YEAR IN REVIEW Rice Center for Engineering Leadership 2015-2016 Annual Review
“[My wife, Ann, and I] wanted to find a program that would take the amazing talent that there is at Rice and challenge it. Kick it up a notch so that the genius of Rice students to understand and solve problems could be amplified by experiences they get on campus, internships that they get off campus, and even more than those projects, more fundamental, some really rigorous, important training in skills like communications or leading group discussions. “Those interests of ours, married with the vision of Rice faculty, which has always valued undergraduate education, allowed us together to come up with this Center for Engineering Leadership.” - John Doerr ’73, ’74, RCEL 2014 Interview
RCEL Engineering Liftoff setup 2016 Events, page 16
C. Fred Higgs III joins RCEL as Faculty Director, joins MECH Faculty, page 21
Table of Contents 3
RCEL at a Glance
4 Leadership Programming
Julia Sunderland ’16 Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Headed to San Francisco to work for The Boston Consulting Group RCEL 2016 Seniors, page 6
10
Is RCEL making a difference? (Assessments)
12
Communication Programs
14
Graduate Programs
16
Events Timeline
20
Faculty and Staff
22
Internship Program
24
Entrepreneurship Support
25
RCEL Mentorship Program
26
Student Clubs & Teams
27 Outreach 28 Leadership Reaction Course
RCEL students intern across the country and internationally, page 22
29
New Web Site / Social Media
30
Thank You!
As the 2015-2016 academic year ends, I wanted to share with our stakeholders, students, and friends some of this past year’s accomplishments, as well as data showing that our curriculum appears to be working. Over the last year, RCEL has seen significant growth in both student leadership abilities and classroom enrollment numbers. ENGI 140, most students’ first taste of RCEL, had 70 students last year (nearly doubling the 2014-2015 enrollment), which makes it the largest RCEL entering class to date. On the leadership development side, we’ve implemented a series of assessments that demonstrates RCEL programming impact. Some of the preliminary findings are included in this report. After two years of searching, we are happy to announce that we’ve brought onboard a new Faculty Director. C. Fred Higgs III, Ph.D., joined RCEL this July from Carnegie Mellon University, and has hit the ground running. Professor Higgs is the John and Ann Doerr Professor of Mechanical Engineering and will be teaching in that department, while helping lead RCEL into the future. Our students are outstanding, and the following report will show some of the great things they’ve accomplished over the past year. We are proud of the lasting impact they are having on Rice and the surrounding community. We are looking forward to another great and fast-paced year at RCEL.
Kazimir Karwowski
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From the Executive Director
2015/2016 BY THE NUMBERS Undergraduate Students Enrolled in RCEL Courses 180
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Undergraduate Students in the School of Engineering 1484
RCEL Student Breakdown: Gender
2016 RCEL Seniors 11 Freshmen in ENGI 140 (RCEL Prerequisite Course) 71
Female 36%
ENGI 218/219 Students 40 Graduate Students in RCEL Courses 36
Male 64%
ENGI 241 Student Internships 28
(100% placement for students seeking internships)
RCEL Mentorship Program – Student/Mentor Pairs 24 Rice students attending RCEL Events Approximately 300 RCEL Communication Touchpoints 2983
RCEL Student Breakdown: Major Civil Engineering 2% Materials Science and Nanoengineering 2%
New Companies Founded by RCEL Students: 2 RCEL Student Club Sponsorships 8 New RCEL Faculty and Staff 6
Bioengineering 2% Statistics 1%
Electrical Engineering 8% Other 10% Chemical Engineering 14% Computer Science 14%
Mechanical Engineering 26%
Undecided 21%
The Rice Center for Engineering Leadership (RCEL) is in its fifth year of operation and serves nearly 10% of George R. Brown School of Engineering students. Students are realizing early in their college careers that in order to differentiate themselves from their peers, they need a skill set beyond that of a typical engineer. They are finding that skill set at RCEL. RCEL's Certificate in Engineering Leadership enhances the basic leadership, management and followership skills needed to impact change within an organization in the first 5 years of an engineer's career. This accelerates an individual’s advancement to leadership roles. Before RCEL students enter the workplace, they have spent 3+ years developing and practicing critical leadership skills through participation in student clubs, entrepreneurship programs, and inclass coaching sessions. RCEL students have an advantage – where a non-RCEL graduate must learn these skills on the job, RCEL students are ready to hit the ground running, accelerating their readiness to take on significant leadership roles. In 2010, Rice graduates Ann, '75 and John Doerr, '73, '74 helped establish the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership with a $15 million gift from their Beneficus Foundation, with the goal of preparing the next generation of Rice engineers to become technical and entrepreneurial leaders. The formal Certificate in Engineering Leadership, approved by the Rice University Faculty Senate in October
2014, is designed to enhance traditional engineering education by providing skills not typically covered in engineering curricula. RCEL students learn to create and communicate a vision, build high-performing teams, form and execute collaborative plans, and create innovations that endure.
2015-2016 Enrollment Increase
Enrollment in RCEL programming has steadily grown since RCEL’s inception in 2010. During the 2015-2016 academic year, more than 70 students completed ENGI 140 (Engineering Leadership Development), the first course of the RCEL certificate program. Accommodating this growth and ensuring each student receives the individual instruction and coaching needed to be successful are at the forefront of all Center activities and programming. RCEL faculty and staff continue to expand courses, as well as coaching, internship, and mentorship opportunities for the growing student body.
Rice Center for Engineering Leadership Mission: To educate and develop Rice engineers to become inspiring leaders, exceptional team members, effective communicators, and bold entrepreneurs.
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RCEL AT A GLANCE
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LEADERSHIP PROGRAMMING OVERVIEW In 2004, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) laid out a vision for the future of the engineering profession in the Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the new Century guidelines. In this pivotal document NAE describes engineers as professionals “…who are broadly educated, see themselves as global citizens, can lead in business and public service, as well as in research, development and design, are ethical and inclusive of all segments of society. The attributes include strong analytical skills, creativity, ingenuity, professionalism, and leadership. We believe that engineers meet these aspirations and evidence these attributes today. The issue is how we can ensure that the engineering profession and engineering education adopt a collective vision including these aspirations and encouraging creation of an environment that promotes these attributes and aspirations in the future.” 1 The NAE suggests that young engineers “…must understand the principles of leadership and be able to practice them in growing proportions as their careers advance.” 2 RCEL focuses on advancing leadership education for Rice undergraduate engineers through a rigorous academic program that includes both theory and applied practice. The RCEL Certificate in Engineering Leadership consists of a series of sequential, iterative courses that prepare students to face the challenges and demands of leadership roles in industry, policymaking and academia. Students learn to understand and think strategically about leadership decisions before implementing them in an applied context.
