Who We Are

At Rice Engineering, we work at the intersection of some of today’s most important issues and interesting challenges. We bring together world-class engineers in an intimate environment that favors collaboration over competition. Our goal? To find pathbreaking solutions to local and global challenges in ways that are more equitable, more responsible, and more sustainable. By harnessing our strengths, working together, and always imagining the unintended consequences of our efforts, we’re not just tackling tough engineering problems, we’re solving for greater good.

Tagline

Solving for Greater Good

Supporting Themes

Interdisciplinary Collaboration:
Innovative engineering discoveries require a convergence of approaches. Many of the most pressing challenges facing society today – from climate change to global health – require solutions that draw expertise from more than one engineering discipline and even beyond engineering alone. Our interdisciplinary research approach equips faculty and students with a wide range of perspectives and strengthens our ability to tackle complex problems from multiple angles. Going beyond a purely technical engineering education, a unique strength of Rice Engineering is our ability to engage with natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, architecture and business schools across Rice University’s campus to holistically explore and solve real-world problems.

Technical Strengths:
Our ability to utilize our technical strengths across departments to solve large problems is a hallmark of Rice Engineering. Our expertise in computing, statistics, and applied mathematics – and the centrality of these fields to many aspects of society – drives our growth in future computing, including the expansion of our research efforts in artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

Small Size, Close-knit Community:
Our ability to solve complex problems is enabled by our small size. Our close-knit community lays the foundation for the work we do. It strengthens collaboration across disciplines. It allows for greater engagement among faculty and students. And the hands-on experience our students receive alongside world-renowned faculty places them at the center of groundbreaking research.

Location:
As the nation’s fourth largest and most culturally diverse city, Houston delivers rich opportunities for research and collaboration on campus and beyond. The city is the center of the energy industry, the home of the largest medical complex in the world, and in close proximity to NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Rice sits at the intersection of business, healthcare, culture, and innovation, creating a unique experience for both faculty and students.