2018 - 2019
ACADEMIC YEAR IN REVIEW Preview: Introducing the 2023 Strategic Plan
Rice Center for Engineering Leadership • George R. Brown School of Engineering • Rice University
Table of Contents 2
From the Faculty Director
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A Five-Year Vision Toward 2023: The RCEL Strategic Plan
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RCEL Making a Difference
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2018 - 2019 Timeline
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Preparing the Future of Engineering: Expanding Rice ELITE Camp
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Leading by Example: Student Spotlights
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Congratulations Graduates!
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Industry Focus: How can companies work with RCEL?
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Thank you!
Students compete in RCEL Splashdown Engineering Design Competition Cover Image: RCEL student at the Leadership Reaction Course in College Station, Texas
RCEL MISSION: To educate, develop, and inspire ethical leaders in technology who will excel in research, industry, non-engineering career paths, or bold entrepreneurship.
1 Rice Center for Engineering Leadership | Annual Review
RCEL OVERVIEW
The Rice Center for Engineering Leadership (RCEL) was established in 2009 with a gift from John and Ann Doerr (’74 and ’75, electrical and computer engineering). RCEL enhances a traditional engineering education by supplementing skills not typically covered in the Rice engineering curriculum.
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From the Faculty Director
C. Fred Higgs III Faculty Director Rice Center for Engineering Leadership John & Ann Doerr Professor of Mechanical Engineering
I am quite pleased that this 2018-2019 edition of the RCEL annual report will not only highlight the past year’s exciting RCEL activities, it will present a summary of our new strategic plan! Our Strategic Plan 2023 outlines our vision for what RCEL will look like in five years. I believe the next half decade will be one in which we see massive changes in society—changes that will depend on technology and influence how people live, interact, and work. These changes will not only transform America from within, they will transform other nations and the relations we have with each other. With technology at the heart of this sea change, the engineering leader is at the helm of technological changes and such changes advance civilization. I both love and hate the movie Iron Man. I love it because it highlights the power of technology to do good when in the hands of ethical people, and how the same technology, in the hands of unethical people, can be used for thwarting human flourishing on a global scale. However, a philosophical discussion about why I love this movie is not what I want to discuss here. I want to elaborate, instead, on my dislike for the movie. In this series of movies, why must there always be a solitary engineering genius tirelessly working in a research lab creating groundbreaking, society-transforming technology by himself? Even Iron Man II features an equally capable, antagonistic archrival, the applied physicist Ivan Vanko. Sponsored by a technology company to develop humanoid drone technology to ultimately defeat Iron Man, he too works alone in an enormous engineering lab (which interestingly is the real life rocket construction facility of SpaceX, normally bustling with teams of engineers).
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In the research labs that I have visited, joined, or launched, any real technology prototype takes many years and many teams of smart engineering students and professionals to come to fruition. While the scales are different depending on the project scope, any engineering team’s performance is directly correlated to the strength of the engineering leader. It is this engineering leader who might someday lead a team to develop a cure for cancer or to develop a solution to stop cybersecurity threats on cloud computing machines working around the clock to manage distributed manufacturing centers, digital medical patient data, and energy production facilities. Today, this future engineering leader is an RCEL student, and we have only two to three years to train him/her to be confident and excellent at leading such projects. There is no time to waste. It is against this backdrop that RCEL faculty and staff developed our strategic plan. Early drafts were reviewed by our major stakeholders (donors, alumni, faculty, and engineering leadership). We also received invaluable feedback from RCEL students, which made us think deeply about the implications of what we were proposing for the students we serve and will serve in the future. We developed our plan in conjunction with Rice’s strategic plan, the Vision for the Second Century, Second Decade (V2C2) and more importantly, that of the School of Engineering. I can say unequivocally that our strategic plan aims to position Rice Engineering to have the premier program in undergraduate engineering leadership by 2023. We also plan to launch new graduate degree programs in engineering leadership and management. This will help us to turn engineering professionals into engineering leaders in companies sooner rather than later. While this work will cultivate leadership at the end of the engineering pipeline, RCEL has not forgotten about those who need to