ENGI 140: Engineering Leadership Development "ENGI 140 taught me that leadership is a skill you can learn. You don't have to be perfect from the start. You can identify the skills you have and perfect those towards a leadership goal." - Will Jones, sophomore, Mechanical Engineering "ENGI 140 was a very surprising experience. I thought 'Why do I need to know myself to lead? All I need to do is tell people what to do.' Not the case. Not only did I get a better idea of who I am, but I saw how my personal tendencies affected the way I viewed tasks and the people I lead." - Juan Pablo Luna, sophomore, Mechanical Engineering Beginning with ENGI 140, students develop a realistic understanding of their own leadership strengths, weaknesses, and dispositions, which they ultimately use to formulate a personalized approach to strategic leadership. This course lays the academic foundation for applied skills that enable students to effectively lead teams and manage projects in the future. As an exercise in personal development, ENGI 140 students compose a “Reflected Best Self” (RBS) paper, which serves as an extended self-reflection and personal assessment journal. The RBS paper includes a Leadership Development Plan (LDP) that provides a dynamic and ever-evolving guide for future growth and improvement. Students continue to adapt and modify the LDP in successive RCEL courses.
1. National Academy of Engineering, The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century. (Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press, 2004), 59. 2. Ibid, 56
ENGI 218/219: Engineering Leadership Labs In the Engineering Leadership Labs (ENGI 218/219), instructed by Kaz Karwowski and Cesare Wright '03, students participate in engineering-specific exercises, receiving feedback on a variety of discrete leadership skills, including interpersonal communication, negotiation, optimization, systems thinking, conflict management, and more. The goal is to expose students to the types of decision-making scenarios they will face in the professional world in constructive ways to generate personal growth. By practicing these skills in a safe classroom environment, students are encouraged to actively push the limits of their leadership abilities and learn from any failures or areas of weakness.
2015-2016 Student Leadership An important aspect of the RCEL experience at Rice is participation in the RCEL Student Leadership Committee. Students serve in a variety of roles and on committees affecting various portions of RCEL programming. Students meet weekly to discuss topics and progress, as well as plan events and outreach opportunities. Student Director
Allison Lindsay, senior, ChBE
Asst. Student Director Section Lead
Senthil Natarajan, junior, ECE
Assessments Lead Outreach Leads
Manuel Arenas, junior, ECE David Fraga, junior, MECH Andrew Graham, junior, ECE
Fabshops
Austin James, junior, MECH David Smith, senior, MSNE Randy Zhang, junior, ECE
RESC
Jesus Duran, senior, ChBE
Speaker Series
Carlos Flores, senior, MECH Ciara Simmons-Piño, senior, CEE
Mentorship Leads
Admissions
Cassie Wang, junior, CS
Rachel Gray, senior, ECE Teju Kishore, senior, ChBE AJ Valesquez Mao, junior, BioE
Nick Bernal, senior, MECH Massey Branscomb, junior, MSNE Lily Wen, junior, CS
Professional Development Xin Huang, senior, ECE Community
Additional Coaches
Each lab session is framed by an “Engineer in the Room” volunteer – a practicing engineer who observes the lab and contributes specialized subject area
Jack Lynch, junior, MECH Sammy Soyebo, junior, MECH Julia Sunderland, senior, ChBE Manuel Arenas, junior, ECE Josh Kaye, junior, MECH
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Drawing on his extensive leadership and experience as a retired Brigadier General in the U.S. Army, and as Technologist and Manager in Shell’s research and development organization, David Van Kleeck, Ph.D. ’81, restructured ENGI 140 for 2015-2016, adding new layers of interactivity and engagement for students. In addition, Tom Phalen '76, '77 (former Vice President of Fluor Corporation) joined RCEL as a coinstructor, contributing a wealth of applied professional experience as an engineer and project manager. The popularity of the newly revised ENGI 140 curriculum has resulted in a strong influx of certificate students, more than doubling the roster of incoming ENGI 218 students for the Fall 2016 semester.
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2016 RCEL Seniors In 2016, eleven graduating Rice engineers received the RCEL Certificate in Engineering Leadership. These students represent five different engineering departments and a wide range of Rice student clubs and organizations. Rachel Gray, ’16 ECE Amazon.com, Inc. – Seattle, Washington Xin Huang, ’16 ECE Microsoft, Inc. – Seattle, Washington Teju Kishore, ’16 ChBE Capital One – Dallas, Texas Allison Lindsay, ’16 ChBE ExxonMobil – Houston, Texas Colin Shaw, ’16 STAT Boston Consulting Group – Boston, Massachusetts
Ciara Simmons-Piño, ’16 CEE CH2M (Summer Internship) Graduate School at Rice University Julia Sunderland, ’16 ChBE Boston Consulting Group – San Francisco, California Jesus Duran, ’16 ChBE United States Government David Smith, ’16 MECH Houston, Texas Nick Bernal, ’16 MECH Jared Shull, ’16 ChBE
"I have often used the conflict management and resolution techniques we learned in ENGI 218/219 in other situations, from class and workplace teams to social settings like traveling with a group of people. I think the labs that dealt with these topics helped me become a better leader because I learned how to recognize and mitigate conflict within a small team." - Emma Gray, junior, Computer Science "The best ENGI 218/219 topics for me were gaining power and influence by identifying commonalities I shared with my equal partner on a group project, as well as what made him do what I think needed to be done. This allowed us to make critical progress on our research project." - Massey Branscomb, junior, Materials Science and NanoEngineering ENGI 241: Professional Excellence for Engineers After completion of the preliminary RCEL courses (ENGI 140 and 218/219), students are required to complete a structured internship program through ENGI 241. Through a series of progressive exercises, students work to establish themselves as valuable team members in their respective companies, a critical prelude to leadership success. During the internship, students must find a mentor, lead some aspect of a project, and interview a senior leader in the organization. This allows students to gain insights into the type of company that will ultimately fit with their individual interests and goals.
"ENGI 241 led me to engage a senior leader and have an hour long discussion with him regarding his background and leadership experiences. I later found out that this individual was promoted to head a massive international project, and I never would have been driven to engage with such an accomplished leader without the push given through ENGI 241." - Will Jones, sophomore, Mechanical Engineering "I used the topics of the blog posts in ENGI 241 as a way to brainstorm questions for the people I was working with, which helped me branch out and learn more during my internship than I might have otherwise. After my internship, I used the framework of ENGI 241 as a way to reflect on my experiences in a more intelligent and insightful manner." - Emma Gray, junior, Computer Science
Summer 2015 marked the second year of the RCEL internship program, with 28 ENGI 241 students completing internships across the country and internationally. The diversity of internship partners expanded in 2015, with students securing highly competitive placements in companies like United Airlines, BP, LyondellBasell, Orbital ATK, Air Liquide, Google, and Facebook. The 2016 class includes 40 summer interns at organizations including Space X, Chevron, GE Healthcare, Lockheed Martin, and Amazon. Read more about the RCEL Internship Program on page 22. ENGI 315: Leading Teams and Innovation Reinforcing the team management skills students acquire in ENGI 218/219, ENGI 315 offers a rigorous
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expertise and feedback. Drawing on relationships with such organizations as Shell, Microsoft, BP, Chevron, Halliburton, and Anadarko, the number and variety of guest engineers significantly increased for 2015-2016. Working closely with “Engineer in the Room� volunteers and Rice School of Engineering faculty, instructors developed and implemented new labs on strategic communications, motivating others, and project management. As the Certificate Program continues to grow and student diversity expands, RCEL faculty will further leverage internal and external relationships to provide a dynamic learning environment responsive to student needs and industry demands.
