The Rice engineering student experience extends beyond the classroom. Student groups and professional societies enrich our diverse student body, but students often have to come up with their own funding to participate in them. In honor of Rice ECE alumnus, former dean, and professor emeritus Charles Sidney Burrus, a generous donor has established the C.S. Burrus ECE Student Enrichment fund to support student enrichment initiatives.
Donations to this fund will enhance the Rice ECE student experience by providing support for summer research internships, and it will help send students to conferences like the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers, Society for Women Engineers, National Society for Black Engineers, Afrotech conference, and the Grace Hopper conference—the world’s largest gathering of women and non-binary engineers.
This fund will also support student groups on campus, giving students mentoring and networking opportunities right here at Rice. Groups such as Rice Eclipse—the student rocketry team, the ECE Graduate and Postdoctoral Researchers group, Masters ECE and Graduate Women’s Group help students build a local community, expand their networks, and develop lasting professional relationships.
The ECE department is one of the largest on campus, with a research enterprise that spans seven areas. As a result, the department has a large and diverse graduate student body. The fund will allow the highly innovative ECE department to stay nimble and continue to expand the ways we empower our students to grow and learn.
Every gift, no matter small or large, makes an impact. To help pave the way for a bright future for ECE students, make your gift to the C.S. Burrus ECE Student Enrichment Fund today.