enter the engineering pipeline. Therefore, RCEL will become a vehicle for inspiring the next-generation of Rice engineers while simultaneously giving RCEL students leadership intern experiences. For example, this past summer, our ELITE pre-college engineering summer program grew from about a dozen students in its inaugural summer (2018) edition to more than 80 students this past summer (2019)! With the belief that some of these talented students are future Rice engineers, we are elated to have our best and brightest RCEL students to serve as mentors for them, employing the leadership principles they learned in RCEL. We continue to be thankful for the support of Rice faculty, students, alumni, and friends who believe in our vision and want to spur RCEL forward. In the following pages, you will read in more detail about our strategic plan (with the full strategic plan being available upon request). You will also see some of the latest student survey results on how RCEL is making a difference, and of course, you will see the year in review. Numerous examples of how RCEL students are impacting the world are showcased, in addition to spotlights on key RCEL student leaders who are graduating. We conclude with an interview with our new industry relations director, who is also a patent attorney with two Rice engineering degrees. While RCEL’s undergraduate certificate program has expanded its offerings to prepare students for careers in research, entrepreneurship, and non-engineering pathways (e.g., law, business, and medicine), he will elucidate our strategy for RCEL to collaborate with, and have our students thrive in, industry. I thank you for reading our annual report and hope that you will feel free to share with me what you think about our vision, and perhaps how you can come alongside of us in making it a reality. #EngineeringTomorrowsLeadersToday
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RCEL BY THE NUMBERS TOTAL STUDENTS IN RCEL
BREAKDOWN BY GENDER
28% UNDERGRADUATES: 162 SENIORS: 34 GRADUATE/PHD: 93
72%
= 10
BREAKDOWN BY MAJOR
Engineering Division (Undecided) 29%
Materials Science and Nanoengineering 1%
Electrical and Computer Engineering 14%
Statistics 0%
Mechanical Engineering 28%
Computer Science 14%
Computational and Applied Mathematics 1% Civil Engineering 2%
Bioengineering 6% Chemical and Other Biomolecular 6% Engineering 6% Note: Breakdown percentages include double majors.
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A Vision Toward
2023 THE RCEL STRATEGIC PLAN
In 2018, the faculty and staff of the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership developed a five-year strategic plan for the program. Taking feedback from stakeholders, students, and faculty, the plan lays out a vision for preparing engineers for a future of leading technology and engineering organizations.
In a world where it’s not always easy to know what to believe, engineers have labored to advance human civilization, building technological solutions on top of an objective framework. While movies often portray a single engineering genius building advanced technologies, real-world successfully deployed technologies are the result of a diverse team of engineers led by a competent leader. RCEL is working to develop the next generation of ethical, global leaders in engineering and technology.
Summary of the Future of the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership RCEL recently launched RCEL 2.0, the next generation of its academic certificate for engineering undergraduates. RCEL 2.0 combines fundamental engineering leadership courses with applied leadership preparation in one of four career tracks: Research Industry Pathways that are not engineering, or Entrepreneurship. The only known undergraduate engineering leadership credential with career tracks, RCEL 2.0 has been launched to prepare students to lead in a new age of technology and societal challenges. RCEL 2.0 teaches students to take ethical, wise, and efficient paths to achieve organizational goals while rising into leadership roles (see Figure 1). RCEL supplements the academic training of Rice engineering majors with a set of skills that enables them to ethically and boldly lead a team or organization to execute a plan against
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all obstacles. This is done by teaching students to communicate effectively, make timely decisions, work on teams, manage projects, self lead, create a vision, think ethically, and apply each of these skills to jump-start their careers.
aligns not only with the plan for the School of Engineering, but also with relevant segments of the entire University’s strategic plan, the Vision for the Second Century, Second Decade (V2C2).
The RCEL Vision Toward 2023 lays
Figure 1: Engineering Leadership: RCEL training serves as a career ‘compass’ Traditional Unethical Engineering Hire Engineer
RCEL Alum
Ethical Boundaries
?