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grounding in best practices for effectively leading teams on complex and highly challenging projects. Whereas ENGI 140 provides an inward-looking approach, by which students gain familiarity with their own personal and leadership dispositions, ENGI 315 focuses on an outward-looking approach to prepare students to engage in productive interpersonal relationships with team members, clients, and stakeholders. Team management skills gained in ENGI 315 prepare students to face unforeseen challenges of leading project teams in ENGI 317, Senior Design Projects, internships, student clubs and teams, and other applied leadership situations. One thing that stuck with me from ENGI 315 was the importance of innovation through interdisciplinary experiences. During my internship at GE Aviation, I came to work in several individual departments. This was extremely useful when putting together a new plant layout - I had to create something that met the needs of everyone (machinists, maintenance, health and safety, FAA rules). Knowing how each department operated led me to create a complete and innovative layout that improved the efficiency and comfort of everyone. - Juan Pablo Luna, sophomore, Mechanical Engineering
ENGI 318/319: Engineering Leadership Labs In ENGI 318/319, junior and senior students act as coaches and lead many exercises for the ENGI 218/219 Engineering Leadership Labs. This provides a unique opportunity to practice a variety of communication and presentation skills. Building upon basic RCEL coursework and formative external activities, coaches assume leadership roles, enhancing the education of underclassmen while gaining invaluable experience in peer leadership, team management, and organizational policy. ENGI 318/319 coaches serve as peer mentors, providing constructive feedback to groups of ENGI 218/219 students each week. As such, the tiered coaching structure engenders a strong sense of community among RCEL undergrads. ENGI 317: Leadership Action Learning As an alternative to ENGI 318/319 coaching, many students opt to complete ENGI 317, a personalized leadership practicum experience. Students focus on developing or improving a specific set of skills while working on a real world project.
Over the course of the semester, RCEL faculty and graduate student coaches work with ENGI 317 students to provide guidance and support. This personalized learning provides the type of practical experience that cannot be simulated in a classroom or in a structured internship. By allowing students to determine their own focus skills, project topic, and scope of activities, ENGI 317 fosters the personal responsibility and accountability that will prove crucial once students graduate.
•••••
Collectively, these courses provide students with a tool set of foundational leadership skills that grow stronger as students continue to progress personally, academically, and professionally. As the capstone of the RCEL Certificate Program, each student creates a Leadership Portfolio and delivers a final presentation to a panel of RCEL faculty and staff. During this presentation, students map out their personal development over the course of the RCEL Certificate Program, providing detailed evidence and assessment data to chart their relative growth in key RCEL leadership competency domains. As evidenced by student testimonials, as well as formal assessments completed by freshman and seniors, RCEL students demonstrate a dramatic improvement in a wide range of core leadership skills (See a breakdown of assessments on page 10). Through a structured progression of learning leadership theory, practice, and real-world application, the RCEL curriculum and academic model rise to the mandate of the National Academy of Engineering that educators must “prepare today’s engineers for the careers of the future, with due recognition of the rapid pace of change in the world and its intrinsic lack of predictability”3.
3. National Academy of Engineering, The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century. (Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press, 2004), 51.
Senior Leadership Awards
Annually, RCEL confers two merit awards to seniors who have demonstrated leadership while at Rice. According to Executive Director Kaz Karwowski, this year's winners "exemplify the type of engineering graduate RCEL seeks to send into industry. As Engineering Leadership Certificate holders, the skills they learned will set them apart from their peers. Their accomplishments at Rice foreshadow their future success." 2016 Robert H. Parks Jr. Prize for Excellence in Engineering Leadership Teju Kishore ’16, ChBE Teju Kishore graduated in May with a B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular engineering and a minor in business. Kishore served as president of the Rice chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the Texas Society of Professional Engineers named her Outstanding Senior Chemical Engineering Student and Most Outstanding Senior Engineer at Rice. Kishore co-led RCEL’s Mentorship Student Committee and has served as vice president, supervisor and treasurer of the Rice Robotics Club. She is co-founder and treasurer of Knitting for a Warmer World, and a member of the Society of Women Engineers.
2016 RCEL Engineering Leadership Award Colin Shaw ’16, STAT
Colin Shaw graduated in May with a B.A. in Statistics and an Engineering Leadership Certificate. He served as a student staff member at RCEL from 2012 to 2016, and as a leadership researcher from 2013 to 2015. In 2015-16, Shaw served as president of Duncan College, and for three years he served as treasurer, vice-chair and college representative for the University Court. Since 2013, Shaw has worked as a writing mentor and technical assistant to design teams in the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen.
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In order to accommodate the ever-increasing number of RCEL certificate students, the size of ENGI 317 was expanded for 2015-2016 with the support of graduate students who have completed ENGI 615 (Leadership Coaching for Engineers). Under the guidance of Germaine Porche (CEO of Eagle's View Consulting, a coaching consulting firm, prominent coaching author, and RCEL lecturer), graduate students learn comprehensive tools designed to support personal and professional coaching. Once trained, these graduate students provide personalized coaching to ENGI 317 students, guiding them through the strategic planning, benchmarking, and execution of their project.
IS RCEL MAKING A DIFFERENCE?
1. Develop and articulate a personal point of view about what leadership means and how it is effectively practiced in engineering environments.
1. How confident are you in your ability to give team members constructive criticism that improves their performance? RCEL General % of Respondents
Tracking the progress of our students during their time at Rice and after graduation is essential to determining the effectiveness of RCEL programming. Graduating seniors who complete all Certificate requirements are assessed through on-line surveys* against the total population of graduating Rice engineers based on six RCEL Program-Level Learning Outcomes:
Not at all Confident
Not Very Confident
2. Learn how to be a valuable team member in engineering environments. 3. Learn how to be a capable team leader in engineering environments. 4. Communicate strategically in engineering and other interpersonal contexts.
For the 2015-2016 academic year, students were assessed in 53 areas of development. Those who completed RCEL programming showed an increase in confidence over the general engineering senior population in many areas. Based on industry interest and needs, the following areas have been highlighted for this report:
Very Confident
Highly Confident
2. How confident are you in your ability to step
forward and take responsibility for a project activity when others fail to get it started?
5. Increase self-awareness and confidence about who they are and what they are able to achieve in their professional careers. 6. Position strategically for first jobs aligned with unique strengths and self-directed ambitions.
Confident
RCEL General % of Respondents
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Not at all Confident
Not Very Confident
Confident
Very Confident
Highly Confident
* Assessment adapted from the GEL Exit Survey developed by William Lucas, Ph.D. from the Bernard M. Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program
team of peers to complete a project?
RCEL General
In addition to quantifiable surveys are qualitative data and feedback received directly from students. During senior final presentations, students reported the RCEL programming to be instantly applicable to student activities and clubs, as well as during internships.
% of Respondents NotVery at allConfident Confident Not
Not Very Confident Confident Confident Somewhat Confident
Very Confident Confident Very
Highly Confident Confident Highly
4. How confident are you in your ability to achieve its goals by securing the necessary resources?
% of Respondents
RCEL General
“As soon as I started taking classes, I knew that RCEL was something I needed. Because of my work in RCEL, I know how to express my ideas, communicate, manage conflict, persuade others, and manage followership - all of these skills were put into practice during my internship and other projects. I thrived in my internship because I was extremely prepared. RCEL has changed my life. It has given me mentors, friends, experiences, skills, and confidence. RCEL has prepared me for my future.” - David Smith , senior, Mechanical Engineering
NotVery at allConfident Confident Not
NoConfident Very Confident Confident Somewhat Confident
Very Confident Confident Very
Highly Confident Confident Highly
5. How confident are you in your ability to make firm decisions and take action even though you may not have all the necessary information?
% of Respondents
Results are based on a limited sample size. The 2016 academic year marked the second class to receive the official RCEL Certificate, with a total of 27 students having completed all requirements to receive the Certificate, and all were assessed at graduation.
- Nick Suarez Bernal, senior, Mechanical Engineering
RCEL General
NotVery at allConfident Confident Not
Not Very Confident Confident Confident Somewhat Confident
“When I joined the RCEL Certificate program in Fall 2013, I never really envisioned myself as a leader. My understanding of the concept of a 'leader' was simply the one 'in charge.' My time at RCEL has taught me that leadership is more than a title. I realized that leadership is the embodiment of skills like effective communication, managing resources, and taking responsibility for one’s actions (both good and bad). Because of RCEL, I have gone from being an individual who had no idea what he valued professionally to being someone who values trust, accountability, and rigor.”
Very Confident Confident Very
All RCEL seniors will continue to be evaluated after completion of Certificate requirements. RCEL also tracks students after graduation, following them through the first five years of employment via LinkedIn and individual outreach. These data are still being collected. Highly Confident Confident Highly
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3. How confident are you in your ability to motivate a
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RCEL COMMUNICATION PROGRAMS “Communication skills are vital, yet often overlooked skills necessary for technical leadership. COMP/ ELEC 694 is a far better course thanks to the significant value added by RCEL’s communication faculty participation. I look forward to continuing our collaboration next year!” - Scott Cutler, Professor in the Practice of Computer Technology, Former CTO of Compaq Computer’s PC Group, Computer Science Dept.
RCEL Communications Overview
Effective leaders are effective communicators. RCEL’s Communication Program teaches engineering and professional communication using a Communication in the Disciplines (CID) model. The program closely aligns teaching communication skills with topics taught in RCEL engineering courses. Communication faculty members: • Collaborate with engineering faculty on developing communication-related assignments, rubrics, and support materials • Lecture and conduct workshops on: -- Oral presentation skills -- Professional writing -- Data presentation -- Poster design and presentation -- Course-specific communication topics • Coach students / teams for in-class presentations, competition pitches, and conference presentations • Assist engineering faculty in grading assignments with communication components • Work with graduate students on preparing doctoral theses and materials for publication • Train and manage a group of over 20 graduate
and undergraduate student presentation coaches who work with the engineering students on their communication assignments
New to 2015-2016
In Spring 2016, Beata Krupa, Ph.D. and Gayle Moran, Ph.D. won an Enriching Engineering Education Grant (E3 Grant) awarded by the George R. Brown School of Engineering Dean’s Office to “projects having high potential to enhance academic experience of undergraduate engineering students.” The grant will support expansion of the CID program across the School of Engineering. During Fall 2016, Krupa and Moran are working with CEVE and ECE faculty to create a comprehensive and progressively advanced communication-teaching sequence. The goal is to reach most of the students in the two departments and cover a range of engineering communication skills, with heavy emphasis on writing. RCEL hopes to implement similar programs in all engineering departments. Beth O’Sullivan, MBA, also joined the RCEL Communication faculty this year. The fall semester included her pilot course, ENGI 242: Communication for Engineers: Building a Practical Toolbox. The three credit course helps Rice engineers gain confidence as communicators through practice in oral presentations, writing, and visualization of data. Students learn how to communicate effectively to both engineering and non-engineering audiences. ENGI 242, offered again in the spring semester, consistently generates positive feedback:
RCEL’s Communication Program In Numbers Fall 2015 – Spring 2016
Coaching
Supported Courses
Collaborating Faculty
831
703
22
15
individual students*
individual students*
* Individual students often participate in multiple lectures, coaching, and feedback sessions. Total communication-related touch points with students = 2983
“I recently received an internship offer near New York. A very very very good offer. It’s all thanks to my professional communication skills that I am landing this as a freshman…Taking ENGI 242 was the best decision I ever made.” – Avery Whitaker, sophomore, Computer Science
“This was easily one of the most valuable classes I have taken in my Rice career and has become one of my main selling points to employers.” – Tyler Clapp, senior, Mechanical Engineering
Graduate Communication Support
RCEL’s graduate communications outreach involves graduate level courses and coaching, including ENGI 600 (Graduate Communications Seminar), taught by Jan Hewitt, Ph.D. RCEL Communications faculty provide coaching to graduate and undergraduate students throughout the year, including the SCREECH Research Pitch Competition in the fall, and the allcampus 90-second Thesis Elevator Pitch Competition in the spring. Five of the seven awards in the spring competition were won by current or former ENGI 600 students. Several of the coached students also won “best presenter” or “best paper” awards at conferences and symposiums.
Departments BIOE CEVE ELEC COMP CHBE ENGI courses
Supported Programs • Nakatani RIES • Owl Spark Bayou Startup Showcase • SCREECH • 90-Sec Thesis • Tomodachi STEM Initiative • Undergraduate Elevator Pitch Competition
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Lectures
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RCEL GRADUATE PROGRAMMING Although the Engineering Leadership Certificate is available only to undergraduate students, RCEL has identified a need for leadership training at the Master's and Ph.D. levels as well. Several RCEL core courses and graduate level coursework in leadership coaching and communication are available to graduate students. RCEL Communications Faculty also provide coaching to graduate students in oral and written communication for courses and competitions.
Graduate Level Courses
In 2015-2016, 36 graduate students participated in RCEL leadership graduate level courses. RCEL offers three leadership courses to graduate students and one high-level communications writing course:
ENGI 615: Leadership Coaching for Engineers introduces students to the art and science of Leadership Coaching, a professional skill that leaders use to enhance another person’s ability to achieve their goals. ENGI 615 is taught by Germaine Porche, President & co-founder of Eagle’s View Consulting, an international coaching and management consultancy. Germaine is in her second year of teaching this highly specialized and interactive course. Ten students completed ENGI 615 in 2015-2016, and many offered testimonials to the great lessons they learned:
ENGI 515: Leading Teams and Innovation reviews and develops the skills needed to effectively launch, develop, and lead innovative engineering teams. Through a balance of theory and practice, students learn how to diagnose and address some of the common challenges that leaders and followers face in engineering teams. ENGI 515 is cross-listed with ENGI 315, the undergraduate course required for the RCEL Certificate. This creates a unique environment to learn leadership, as graduate and undergraduate students are in one classroom, working together on class projects. The difference in age and experience develops students' abilities to work with, understand, and manage a team made up of very different individuals. ENGI 515 is taught by Professor in the Practice David Van Kleeck, ’81, Ph.D., and Thomas Phalen, ’76, '77, MChE.
“Leadership coaching is the critical skill set I never knew I needed. This course changed my life by allowing me to better understand myself and how I could better connect with others, both as a leader and a coach. Every success I have after this course will be due in some part to this experience.” - Emily Reiser Evans Ph.D. Candidate, Bioengineering
Students learn how to lead others in their own professional development, emphasizing personal discovery and experiential learning. After completion, some students are selected to work as coaches for RCEL undergraduate students. ENGI 600: Graduate Communications Seminar, teaches both technical writing and oral presentation of students’ individual research and guides engineering graduate students actively writing a paper for publication, an extended Ph.D. proposal, a Master’s thesis, or a Ph.D. dissertation. Jan Hewitt, Ph.D. is in her 17th year of teaching this course, and consistently fills both sessions each semester. “I went into this class fairly skeptical about whether it would be worth the time. I found it to be absolutely worth the time! I am confident the communication skills I learned will not only benefit the rest of my time in grad school, but also my career post-graduation.” - Daniel Gonzales Applied Physics and ECE Graduate Student NSF Graduate Research Fellow Hewitt also co-teaches CAAM 600 (Thesis Writing), required of all second-year Computational and Applied Mathematics students and focused on technical writing and oral presentation of research; and ELEC 599 (First Year Projects), a year long course preparing first-year ECE students to write Ph.D. proposals and prepare oral presentations.
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Graduate Student Committee
In addition to courses, RCEL maintains an active graduate student committee tasked with bringing engineering leadership training and experiences to the graduate student community. Annually, the committee coordinates SCREECH, the first graduatelevel elevator pitch competition at Rice University. The 2015 SCREECH featured more than 35 SCREECHERS (participants) and over 100 judges and guests. Consistently, winners of SCREECH, as well as the 90-Second Thesis Competition, have been coached by RCEL communications faculty or have taken RCEL graduate-level courses.
Future Programs in Development
RCEL faculty and staff are in the process of developing a Professional Master’s Degree in Engineering Leadership. The degree will incorporate content already being taught in RCEL graduate level courses, with additional leadership theory, and experiential learning opportunities. RCEL is also in the development phase of professional development curricula and workshops for young professional engineers seeking additional training in leadership, communications and project management.
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"ENGI 615 was one of the most tangibly beneficial classes I took throughout my undergraduate or graduate level education, as it directly and immediately impacted my career path. Within a couple months of completing the course, I was coaching newer engineers at my company, helping them achieve their own goals in networking, learning, gaining experience, and personal development. I’ve been commended by the company’s training department, by my boss, and by my boss’s boss.” - Justin Polk, ’16 Professional Master’s in Mechanical Engineering
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2015 - 2016 Events Timeline Annually, RCEL hosts or sponsors numerous events for Certificate Students and the School of Engineering. In 2015-2016, approximately 300 students attended RCEL hosted or sponsored events, giving them the opportunity to meet and interact with fellow students, Rice faculty, industry mentors, and alumni. Students are able to practice networking skills and participate in leadership opportunities.
July 2015
August
September
2nd Bayou Startup Showcase: RCEL’s Senthil
Natarajan (junior, Electrical Engineering) and George Zhu (junior, Mechanical Engineering) each launched start-up companies at the 2nd Annual Bayou Startup Showcase on August 11. At the Showcase, OwlSpark teams had the opportunity to pitch their companies and products, demonstrate their innovations, and make valuable connections. Read more on page 24.
Rice Drone Camp: Aug 6-10, RCEL and Trumbull
Unmanned hosted a group of 20 middle school students for a 3-day pilot of the inaugural Rice Drone Camp. Read more on page 27.
RCEL Engineering Liftoff: On September 12, the 2015 annual Engineering Liftoff brought together a full contingent of entering freshmen from across the colleges, enthusiastic upperclass coaches, seasoned faculty/industry facilitators, and guest speakers. Students participated in a design competition to launch ping pong balls at a target (designs included catapults, ramps, elevated slingshots, and a trebuchet). The keynote speaker was Dyan Gibbens, founder and CEO of Trumbull Unmanned, a Houston-based company specializing in unmanned systems technology development and integration. Dinner sponsor was Emerson Process Management and door prize sponsor was Microsoft.
October
November
December
SCREECH Graduate Research Pitch Competition: 35 engineering graduate students (representing eight of Rice's nine engineering departments) pitched their research in 90-second bursts at the fourth-annual SCREECH Competition. Over 100 guests packed McMurtry Auditorium to watch the showcase. Sydney M. Gibson, a third-year grad student in bioengineering (BioE), delivered the winning pitch, “Road to Invasion: Understanding Blood Vessel Formation in Cancer.�
RCEL Mentorship Program Kick-Off: The inaugural RCEL Mentorship Program Kick-Off took place on October 8th in Duncan Hall on the Rice Campus. Students and mentors learned more about the program, and met each other face-to-face. Read more about the RCEL Mentorship Program on page 25.
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Rice Center for Engineering Leadership | Annual Review
18 REA Engineer Your Career: Rice students and
alumni came together during National Engineers Week for the 6th annual Engineer Your Career event on February 23. Rice alumni Chuck Fox '82 (CEO, Windy Cove Energy), Tom Phalen '76, '77 (retired from Fluor, RCEL Lecturer), Jennifer Pinnick '08 (Chevron Reservoir Management Advisor), and Cassandra McZeal '99 (Computational Methods Supervisor at ExxonMobil URC) shared their experiences in industry and answered questions.
January 2016
February
Ignite Silicon Valley Trek: RCEL sponsored 20 engineering graduate and undergraduate students, including RCEL’s Xin Huang (senior, ECE) and Anastasia Novinskaya (graduate student, CS), to attend the annual Ignite Silicon Valley Trek. This year’s company list included Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers - where students met RCEL benefactors John and Ann Doerr - as well as Intel, Box, and Droid. Ignite takes place every year over spring break and is cosponsored by Rice Alliance.
March
RCEL Design Challenge: At the inaugural RCEL Design Challenge in April, RCEL Student Admissions Committee members hosted teams of engineering students, giving them a taste of the RCEL certificate program. Teams were tasked with building a bridge that would hold a maximum number of “cars.” The exercise, including coaching by upperclassmen and a debrief, is an actual lab from the RCEL curriculum. The goal was to give freshmen a crash course in RCEL curriculum and encourage students to participate in the RCEL Engineering Leadership Certificate program.
RCEL End of Year Party: The End of
Year Party brought RCEL students together to celebrate the close of another great year. Current students and those entering ENGI 218/219 in the fall came out to Duncan College for pizza and desserts. Executive Director Kaz Karwowski recognized RCEL’s graduating seniors, thanking them for their dedication to the program.
April
May
RCEL Retreat: RCEL seniors and juniors enjoyed a
quick retreat after the end of finals at San Luis resort in Galveston, Texas. Students attended life skills workshops taught by RCEL staff on such topics as filing taxes, building credit, home buying, and understanding different types of benefits packages.
June
Rice Drone Camp 2016: Due to the success of the pilot program in Summer 2015, an expanded five-day Rice Drone Camp was held June 6-10, 2016. This year, 25 students representing Houston and surrounding school districts participated, and five RCEL Certificate students served as coaches and mentors. Read more on page 27.
COMPLETE Conference: COMPLETE, or the Community of Practice
on Leadership Education for the 21st Century Engineer, a consortium of 18 university engineering leadership programs, meets twice a year to discuss the advancement of leadership education. On June 26, RCEL and the Hart Center for Engineering Leadership at Southern Methodist University co-hosted a conference in New Orleans to coincide with the annual ASEE Conference.
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Rice Center for Engineering Leadership | Annual Review
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FACULTY AND STAFF Faculty and staff highlights for the 2015-2016 academic year include: • RCEL added six new faculty members in Engineering Leadership and Communications, and the Center's Faculty Director position was filled. New faculty members include: C. Fred Higgs III, Ph.D. RCEL Faculty Director, John and Ann Doerr Professor of Mechanical Engineering Gayle Moran, Ph.D. Lecturer, Professional Communication Beth O'Sullivan, M.B.A. Lecturer, Professional Communication Tina Peterson, Ph.D. Lecturer, Professional Communication Thomas Phalen, MChE Lecturer, Engineering Leadership Chuck Roberts, M.S. Lecturer, Engineering Leadership • Executive Director Kaz Karwowski achieved certification as an instructor for the NSF Innovation Corps program for the Southwest I-Corps Node, a partnership between Rice University, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, and Texas Tech University. • David Van Kleeck, Ph.D. was named Professor in
the Practice in Engineering Leadership. • RCEL Administrator Christine Gardner celebrated 34 years of service to Rice University. She was recognized at the annual George R. Brown School of Engineering Staff Appreciation Lunch in March 2015. • Cesare Wright, Outreach and Leadership Specialist, received two community awards, including the Community Impact Award from the World Youth Foundation, and the Annual Houston Humanitarian Award.
Krupa facilitates communications training in Poland While traveling in Poland during the summer of 2015, RCEL communication faculty Beata Krupa Ph.D. provided business communication training to a group of Polish nonprofit organizations supported by White Star Foundation (WSF). WSF is a brainchild of Rice University alumnus and entrepreneur Brian Patterson, who lives and works in Poland. A native speaker, Beata worked with young executives on how to design and deliver strategically effective messages, how to persuade, and how to concisely write in business style. Polish style of communicating in business is indirect and less focused on achieving specific goals. Beata’s ability to translate American business communication style into Polish and vice versa helped to make this workshop a lively and valuable experience.
C. Fred Higgs III named Faculty Director
The following is adapted from “C. Fred Higgs III joins MECH and RCEL” by Patrick Kurp, Engineering Communications, May 13, 2016.
C. Fred Higgs III leaves a trail of acronyms wherever he goes. There’s PFTL, his Particle Flow and Tribology Lab at Carnegie Mellon. There’s his philosophy of mentoring student researchers – the RTFS Engine (Research, Teaching, Funding, Service). And there’s RCEL, the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership, where he became Faculty Director July 1. “For years, I’ve been teaching leadership and mentorship in a stealth mode, not announcing it to people while I was doing my scholarly work. Without good leadership, people and organizations cannot flourish and teams cannot win,” said Higgs, who is the John and Ann Doerr Professor of Mechanical Engineering (MECH). Higgs earned a B.S. in MECH from Tennessee State University in 1995, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in MECH from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., in 1997 and 2001, respectively. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology for two years, joined the Carnegie Mellon faculty in 2003 and was promoted to full professor in 2012. There he headed the Particle Flow and Tribology Lab and was a thrust leader in the NextManufacturing Center which focuses on the future of additive manufacturing. Higgs’ research focuses on tribology, the study of interacting surfaces and the associated friction, lubrication and wear. His group focuses on problems involving sliding surfaces with particulate media
This spring, Higgs was named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), which in 2010 presented him with the Burt L. Newkirk Award, given annually to someone under the age of 40 who has made notable contributions to the field of tribology. In 2007, Higgs received a National Science Foundation CAREER Young Investigator Award, and in 2013 he and another faculty member received the Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering’s top teaching honor, the Benjamin Teare Award. “My goal has always been to produce engineering students who are technically strong but have leadership skills to lead organizations with sustainable leadership. That ensures all stakeholders, including the company, shareholders, employees and local community, win when technology wins,” Higgs said. Higgs is a professor in the Alfred P. Sloan Minority Ph.D. Program, which works to diversify the Ph.D.holding workforce by increasing the number of underrepresented minority Ph.D.’s in sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics. Among his goals as faculty director of RCEL, Higgs said, will be “working with my team to develop tomorrow’s ethical, emotionally intelligent engineering leaders who will enter the engineering workforce ready to deliver innovative products and technologies.” He added, “I think that recent investments made in Rice and the engineering school will enable Rice to become a national leader in training and developing its engineering students to become successful leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators. I’m looking forward to helping RCEL scale up its impact nationally and globally."
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flowing between them, from the nano- to the macroscale. At Rice, Higgs is setting up his laboratory in George R. Brown Hall. He expects to work on developing near-frictionless sliding interfaces for improved energy efficiency, and bio-inspired surfaces resembling those found in nature.
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RCEL INTERNSHIP PROGRAM Internships provide critical opportunities for students to practice leadership development, learn about the engineering profession, and build a network of professional mentors. The RCEL Engineering Leadership Certificate requires students to complete one internship by enrolling in ENGI 241: Professional Excellence for Engineers. In 2015, 28 students completed summer internships across the country and internationally, working with small businesses and Fortune 500 companies. RCEL supports students in their internship search, from reviewing resumes and practicing interviewing skills, to developing relationships with potential employers. RCEL has a 100% placement rate of students who seek assistance. ENGI 241 is a structured course focused on the
practice and acquisition of leadership skills in “realworld� industrial, academic, or research environments. The course prepares students to assimilate quickly into their roles, and to exceed employer expectations. Students complete their internships with an understanding of the vision, mission, strategy and objectives of the organization, and the ability to identify how their projects align within the company. Students submit assignments, participate in teleconferences, and submit a final report highlighting lessons learned. RCEL ensures they receive specific leadership experiences, including guided mentorship, meetings and/or interview sessions with senior company leaders, and a leadership role on a project. During the summer of 2016, 40 students will complete internships through the ENGI 241 course.
Summer 2015 - ENGI 241 Interns
“CH2M is one of only 25 Fortune 500 companies with a female CEO. I had the opportunity to interview Jacqueline Hinman. She is truly passionate about making the world a better place and staying true to her values. Women like her continue to pave the way for young female engineers like me.” Ciara Simmons-Piño, senior, Civil Engineering CH2M Hill • Washington, D.C. “For one of my projects, I worked with two contractors to develop requirements for data transfer between two stages of a project. I was a leader for this project and was ultimately responsible for delivering a final product. One of the challenges I faced was effectively communicating with my team in the office while I was offshore on an installation vessel for a week.” Nicole Moes, junior, Mechanical Engineering BP • Houston, Texas
Manuel Arenas, junior, ChBE Bayer Materials Science Jesus Duran, senior, ChBE Newhuadu Business School, Minjiang University (Beijing, China) Rachel Gray, senior, ECE LyondellBasell Emma Gray, junior, CS Navy ROTC Austin James, junior, MECH Orbital ATK Joshua Kaye, junior, MECH Project Consulting Services Kelly Kidder, junior, ChBE USDA Agriculutral Research Services Alison Lindsay, senior, ChBE ExxonMobil Drew Petty, junior, MECH Air Liquide Colin Shaw, senior, STAT Boston Consulting Group Jared Shull, senior, ChBE Goldman Sachs Julia Sunderland, senior, ChBE Boston Consulting Group Martin Torres, junior, CEE MLAW Engineers Cassie Wang, junior, CS Google Lily Wen, junior, CS Facebook Xiaoran (Randy) Zhang, junior, ELEC BlueStamp Engineering
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“At United, I led the early stages of a project to upgrade a specific aircraft to a new type of satellite communication for security and reliability improvements. I was surprised by the importance of my work at my internship. I expected busy work that nobody wants to do, but instead I made meaningful contributions to my team.” Jack Lynch, junior, Mechanical Engineering United Airlines • Chicago, Illinois
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ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUPPORT Entrepreneurship initiatives at Rice encourage graduate and undergraduate students to explore the commercial potential of their ideas and products through start-up accelerator programs and business pitch competitions. RCEL sponsors initiatives to encourage development of strong leadership and management skills along with the development of new products.
2015 OwlSpark Startup Accelerator
During summer 2015, two RCEL students participated in OwlSpark, a 12-week experience for startup teams from Rice University and the University of Houston (Red Labs Startup Accelerator). The program allows Rice students, faculty, staff, and recent alumni to launch companies based on innovative business ideas. RCEL’s Senthil Natarajan (junior, Electrical engineering) and George Zhu (junior, Electrical engineering) successfully completed the program and each launched start-up companies at the 2nd Annual Bayou Startup Showcase on August 11. RCEL’s Kaz Karwowski and David Van Kleeck taught multiple OwlSpark sessions, with a focus on leadership, team-building, decision-making, negotiation, and ethics. Beata Krupa, Gayle Moran, and Beth O’Sullivan provided extensive presentation coaching for all teams for the Bayou Startup Showcase.
2016 Owl Open Competition
RCEL sponsored the annual Owl Open Start-Up Competition, a Rice University-wide business plan competition. Team Arovia took 2nd place.
2015 RCEL Student Start-Ups
Ziel Solutions
Ziel Solutions develops wearable devices for reducing the risk of injury from physical activity. Their first product is a patent-pending sensory sleeve for baseball pitchers. Utilizing sensors that combine muscle and motion analysis, the sleeve provides real-time feedback about muscle fatigue and stress exerted on an athlete’s arm.
Arovia
Arovia founders Alex Wesley (Rice MBA student), Rocky Wu (junior, Electrical Engineering) and RCEL’s George Zhu are creating SPUD, the only 20+ inch electronic display that collapses roughly to the size of a handful of tater tots. Backed with an eight-hour battery life, SPUD designed to increase productivity for the mobile professional.
New to RCEL this year is the RCEL Mentorship Program, a student driven initiative to connect RCEL Certificate students with industry mentors through a Career Path Mentorship model. Students want to know what the “real world” expects, and the best sources of that information are people who have been there. Mentors are asked to maintain a regular schedule of engagement to demonstrate commitment to the student, and range from CEOs and senior VPs, to College Deans, industrial engineers and lawyers. Industries include oil and gas, software development, environmental engineering, and construction. During the inaugural year, 23 mentor/protégé pairs were matched. The Mentorship Student Committee (Teju Kishore, senior, Chemical Engineering; Rachel Gray, senior, Electrical and Computer Engineering; and AJ Velasquez Mao, junior, Bioengineering, along with RCEL staff support from Marketing and Events Specialist Amanda Prestia) developed a process for matching students with mentors based on similar professional, academic and/or personal interests. RCEL Certificate students and potential mentors completed applications, including information on what they look for in a mentor/protégé. Applicants were given the opportunity to review and select the top three mentors/students with whom they would like to be matched. Students were encouraged to connect with their mentors at least three to four times per semester. The program kick-off event encouraged students and mentors to meet face-to-face. Throughout the year, the Student Committee maintained contact with the pairs, encouraging regular contact and offering suggestions
of discussion topics. As the spring semester came to a close, RCEL mentor/protégé pairs were encouraged to continue their mentorship relationships beyond the school year. “It’s been invaluable,” said Emma Baker, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, who is paired with Rice alumnus Al Hirshberg, ’82, the executive vice president overseeing production, drilling and projects for ConocoPhilips. “It’s extremely helpful to have someone in the industry to talk to about my career path and the choices I make, as well as someone who knows Rice and can offer advice about classes.” “Emma has asked a lot of good questions,” said Hirshberg. “Many students look at a mentorship and basically say, ‘Can you get me a job at your company?’ That’s not Emma’s position at all. She’s interested in figuring out what a career in engineering means, and she wants to know what engineers do in the real world." - Excerpt from “RCEL Mentorship Program gives participants an edge” by Holly Beretto, Engineering Communications
Planning Ahead
Mentorship Student Committee (AJ Velasquez Mao, junior, Bioengineering, and Emma Gray, junior, Computer Science) began meeting weekly in July to discuss improvements in the matching process and program expansion. The 2016 Kick-Off event will take place earlier in the semester, and additional events and workshops will give mentor/protégé pairs more opportunities to meet in person.
