Rice scientists harness vacuum fluctuations to engineer quantum materials
Rice researchers and collaborators have developed a new cavity design that selectively enhances the quantum vacuum fluctuations of circularly polarized light in a single direction, achieving chirality — a feat that typically requires the use of a strong magnetic field.
Rice, Houston shine on global stage at VivaTech 2025
The university joined the Greater Houston Partnership in hosting the first city booth at the global event, which drew more than 180,000 attendees from across the international tech ecosystem.
Rice and Houston Methodist name Chatterjee executive director of the Digital Health Institute
The Digital Health Institute — a recently launched joint initiative between Rice University and Houston Methodist — has appointed Pothik Chatterjee as its executive director, effective May 1.
Rice students win top prize in global design contest with cutting-edge haptic wristband
Rice student engineers have earned top international honors for a novel device that could redefine how humans interact with virtual environments.
‘Here to work with the world’: Rice shines at inaugural SXSW London
Rice took center stage at the inaugural South by Southwest London, bringing Texas-sized ambition, pathbreaking innovation and global vision to one of the world’s premier gatherings of creative and intellectual leaders.
Rice students chart a new course for autonomous sailboat fleets
In a corner of Rice’s Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK), a group of students is tackling a big idea: revolutionizing maritime transport with swarms of smart, self-sailing boats.
New leash on life: Rice students design haptic vest for blind dogs
A team of engineering students at Rice designed an innovative wearable vest that helps blind dogs safely navigate their surroundings.
From Rice to orbit: Student engineers build safer, low-cost satellite thruster
A team of Rice engineering students has designed and built a safer, low-cost propulsion module for small satellites.
Lydia Kavraki named University Professor, the highest faculty distinction at Rice
In a landmark moment for Rice, renowned computer scientist Lydia E. Kavraki has been named a University Professor, the institution’s highest academic rank. She becomes only the 11th person and the third woman in the university’s 112-year history to earn this prestigious title.
Rice engineers tackle sunlight intermittency in solar desalination
A team of Rice engineers has developed a system that could transform desalination practices, making the process more adaptable, resilient and cheaper. The new system is powered by sunlight and uses a creative approach to heat recovery for extended water production ⎯ with and without sunshine.
ENRICH Office’s Health Innovations Symposium showcases Rice-TMC biomedical collaboration ecosystem
Rice’s ENRICH Office hosted a two-day symposium April 24-25 at Helix Park highlighting the encompassing range of biomedical research at the university and the network of collaborations with institutions across the Texas Medical Center.
Spotlight from The Franklin Institute Awards Ceremony: Celebrating Naomi Halas
Rice scientist and engineer Naomi Halas was awarded the 2025 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry May 1 at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
Machine learning powers new approach to detecting soil contaminants
A team of researchers at Rice and Baylor College of Medicine has developed a new strategy for identifying hazardous pollutants in soil ⎯ even ones that have never been isolated or studied in a lab.
Powered by play: Engineering students blend circuits, code and imagination
Everywhere you turned at the final showcase for Design of Mechatronic Systems, something moved, danced, blinked or spun.
National Academy of Sciences elects Lydia Kavraki as a member
Lydia Kavraki, a leading researcher in robotics, computational biomedicine and artificial intelligence at Rice, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the world’s foremost professional societies dedicated to honoring achievement in science and outstanding original research.