Development of the RCEL Strategic Plan Following a SWOT analysis of the RCEL program in 2016, it was determined that RCEL should expand and revamp the curriculum to better integrate key principles through newly designed leadership courses. A committee of RCEL faculty and staff worked on this plan over the 2017-2018 academic year and encompassing summers. This plan outlines where RCEL needs to invest over the next five years to maintain a premier, economically sustainable program. RCEL aims to strengthen the leadership capacity of Rice engineering students while enhancing the stature of Rice University Engineering. Therefore, this strategic plan in many ways
the groundwork for RCEL programming advancement and continuing as one of the premier engineering leadership (EL) programs. The result of successfully executing this strategic plan is that Rice Engineering will have the premier undergraduate program in engineering leadership nationally, as well as offer premier graduate degree and professional (continuing) educational course programming in engineering leadership and management for Texas and the regional states. Overall, the plan ensures RCEL will serve as a vehicle for inspiring the next generation of engineering leaders through: • Undergraduate education in engineering leadership • Graduate and professional education in engineering leadership and management • Next-generation programming via precollege and National Academy of Engineers related activities As RCEL moves forward in these endeavors and goals, becoming financially self-sufficient is imperative. This will be achieved through philanthropic investment as well as fee-based programming for engineering professionals.
Undergraduate education in engineering leadership GOAL 1: Become a premier undergraduate engineering leadership (EL) program, well known as an innovator. While we are already considered one of the premier engineering leadership programs, we aim to be one of the top innovators. This will
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be accomplished through the EL certificate for Rice engineering undergraduates composed of fundamental engineering leadership principles, tailored to prepare students for the RIPE career tracks of today’s engineer.
Graduate and professional education for engineering leadership and management GOAL 2: Become the premier graduate and professional education-training destination for engineering leadership and management in Houston, the state of Texas, and the surrounding South Central states. RCEL is one of the few engineering leadership centers in the region. This is important in professional and continuing education degree and non-degree academic offerings, since engineering management and leadership are generally sought in one’s local region.
RCEL as a vehicle for inspiring the next generation, whilewhile elevating Rice Engineering next generation, elevating Rice Engineering GOAL 3: Deploy RCEL as a vehicle to reach out to and inspire the next generation of engineering leaders, while enhancing the stature of Rice Engineering. RCEL will provide opportunities for engineering students to supplement the skills learned in the RCEL Certificate. One opportunity is serving as a coach at RCEL pre-college engineering summer camps and workshops. National leadership programming will also be conducted by RCEL, such as the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Grand Challenges Scholar Program (GCSP). These vehicles will ensure Rice is considered, nationally, as the premier destination for future engineering leaders.
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RCEL MAKING A DIFFERENCE The skills taught in RCEL are relevant and applicable for our students, both immediately at Rice and in their future careers. Measuring the efficacy of RCEL’s curricula enables the program to evolve to meet the needs of the students. Each year, RCEL seniors are assessed in 53 areas of development* and their results are compared to the total population of graduating non-RCEL Rice engineers. Results of the survey show that students who completed the RCEL program experience an increase in their self-efficacy compared with the general engineering senior population in many areas.
Academic year 2019 marked the fourth graduating class to receive the official RCEL Certificate. To date, 115 students have completed all requirements to receive the Certificate. RCEL will continue to follow alumni through the first five years of employment via LinkedIn and individual outreach. These data points are still being collected, but we are starting to see positive trends. Based on stakeholder interest and needs, the following questions have been highlighted for this report:
1. How confident are you in your ability to give team members constructive criticism that improves their performance? HIGHLY CONFIDENT VERY CONFIDENT CONFIDENT NOT VERY CONFIDENT GENERAL RCEL
NOT CONFIDENT
PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS * Assessment adapted from the GEL Exit Survey developed by William Lucas, Bernard M. Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program.
