Engineering

Anastasios Kyrillidis wins NSF CAREER Award

Rice computer scientist will explore the theory and design of non-convex optimization algorithms, which are increasingly important for machine learning.

Rice team’s mask strategy passes muster

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a team at Rice University went looking for and found a way to make standard surgical masks better at keeping out small airborne droplets that might contain the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Redistricting project wins Rice Datathon

Four Rice undergraduates top this year’s Rice Datathon with their analysis of Houston voting districts.

Matthew Jones wins NSF CAREER Award

Rice chemist Matthew Jones wins an NSF CAREER Award to study controlled growth of metallic nanoparticles for biomedicine, energy storage and computing.

Nathan Dautenhahn wins CAREER Award

Rice University computer scientist Nathan Dautenhahn wins a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to pursue simplified, automated security for sophisticated software.

Geoff Wehmeyer wins CAREER Award

Mechanical engineer Geoff Wehmeyer wins an NSF CAREER Award to study nanoscale heat transfer.

Now you don’t see it … and now you do

Scientists and engineers from Rice University and the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research discover fluorescence from silicon nanoparticles in cement and show how it can be used to reveal early signs of damage in concrete structures.

‘Lefty’ tightens control of embryonic development

A protein known as Lefty pumps the brakes as human embryos begin to differentiate into the bones, soft tissues and organs that make us.

Rusting iron can be its own worst enemy

Atom-level simulations reveal the reason iron rusts in supposedly “inert” supercritical carbon dioxide fluid. Trace amounts of water can cause a reaction at the interface between iron and the fluid, prompting the formation of corrosive chemicals.

New models assess bridge support repairs after earthquakes

Civil engineers develop a computational modeling strategy to help plan effective repairs to damaged reinforced concrete columns.

Josephine Abercrombie '46, Rice trustee emeritus and Abercrombie Lab namesake, dies at 95

Josephine Abercrombie, the Rice alumna, philanthropist, horse breeder and boxing promoter for whom Abercrombie Lab was named, died Jan. 5 at her home in Versailles, Kentucky. She was 95.

Migrating holes help catalysts be productive

A theoretical model suggests electron holes that propagate at active sites on a catalyst migrate, triggering other sites that continue the process.

Nanotube fibers stand strong -- but for how long?

A Rice University study calculates how cyclic strain and stress affects nanotubes and describes how fibers under cyclic loads can fail over time.

Awards boost biomed advances

Four faculty members and their collaborators win Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health seed grants.

Swirling bacteria mimic Van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’

Scientists discovered a way to transform millions of predatory bacteria into swirling flash mobs reminiscent of painter Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” as the unexpected result of experiments on a genetic circuit the creatures use to discern friend from foe.