The Big Picture

A ground-breaking five-year technology collaboration between Rice University and Woodside Energy aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide lower carbon solutions. The Woodside-Rice Decarbonization Accelerator will bring decarbonization technology from Rice labs to market. Dr. Xiang Zhang of Rice Engineering’s Materials Science and NanoEngineering Department works on hardware related to cold plasma technology, a unique approach to breaking down carbon dioxide.

Did you Know...

Starting in 1920, students organized a biennial Rice Engineering Show and invited the public. Some 10,000 people came to campus that first year and viewed such wonders as a self-driving (radio-controlled) car. The event became so popular the city added streetcar runs to accommodate crowds estimated one year at 40,000. In 1928, students assembled a fire-breathing dog made of metal and named Woofus. In 1934, an electrical engineering major demonstrated an early television he had built, and the 1938 show featured a gyroscopically controlled bicycle. Interrupted by World War II, the show continued into the 1960s.