The 2026 issue of Rice Engineering and Computing Magazine is here!
This issue explores the ideas, people and partnerships shaping what comes next. Inspired by the momentum behind Vision 2030 — our school’s new strategic plan — this year’s stories highlight how our community is taking on big challenges in health and well-being, sustainability and resilience, and computing and AI. Inside, you’ll find a closer look at the research, collaborations and bold thinking driving Rice Engineering and Computing forward.
From Dean Luay Nakhleh
Last year, we closed the chapter on Vision to 2025—and what a chapter it was. Over seven years, we grew our faculty by a third, expanded student enrollment at every level, launched more than ten academic programs, and opened the Ralph S. O’Connor Building for Engineering and Science. It was a plan built to accelerate growth, and it delivered.
Now we turn the page.
Our new strategic plan, Vision 2030, builds on that momentum. We will continue to grow, but growth is no longer the measure. Impact is. Our next chapter is about translating the foundation we have built into discoveries that improve lives, graduates who lead with excellence and integrity, and a school whose impact is felt far beyond Houston.
This issue of the magazine reflects that ambition. Across its pages you will see the grand challenges our faculty are pursuing—bold ideas grounded in rigorous science and driven by a shared commitment to solving real problems.
The pillars of Vision 2030 provide the framework that will help these ideas flourish.
Our first pillar, Research Excellence and Innovation, is where that impact begins. Grounded in fundamental, curiosity-driven inquiry, our research focuses on three thrusts—Health and Well-being, Sustainability and Resilience, and Computing and AI. Together they guide our work on some of the most consequential challenges of our time, with Houston—global energy capital, home of the world’s largest medical complex and a hub for space exploration—serving as our living laboratory.
Our second pillar, Transformative Education and Workforce Development, reflects a conviction I hold deeply: a Rice education must develop the whole engineer and computer scientist. The Strong Foundation. The Experiential Bridge. The Human Bridge. Through these three dimensions, we prepare graduates who are technically excellent, AI-fluent, strong communicators, and ethically grounded. They are ready not just for their first job, but for a lifetime of leadership.
Our third pillar, Culture, Operations and Distinctive Identity, ensures that Rice Engineering and Computing has both the institutional strength and the global visibility to match the ambition of our work. By strengthening the administrative and research infrastructure that supports our faculty and students and investing in the people who power this community, we are building the operational excellence required to sustain our momentum and extend our impact.
Everything in this plan flows from the same source: our commitment to Solving for Greater Good.
I hope the stories in this issue inspire you as much as they inspire me.