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2. How confident are you in your ability to step forward and take responsibility for a project activity when others have failed to get it started? HIGHLY CONFIDENT VERY CONFIDENT CONFIDENT NOT VERY CONFIDENT GENERAL RCEL
NOT CONFIDENT
PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS
3. How confident are you in your ability to motivate a team of peers to complete a project? HIGHLY CONFIDENT VERY CONFIDENT CONFIDENT NOT VERY CONFIDENT GENERAL RCEL
NOT CONFIDENT
PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS
4. How confident are you in your ability to help a team achieve its goals by securing the necessary resources? HIGHLY CONFIDENT VERY CONFIDENT CONFIDENT NOT VERY CONFIDENT GENERAL RCEL
NOT CONFIDENT
PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS
5. How confident are you in your ability to make firm decisions and take action even though you may not have all of the necessary information? HIGHLY CONFIDENT VERY CONFIDENT CONFIDENT NOT VERY CONFIDENT GENERAL RCEL
NOT CONFIDENT
PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS
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JANUARY
SEPTEMBER
2018 - 2019 TIMELINE
RCEL Mentorship Kick Off Event October 12
The Gender Factor: Women in Technology Panel Discussion - January 23
FEBRUARY
OCTOBER
RCEL Engineering Liftoff - September 8
RCEL Certificate students at Leadership Reaction Course - February 24
RCEL hosts 7th Annual Engineering Liftoff
The Gender Factor: Women in Technology
The annual fast-paced design/build competition drew over 120 students. RCEL Faculty Director C. Fred Higgs III and Executive Director Kaz Karwowski opened the event by addressing the importance of leadership skills for engineers and RCEL’s goals and curricula. RCEL Student Leader Saurabh Harohalli (senior, electrical and computer engineering) emceed, and RCEL’s director of student engagement Gigi Rill (senior, mechanical engineering) coordinated attendance, coaches, and logistics. Rill, Constantine Tzouanas (senior, bioengineering), Anna Cowan (senior, computational and applied mathematics) and Kevin Zhang (senior, chemical and biomolecular engineering) participated as team leaders, serving as resources to answer questions and clarify the rules.
In addition to RCEL’s annual Ethics in Engineering panel, the Center developed a new event centering around challenges facing women in tech and engineering. Panelists included Wendy Hoenig ’86, founder and Chief Executive Officer of H&H Business Development; Joanna Papakonstantinou, ’09, Ph.D., Mathematics Faculty at Episcopal High School in Houston; Yvette Pearson, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, Associate Dean for Accreditation, Assessment & Strategic Initiatives at Rice’s School of Engineering; and Amy Suhl, MBA, retired Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Projects & Technology at Shell Global Solutions. The panel shared their experiences facing gender-based inequalities during their careers and offered advice to current students as they move forward into internships and professions.
MARCH
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RCEL Panel Discussion on Ethics and Leadership - April 4
2nd Annual SPLASHDOWN Engineering Design Competition RCEL’s 2019 SPLASHDOWN attracted twice as many teams as last year, and the teams doubled their successful treks across the Rice recreation center pool. Competition leaders Saurabh Harohalli, Anna Cowan, and Gigi Rill passed out cardboard and duct tape to teams of undergraduates and gave them two hours to design, build, and launch a craft to cross the pool, with points assigned for speed and human cargo. This year, all teams made it across the pool at least once, with the winning team completing 17 laps!
SPLASHDOWN Engineering Design Competition - March 24
JUNE
APRIL
C. Fred Higgs III, RCEL Faculty Director, speaks at CERAWeek 2019 to global energy leaders - March 9
Rice ELITE Camp - June (4 week-long sessions)
Rice ELITE Camp expands After the success of a pilot camp in 2018, this summer’s Rice ELITE Camp (Emerging Leaders in Technology & Engineering) expanded to four one-week sessions. Over 80 national and international campers attended after completing a competitive application process. Rice ELITE Camp – based on the curricular model of RCEL’s undergraduate Engineering Leadership Certificate program – focused on leadership and teamwork skills and included three technical tracks and visits to Rice University faculty research labs. Students also received formal communication training in articulating complex projects and developing persuasive final team presentations.
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PREPARING THE FUTURE OF Expanding Rice ELITE Camp
Technical Problem Solving
Exposure to Research from Rice University Engineering Professors
Technology Development
“[My child] has participated in Duke TIP Center programs, ID Tech Camps, St. John's Camps and many other design, computer-building and programming camps. None of the programs he has participated in to date came close to providing the level, quality and quantity of learning experienced at the Rice ELITE Camp.” - 2019 Rice ELITE Camp Parent
Analytical Challenges and Teamwork
“I was amazed by the group projects and presentations which provided the students the opportunity to think outside of the ‘industrial engineering’ box. The program not only helped students apply creative thinking skills, but also emphasized the need for skills such as communication and leadership.” - 2019 Rice ELITE Camp Parent
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ENGINEERING High school students are ELITE leaders at Rice Inspired and a little impatient, Callia, a highschool senior from Miami, Fla., collected her team’s supply of polystyrene foam, moved to another table and assembled a box with the aid of a hot-glue gun. The box would hold and insulate an astronaut – that is, a raw egg – in the nosecone of her team’s water rocket. She had had enough brainstorming. “I prefer building things to sitting at a computer or just talking,” said Callia, a student enrolled in Rice ELITE (Emerging Leaders in Technology and Engineering), a pre-college engineering summer program for students in grades nine through 12. The four week-long sessions in June are organized by the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership (RCEL) at Rice University. Eighty students, 20 per session, enrolled. “Think outside the limitations normally presented to you,” Kaz Karwowski, executive director of RCEL, told the students. “You don’t know what the answer looks like until you develop it.” That morning’s assignment, called Blast Off, was to build a working water rocket using a twoliter soda bottle. The mission would be rated a success if the rocket stayed aloft for at least four seconds and the egg remained intact. Bast’s teammates were Amrit, a senior at Westlake High School in Austin; James, a
Over 80 campers prepare to become tomorrow’s leaders in technology and engineering
sophomore at Tompkins High School in Katy; and Ayushi, a junior at Elkins High School in Missouri City. Their coach, busy documenting the team’s activities on his laptop, was Alan Scherman, RCEL sophomore in mechanical engineering. “It’s about the engineering, the plan they come up with, but it’s also about leadership,” said Scherman, who paid most attention to James, the group’s leader for the exercise. “But they do seem to follow Callia.” After 45 minutes the teams carried their completed rockets from Rayzor Hall to a nearby field on the Rice campus. There, Karwowski set up a bicycle pump and a toy rocket launcher, and the teams took turns blasting off their spacecraft. The team’s first launch was a dud, but a second chance saw the rocket make a perfect vertical ascent, higher than any of the others, remaining airborne for roughly eight seconds and landing next to the pump and launcher. With her teammates cheering, Callia disassembled the foam nosecone she had made and discovered that the tissue paper-wrapped egg had been scrambled. None seemed to care. They were still marveling at the flawless ascent. Callia said, “It was beautiful.” by Patrick Kurp Rice University Engineering Communications
Thanks to a generous gift by Brian Patterson ‘84, Rice ELITE Camp 2020 will offer select scholarships to ensure that a diverse group of students has access to this premier pre-college engineering program.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
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Ryan Udell (second from left) at the Owls in Space Symposium with former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine ’97 (third from left) and fellow Rice SEDS officers
LEADERSHIP Ryan Udell | Owls in Space Symposium, Rice SEDS Rice SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space) hosted a day-long symposium featuring leaders in the space industry and networking with aerospace and engineering professionals from eight space companies. Keynote speaker Jim Bridenstine ’97, NASA Administrator, challenged students to become ambassadors for the exploration and development of space. Also in attendance were three astronauts (including Dr. Peggy Whitson ’85), and 15 panelists.
breaking event to encourage Rice students to once again pursue space sciences and engineering. SEDS Rice is creating a new space development group at Rice - only one year old, and SEDS Rice is just getting started!” – Ryan Udell, sophomore, mechanical engineering
INNOVATION Patricia Thai | Bend-Aid Infant Monitoring System
As president of Rice SEDS, RCEL sophomore Ryan Udell, mechanical engineering, organized the symposium, supported by RCEL members Alejandro Toscano Rodriguez, senior, mechanical engineering, and Paul Glanski, sophomore, engineering division.
Rice Engineering student design teams tackle real world challenges every year though collaborations at the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen. Patricia Thai, RCEL senior in bioengineering, participated in 2019 on team Bend-Aid. Working with doctors from Texas Children’s Hospital, the team developed a non-invasive system to monitor high intracranial pressure (ICP) within infants’ skulls. Over 400,000 infants are affected by ICP every year.
“The history of space at Rice is one of the most notable aspects of the University since President John F. Kennedy gave his famous speech in Rice Stadium in 1962. Building on our great history, the Owls in Space Symposium was the ground-
Bend-Aid’s design combines adhesive bandages with sensors to replace current monitoring techniques, which include applying pressure to the cranial soft spot or even drilling into the skull to insert a sensor. BendAid’s device assists doctors by allowing longer,
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more constant monitoring of the infant to build a record of the pressure. “Throughout my senior design project, I was able to utilize not only the technical skills I learned from my engineering degree, but also soft skills that I learned in RCEL. Everything from effective communication to working on teams to project management were all key skills that I learned and practiced in RCEL courses. As a result, my team and I were able to effectively and successfully design a device that has future potential to save the lives of thousands of infants.” – Patricia Thai, senior, bioengineering
and mat (STEM) disciplinary research activities. It is part of NSF’s overall strategy to develop a globally engaged workforce to ensure the nation’s leadership in advancing science and engineering research and innovation. “The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship is an incredible culmination to my undergraduate research career, and I’m very excited to pursue a Ph.D. through Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology. RCEL’s training, support, and mentorship was crucial as I conducted research from Singapore to Cambridge(USA). I look forward to an insightful, productive time in graduate school equipped with the skills and knowledge I gained from the RCEL Certificate!” – Constantine Tzouanas, senior, bioengineering
ENTREPRENEURSHIP Massey Branscomb | Gethr
Patricia Thai (right) with Team Bend-Aid
RESEARCH EXCELLENCE Constantine Tzouanas | Recipient of a 2019 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Thirty-five recipients of the 2019 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships are Rice students, incoming students and/or alumni – including RCEL senior Constantine Tzouanas, bioengineering. The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSFsupported science, technology, engineering
Massey Branscomb, materials science and nanoengineering, graduated from Rice in 2018 and immediately entered Rice’s OwlSpark Startup Accelerator program that summer. Branscomb (left) and his co-founders worked through the summer to develop and launch their new company, Gethr. The goal of Gethr is to assist artists in disseminating their creations on a large scale and gain the ability to detect what makes content “go viral.” “Gethr is for artists striving to help other artists go viral through the use of social media Massey Branscomb (left) with Team Gethr influencers. The original idea was to assist new artists in creating a growing fan base; however, it became apparent that finding connections was a larger problem that could be solved.” – Massey Branscomb ’18, materials science and nanoengineering
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PERSONAL GROWTH Alan Scherman | US Naval Academy Leadership Conference Through RCEL’s sponsorship, Alan Scherman, a freshman studying mechanical engineering, participated in the 2019 Naval Academy Leadership Conference in Annapolis, Maryland - a three-day event attended by representatives from universities, ROTC units, and civilian programs. “The conference centered on its roster of distinguished speakers, which included Michael Bloomberg, retired Colonel Arthur Athens, Vietnam War POW Captain Charlie Plumb, and many more. Lectures and panel sessions were insightful, followed by breakout discussion sessions. I am grateful to RCEL for this opportunity and recommend it to any student who can to attend.” – Alan Scherman, freshman, mechanical engineering
INTERNSHIPS Ashton Duke | Corporate Analyst Intern, JPMorgan Chase “Last summer I interned at JPMorgan Chase and Co. as a corporate analyst. Specifically I worked in the analytics of Consumer and Community Banking, which means I was able to really apply my RCEL skills in project management, strategic communication and ethics, as well as my engineering skills at a company that isn’t primarily focused on engineering!” – Ashton Duke, senior, mechanical engineering
Avery Whitaker | Software Engineering Intern, Airbnb “I interned at Airbnb in San Francisco as a software engineer on their ‘Trust and Safety’ team. This was my third internship at a major tech company. Internships have let me see how different companies operate, and each summer I’ve seen myself become a better engineer. The technical skills I learned from my major are necessary, but the skills taught in RCEL are just as important to success. A special shout out to ENGI 242 (Communication for Engineers) my freshman year!” – Avery Whitaker, senior, computer science
RECOGNIZED EXCELLENCE Senior Leadership Awards ROBERT H. PARKS JR. PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP | Kevin Zhang During his time at Rice, Kevin Zhang, senior, chemical and biomolecular engineering, served as president of Rice American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), vice president of Duncan College, and assistant student director of RCEL – while also completing internships at Shell and PwC. After graduation, Zhang will work as an associate for Boston Consulting Group. “Kevin has demonstrated his ability to be an outstanding young scientist/engineer with an extremely bright and promising future ahead of him in a research and technology development career, and indeed, in any particular career field
