Civil and Environmental Engineering

Hurricane Harvey as seen from the International Space Station on Aug. 28, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Randy Bresnik/NASA)

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

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

Naomi Halas is a Rice University engineer and chemist who's spent more than 25 years pioneering the use of light-activated nanomaterials.

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.

Mask transposed over a model fo the corona virus

COVID-19 research funds back six new initiatives

Grants to Rice faculty will support diagnostic, environmental and social projects.

Superfund team

Rice faculty part of Baylor Superfund program

A $10 million federal grant establishes a center to study how toxic chemicals from Superfund sites impact preterm births.

A schematic representation of the hybrid water supply system developed by engineers at Rice University. The researchers suggest that delivering water to city dwellers can become far more efficient, and that it should involve a healthy level of recycled wastewater. (Credit: Lu Liu/Rice University)

Rice engineers: Make wastewater drinkable again

Delivering water to city dwellers can become far more efficient, according to Rice University researchers who say it should involve a healthy level of recycled wastewater.

A prototype face shield produced as part of a joint effort by the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership and Rice's Moody Center for the Arts. (Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

Rice reacts to critical shortage of COVID-19 protective gear

Rice is responding to the critical shortage of COVID-19 protective gear with creativity, generosity and tenacity.

A schematic of the SARS-CoV-2 viral particle, which presents a number of targets for filtration technology being developed at Rice University.

Rice researchers look to ‘trap and zap’ coronavirus

Rice University researchers plan to reconfigure their “trap and zap” wastewater-treatment technology to capture and deactivate the virus that causes COVID-19.

Mask transposed over a model fo the corona virus

Rice awards first COVID-19 research grants

The Rice University COVID-19 Research Fund Oversight and Review Committee announced it will support projects to develop affordable diagnostic tools, seals to maximize the efficiency of surgical masks, a system to identify signs of the coronavirus in Houston wastewater and methods to ensure voter safety this fall.

Rob Griffin

Griffin named interim engineering dean

Rob Griffin, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and senior associate dean for the Brown School of Engineering, will begin serving as the school’s interim dean July 1.

A schematic shows the three-step method to produce molecular-imprinted graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets. The process developed by Rice University researchers could help catch and kill free-floating antibiotic resistant genes found in secondary effluent produced by wastewater plants. (Credit: Illustration by Danning Zhang/Rice University)

New nano strategy fights superbugs

Rice researchers imprint carbon nitride nanosheets to catch and kill free-floating antibiotic resistant genes found in secondary effluent produced by wastewater treatment plants. The strategy would prevent the DNA molecules from making downstream bacteria more resistant to drugs.

Brays and Buffalo Bayou

Natural bayou better when floods threaten Houston

A comparison of flood plains around Houston’s two major bayous shows the natural Buffalo Bayou is far better at managing floodwaters than the channelized Brays Bayou.

Engineering

Rice hosts middle schoolers for Engineers Week

Houston middle-school students visit Rice to take part in Engineers Week.

Satish

Nagarajaiah wins ASCE’s Newmark Medal

Rice engineer Satish Nagarajaiah has been awarded the 2020 Nathan M. Newmark Medal by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Academy

Rice duo named to National Academy of Engineers

Dean and incoming provost Reginald DesRoches, electrical and computer engineer Gene Frantz earn prestigious honor.

Carbon black powder turns into graphene in a burst of light and heat through a technique developed at Rice University. Flash graphene turns any carbon source into the valuable 2D material in 10 milliseconds. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

Rice lab turns trash into valuable graphene in a flash

Scientists at Rice University are using high-energy pulses of electricity to turn any source of carbon into turbostratic graphene in an instant. The process promises environmental benefits by turning waste into valuable graphene that can then strengthen concrete and other composite materials.