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RCEL MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
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RCEL SPONSORED CLUBS AND TEAMS Student clubs and teams are an important aspect of Rice culture and serve as leadership opportunities. RCEL students are able to take the skills learned in the Engineering Leadership Labs and other RCEL courses, and apply them immediately to a club or team situation. Through an application process, engineering students can petition for grants and other support from RCEL. Clubs and teams sponsored during the 2015-2016 academic year include: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Rice Electric Vehicle Team Rice Robotics Club Seismic Design Team No Pain No Gain Rice Concrete Canoe Team Rice Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club Rice Aerial Robotics Club Rice Eclipse Formula SAE CSters Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers National Society of Black Engineers American Institute for Chemical Engineers Engineers Without Borders Rice Launch
Rice Electric Vehicle Team
Rice Robotics Club
Seismic Design Team
No Pain No Gain
In August 2015, RCEL and Trumbull Unmanned hosted a group of 20 middle school students for a 3-day pilot Rice Drone Camp. Due to the camp's success, the camp expanded to five-days in 2016. The core curriculum was designed to provide a rigorous, project-based learning experience aligned with Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and federal education standards. Middle school students were selected through a competitive, double-blind application process. RCEL and Trumbull Unmanned facilitated the camp, with volunteers from BP. Through a partnership with BP, the Rice Drone Camp was offered tuition-free for all students.
Participation in the June 2016 Rice Drone Camp increased to 25 students (with applicants from 70 schools in the Houston metro area). Corporate sponsorships from Trumbull Unmanned, Microsoft, and BP ensured all students would be able to attend tuition free. RCEL certificate students served as instructors and mentors through the various exercises and lessons. Coaches included Emma Baker (sophomore, Mechanical Engineering), Aida Castillo (junior, Materials Science and NanoEngineering), Chris Chee (sophomore, Electrical and Computer Engineering), Peter Lucido (sophomore, Mechanical Engineering), and Kevin Zhang (junior, Chemical Engineering).
“Our kids aren’t just learning how to operate or fly drones, they’re also learning about the engineering, the science and the math behind building drones, about the future of drones and how we can take this technology and do socially meaningful things. They’re not just making cool things, but cool things that people will use in the real world.” - Cesare Wright, excerpt from “Flying toward the future,” by Arie Passwaters, Rice Public Affairs
The 2016 camp refined its focus on leadership and teamwork through a team design project and final presentation/pitch to an industry panel. Field trips to the Houston Zoo and the Microsoft Technology Center provided students with real-world opportunities to expand their understanding of the technical and social-use aspects of drone technology.
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OUTREACH - RICE DRONE CAMP
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LRC COMING TO RICE UNIVERSITY Challenge station 1: Out Like Flint Challenge station 1: Out Like Flint
The Leadership Reaction Course (LRC) is a set of physical and leadership challenges designed to teach individual leadership and to build trust. Over the past two years, ENGI 218/219 students have traveled to Texas A&M University in College Station to run through their LRC as a requirement of the class. Adapted from military leadership training, many universities and corporations have found this training valuable to the development of young leaders. The LRC offers a fun, challenging and unique learning environment in which success depends on a combination of individual leadership and team cooperation. In Fall 2015, RCEL proposed bringing such a course to Rice. With the backing of the Rice University Barbara and David Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center, donations were sought throughout the year and construction is set to begin in Fall 2016. The course will be available to all on-campus groups, but also to community groups, such as Boy and Girl Scout troops. Rice University has approved construction of the LRC, and the project is in the final design phase. Eight individual low stations and a high ropes tower will challenge participants both mentally and physically. Several alumni have contributed to the fundraising efforts, including the Rice Engineering Alumni (REA) Board, who sponsored two stations of the course.
Proposed Challenge stationStations 1: Out Like Flint Challenge station 1: Out Like Flint
Challenge station 2: Rope Bridge
Challenge station 2: Rope Bridge Challenge station 2: Rope Bridge
Challenge station 2: Rope Bridge
Challenge station 5: Double Culvert Challenge station 3: Sabotage
Challenge station 3: Sabotage Challenge station 3: Sabotage Challenge station 3: Sabotage
Challenge station 4: Barrel Roll
Challenge station 6: Destroyed Bridge Challenge station 4: Barrel Roll
Challenge Challenge station 4: Barrel Roll station 4: Barrel Roll
Challenge station 5: Double Culvert
Challenge station 7: Recon
Challenge station 6: Destroyed Bridge
Challenge station 8: Tank Trap
Challenge station 7: Recon
RCEL Social Media Hashtags
The 2015-2016 academic year also saw an increase in RCEL's social media presence. Several campaigns were launched to spotlight RCEL internships, student and faculty travel, RCEL events, and student accomplishments. Hashtags were established that continue to be used to promote these campaigns.
New Website Launched Fall 2015
The new RCEL website is a great resource for those interested in RCEL's programming and activities. The site can be accessed through rcel.rice.edu or rcelconnect.org.
@RCELatRiceU
@RCELConnect New Social Media Handle Established
To encourage our students, faculty and staff, and friends to access and use the RCEL social media platforms, the Center's handles for Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are now @RCELConnect.
#rcel #rcelinternships #rcelcoincameo #rcelonthego #riceliftoff16 #engi218319 #engi219319 #engi315 #SCREECH2015
#rcelmentorship #riceengineering #engineeringleadership #communicatingavision #rcelstudentleadership #ricedronecamp2015 #ricedronecamp16 #rceldesignchallenge
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RCEL WEBSITE, SOCIAL MEDIA
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“I joined RCEL because I wanted to learn how to be a leader. I chose the Certificate instead of a minor as a way to actively practice leadership skills while still at Rice. I hope to leave the program with an understanding of how to be a professional engineer in industry, and to be prepared for interactions with team members in difficult situations.� - Sophomore MSNE Student
THANK YOU! First and foremost, thank you to John and Ann Doerr for your continued support of RCEL as our benefactors. Thank you to all our supporters throughout the 2015-2016 academic year. Whether you gave your time or a monetary gift, you are the reason the Center is able to have such an impact on young Rice engineers. Thank you to William and Stephanie Sick Dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering, Ned Thomas, for all your support. Thank you to the RCEL Faculty Advisory Board for your time and guidance. Thank you to the REA and all its members who have volunteered as Engineers in the Room or as mentors. Thank you to all our donors, and corporate sponsors and partners for your sponsorship and support of RCEL students and programming.
6100 Main, MS 363 Houston, Texas 77005 (713) 348-3181 rcelconnect.org @rcelconnect