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he might ultimately choose.” – Wade Adams Ph.D., associate research professor of materials science and nanoengineering RCEL ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP AWARD | Katherine (Gigi) Rill Gigi Rill, senior, mechanical engineering, served as mechanical team lead and later as president of the Rice Electric Vehicle (REV) team, as well as president of the Rice chapter of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). She was also active in RCEL student leadership and served as director of student engagement. After graduation, Rill is planning to work at Boeing in Engineering Careers Foundational Program, a selective rotational leadership development program. “Ms. Rill has shown her leadership abilities in presenting important information in the most impactful fashion to a variety of audiences, from her fellow undergraduates through to members of the upper administration of the university.” – Laura Schaefer Ph.D., Department of Mechanical Engineering Department Chair OTHER SENIOR AWARDS Distinction in Research and Creative Work • Rachel Nguyen, electrical and computer engineering • Charlene Pan, bioengineering • Katherine (Gigi) Rill, mechanical engineering • Constantine Tzouanas, bioengineering • Kevin Zhang, chemical and biomolecular engineering Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Constantine Tzouanas, bioengineering Best Energy-Related Engineering Design • Nikhil Rajesh, chemical and biomolecular engineering • Kevin Zhang, chemical and biomolecular engineering
Best Medical Device Technology Awards • Gita Deva, bioengineering • Charlene Pan, bioengineering Engineering Design Showcase, People’s Choice Award Saurabh Harohalli, chemical and biomolecular engineering Engineering Hard Hat Volunteer Awards • Katherine (Gigi) Rill, mechanical engineering • Constantine Tzouanas, bioengineering Excellence in Capstone Engineering Design Kevin Zhang, chemical and biomolecular engineering Graham C. Stebbings College Service Award Ashton Duke, mechanical engineering Jason Chahin Innovation and Excellence Award Avery Whitaker, computer science Louis J. Walsh Engineering Scholarships • Arthur Belkin, mechanical engineering • Zacharyah Gramstad, computer science • Michael King, chemical and biomolecular engineering • Preston Quine, mechanical engineering • Constantine Tzouanas, bioengineering Outstanding Senior in Bioengineering Constantine Tzouanas, bioengineering Rice Engineering Alumni (REA) Association Outstanding Senior Award Constantine Tzouanas, bioengineering REA Association Research Excellence Award Kevin Zhang, chemical and biomolecular engineering REA Association Senior Merit Award Anna Cowan, computational and applied mathematics Thomas Michael Panos Family Engineering Student Award Arthur Belkin, mechanical engineering William W. Akers Senior Process Design Award in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Ashish Kulkarni, chemical and biomolecular engineering
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CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES! In 2019, 34 Rice engineering seniors completed the RCEL Certificate in Engineering Leadership. This represents RCEL’s largest graduating class!
Donaldo Almazan
Marcos De La Garza
Saurabh Harohalli
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Computer Science
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Technip
Covestro • Houston, TX
Arthur Belkin
Microsoft Gita Deva
Mechanical Engineering
Bioengineering
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
P&G • Washington, DC
Cook Medical, Incorporated • Bloomington, IN
JPMorgan Chase • Houston, TX
Rushi Bhalani
Michael King
Ashish Kulkarni
Computer Science
Ashton Duke
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Accenture • Houston, TX
Mechanical Engineering
Bain & Company • Houston, TX
McMaster-Carr • Chicago, IL Amelia Brumwell
Jason Lopez
Mechanical Engineering
Hector Garcia Gonzalez
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Lockheed Martin • Orlando, FL
Mechanical Engineering
Ernst & Young • Dallas, TX
DOD Navy Gentry Clark
Joey Lou
Mechanical Engineering
Kristof Graham
Mechanical Engineering
University of Texas Austin (Master’s in Aerospace Engineering) • Austin, TX
Mechanical Engineering
UC Berkeley (Master’s in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) • Berkeley, CA
Zacharyah Gramstad Computer Science
Anna Cowan Computational and Applied Mathematics
Chevron • Houston, TX
ZP Ventures • Houston, TX Kaelan Cuozzo Computer Science
Amazon • Austin, TX
Rachel Nguyen Electrical and Computer Engineering
Sparx Engineering • Manvel, TX
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Tram Nguyen
Julio Sanchez
Avery Whitaker
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Computer Science
Baker Hughs (ASPIRE Development Program) • TBD
Lockheed Martin • Fort Worth, TX
Radix Trading • Chicago, IL
Alishan Noorani
Steven Schepanski
Computer Science
JPMorgan Chase • Houston, TX Charlene Pan
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Kiewit Energy Co. • The Woodlands, TX
Bioengineering
Jacob Song
Joint Ph.D. Program at Berkeley and UCSF • Berkeley, CA
Collins Aerospace • Dallas, TX
Mechanical Engineering
Preston Quine
Patricia Thai
Mechanical Engineering
Bioengineering
ZP Ventures • Houston, TX Nikhil Rajesh Mechanical Engineering
Shell • Houston, TX Gigi Rill Mechanical Engineering
Boeing (Engineering Careers Foundational Program) • St. Louis, MO
Smith + Nephew • Austin, TX Constantine Tzouanas Bioengineering Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology (Ph.D. in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics) • Boston, MA Rakesh Vijayakumar Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
CapSpire • Houston, TX
Kevin Zhang Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) • Houston, TX Steve Zhao Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
PetroChina • Singapore
21 Rice Center for Engineering Leadership | Annual Review
Industry Focus:
How Does RCEL Work With Companies? Q&A with George Webb, RCEL Industry Relations Director How do companies work with RCEL? Companies can work with us in three ways: (1) recruit RCEL students, (2) gain professional development for employees, and (3) engage with RCEL by company leaders. While Rice engineering students are already exceptional, what makes RCEL students stand out? The RCEL Certificate in Engineering Leadership is a concentration within the School of Engineering that gives select engineering students rigorous training in professional communication, leadership skills and project management. It consists of a formal sequence of 11 credit hours, including: • Four courses in leadership skill development, • Senior-level course in project management, • At least one summer internship, and • Capstone elective focusing on a specific career area. Each course in the sequence is based on team projects, individualized coaching and detailed selfassessment, with business communication a core component of every course. The RCEL Certificate is in addition to the student’s academic major. Why should companies recruit RCEL students? One word: results. The advantages for hiring RCEL students include: • Lower professional learning curve: RCEL graduates enter the workforce equipped with key knowledge and skills to succeed – not just how to lead, but also how to follow, work in teams, communicate effectively, make timely decisions, and operate in a customer-focused, mission-driven environment. • Higher professional readiness: Through the structured coaching and hands-on experience embedded in the program, RCEL students have already worked out many of the “growing pains” that new graduates often experience. • Faster path to responsibility: We have seen
that RCEL graduates not only perform more effectively in their first work assignment, but also tend to be promoted more quickly to their next role, and are more likely to be selected for leadership tracks.
The RCEL Certificate in Engineering Leadership is a concentration within the School of Engineering that gives select engineering students rigorous training in professional communication, leadership skills and project management. How can a company recruit RCEL students? • Share your job opportunity (whether fulltime or internship) or recruiting event with our Industry Relations office. We will communicate it directly to RCEL students. • Become an RCEL Corporate Partner. Our Corporate Partners have preferential opportunities to identify and interact with RCEL students through the year. • Whenever you recruit Rice engineering students, look for RCEL on their resume. When meeting in person, look for the RCEL lapel pin. What does RCEL offer for people already in the workforce? RCEL offers a suite of professional development courses in Engineering Management and Leadership. These courses are: • Taught by the same Rice faculty who teach our RCEL students on campus. • Offered through Coursera on a flexible schedule. • Designed specifically for professionals in
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Saurabh Harohalli, senior, chemical and biomolecular engineering, interned at Covestro during summer 2018
engineering and technology. By basing leadership, communication, and project management in an engineering and technical context, RCEL professional development students gain enhanced skills that are immediately applicable to their careers. RCEL does not offer general business or management courses.
as “Engineers in the Room,” observing and advising students while they tackle a leadership challenge. • Corporate Partners: These are select companies that make a financial commitment to support RCEL’s mission. RCEL Partners have the maximum opportunity to participate in RCEL and to interact with RCEL students.
For course offerings, see rcelconnect.org/professional-development/ How can companies interact with RCEL students? • Speaking Opportunities: Business leaders can speak to RCEL students as guest speakers and panelists. For example, our annual panel on Engineering Ethics features engineering leaders from industry and academia who have practical experience in applying an ethical framework to real-world business challenges. RCEL speaker events take place throughout the year. • “Engineer in the Room”: Experienced engineers serve in our leadership lab courses
Who should companies contact to get started? To get your company connected with RCEL, please contact: George Webb RCEL Industry Relations Director (713) 348-2704 gwebb@rice.edu
23 Rice Center for Engineering Leadership | Annual Review
THANK YOU!
Thank you to all our supporters for your contributions to RCEL students and programs. You are the reasons RCEL is able to have an impact on young Rice engineers.
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Rice Center for Engineering Leadership | Annual Review
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