize

Research on earthquake protection system earns prestigious award from the International Association for Structural Control and Monitoring.

Rice helps give Houston early COVID-19 warnings

Scientists and statisticians at Rice University’s Brown School of Engineering have worked long hours for months to help the city of Houston monitor the spread of COVID-19 through traces of the coronavirus found in wastewater treatment plants.

'This Place Called Houston': Jim Blackburn hosts webinar on the city’s past, future

Jim Blackburn sees Houston as a perfect reflection of the 20th century, an emerging but disorganized city at the turn of one century that boomed into a diverse economic powerhouse by the next.

Galveston Bay Park is a 'vision' of Houston's future

An ambitious plan to shield Houston from a devastating hurricane by creating Galveston Bay Park, a 10,000-acre public park on a chain of man-made islands, earned top honors in the international design competition Houston 2020 Visions.

Better wastewater treatment? It’s a wrap

A shield of graphene helps particles destroy antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the free-floating genes in wastewater treatment plants.

Bird droppings carry risk of antibiotic resistance

Rice University engineers analyze the droppings of urban birds and show persistent levels of antibiotic-resistant genes and bacteria that may be transferred to humans through the environment.

Future Texas hurricanes: Fast like Ike or slow like Harvey?

Climate change will make fast-moving storms more likely in late 21st-century Texas.

Purifying water with a partly coated gold nanoparticle

Rice's Naomi Halas has collaborated with Yale University engineers on the creation of a light-activated nanoparticle for clearing water of pollutants. The research is part of an effort by NEWT, the Rice-based Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment.