Science
Scientific research at Rice University is broad and far reaching. Rice research strives to understand the world around us and our place within it through fundamental enquiry and scientific discovery. Several areas are directly related to understanding the fundamental processes that define our space environment, drive the development of advanced technologies that enable space exploration and push the envelope of human engagement in space.
Space Physics and Astronomy
Research themes include Space Weather, plasma physics, computational physics, exoplanetary science, star formation, high energy astrophysics and the early Universe. The Laboratory for Space and Astrophysical Plasmas brings researchers to explore overlapping physical themes within computational, laboratory and observational plasma physics.
- Space Physics and Astronomy Faculty affiliates and their research connections
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Earth, Environment and Planetary Sciences
Space exploration-connected research themes encompass characterizing, sampling, and mapping planetary surface environments to pinpoint the location of materials and energy sources accessible from the surface, atmospheric physics and chemistry, environmental fluid dynamics, and weather forecasting.
- Earth, Environment and Planetary Sciences faculty affiliates NASA TX Connections
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FACULTY AFFILIATES NASA TX CONNECTIONS Cin-Ty Lee TX07 Kristen Siebach TX07, TX08 Rajdeep Dasgupta TX07 Pedram Hassanzadeh TX11, TX16 Adrian Lenardic TX07 Laurence Yeung TX08
Chemistry
Research themes encompass the composition, properties, structure, and reactivity of matter. Space-impacting research includes the development of advanced materials that form the basis of radiation shielding and communications technologies that support space travel; energy generation, storage, and transmission technologies that enable new batteries and supercapacitors; CO2 capture and sequestration and water purification technologies using nanomaterials.
- Chemistry faculty affiliates NASA TX Connections
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FACULTY AFFILIATES NASA TX CONNECTIONS Jim Tour TX03, TX06, TX08, TX12 Matteo Pasquali TX06, TX12, TX14 Christy Landes TX11, TX12 Lisa Biswal TX03, TX08, TX12
BioSciences
The overall research focus is to investigate the fundamental properties of living organisms and impacts on the future quality of life on earth. Space-impacting research includes biochemistry, biophysics, cell biology, microbiology, neurobiology, plant biology, synthetic biology, and systems biology.
- BioSciences faculty affiliates NASA TX Connections
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FACULTY AFFILIATES NASA TX CONNECTIONS Kathleen Beckingham TX06 Yousif Shamoo TX06 Matthew Wettergreen TX13 Amy Dunham TX11
Engineering
Engineering research at Rice is impactful and game changing. Rice engineering faculty, students and researchers aim to solve challenging problems of relevance and importance to society. Much of the research has a direct impact or influence in the exploration of space, creating technological advances that allow humans to live and work in hostile environments, robotic solutions to complex problems and autonomous smart systems for increased operational safety.
Advanced Materials, Nanotechnology, and Mechanical Engineering
Research themes include advanced manufacturing; biomaterials; nanomaterial composites; energy conversion and storage; ultra-lightweight, ultrahigh strength multifunctional materials; nonlinear dynamics; mechanical characterization; and tribology. Each of the identified research themes can play a significant role in advancing space exploration. The Smalley-Curl Institute assists its members in forging new, cross-cutting, and interdisciplinary research areas, and in seeking new means of supporting their work.
- Advanced Materials, Nanotechnology, and Mechanical Engineering Faculty affiliates and NASA TX connections
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FACULTY AFFILIATES NASA TX CONNECTIONS Naomi Halas TX05, TX08, TX12 Pulickel Ajayan TX03, TX08, TX12 Jun Lou TX03, TX12 Michael Wong TX01, TX06, TX12 Pedro Alvarez TX06, TX12 Stephan Link TX03, TX06, TX12 Alberto Pimpinelli TX12 Gururaj Naik TX03, TX08, TX12 Matthew Brake TX12, TX13
Bioengineering
Research themes include advanced imaging systems, systems and synthetic biology, biomaterials and tissue engineering. The advanced biomedical imaging systems are being adapted for use in space and being modified for application to earth remote sensing. The Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering was established to accelerate bio-related interdisciplinary research at Rice University, foster collaborations with the Texas Medical Center, create translational research partnerships with industry, and develop exceptional research training programs.
- Bioengineering Faculty affiliates and NASA TX Connections
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FACULTY AFFILIATES NASA TX CONNECTIONS Rebecca Richards-Kortum TX06, TX08 Tomasz Tkaczyk TX08, TX12 Jane Grande-Allen TX06, TX12 Paul Cherukuri TX06, TX08, TX12
Sensors
Sensor technology development involves research programs across the School of Engineering and encompasses a wide range of applications such as non-invasive biometric diagnostics, distributed arrays for monitoring system health, and algorithms for early fault detection. Many of these technologies have direct application to space exploration particularly for crew health, environmental and structural monitoring particularly as we transition to a long-duration deep space presence at the Moon and Mars.
- Sensors Faculty affiliates and NASA TX Connections
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FACULTY AFFILIATES NASA TX CONNECTIONS Leonardo Dueñas-Osorio TX02, TX08, TX11, TX16 Ashutosh Sabharwal TX02, TX05, TX08, TX10
Robotics
Research themes in robotics include advanced haptic interfaces, intelligent control systems, and automated motion planning. Applications include rehabilitation robots, remote inspection, and automated unmanned vehicles.
- Robotics Faculty affiliates and NASA TX Connections
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FACULTY AFFILIATES NASA TX CONNECTIONS Fathi Ghorbel TX04, TX10, TX12, TX17 Marcia O’Malley TX04, TX06, TX07, TX13 Lydia Kavraki TX04, TX06, TX10, TX11, TX17
Aeronautics and Aerospace
Research themes include experimental and numerical aerodynamics, performance/safety assessment for static and dynamic problems, computational flow analysis and systems dynamics and control.
- Aeronautics and Aerospace Faculty affiliates and NASA TX Connections
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FACULTY AFFILIATES NASA TX CONNECTIONS Patrick Rodi TX01, TX09, TX14, TX15
Data and Computer Sciences
Data Sciences
Data Science is an emerging discipline that integrates data acquisition (sensors and systems), data analytics (machine learning, statistics), and data storage to derive actionable information from diverse and potentially massive data sources. The data science initiative at Rice University is a campus wide strategy to grow the quantity and quality of data-driven knowledge and discovery with multi- and inter-disciplinary research. The Data-to-Knowledge Laboratory (D2K) provides direct access to student research teams that work to solve real world data problems.
- Data Sciences Faculty affiliates and NASA TX Connections
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FACULTY AFFILIATES NASA TX CONNECTIONS Anastasios Kyrillidis TX02, TX04, TX10, TX11, TX17 Richard Baraniuk TX06, TX11 Chris Tunnell TX08, TX11 Genevera Allen TX06, TX11 Katherine B. Ensor TX06, TX11 Erzsébet Merényi TX07, TX11
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
Research efforts in artificial intelligence and machine learning focus on developing new methodologies to enable data analysis in a wide range of disciplines, including bioinformatics, graphics and image analysis, and robotics and exploring a wide range of machine learning algorithms for application to data visualization and exploration, dimensionality reduction and pattern classification and recognition. In addition, there are important and emerging signal processing problems of relevance to space exploration. The Ken Kennedy Institute (KKI) is committed to solving problems that impact the world in relevant and innovative ways through artificial intelligence, data, and computing.
- Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Faculty affiliates and NASA TX Connections
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FACULTY AFFILIATES NASA TX CONNECTIONS Devika Subramanian TX06, TX10, TX11 Moshe Vardi TX02, TX10, TX11 Angela Wilkins (KKI) TX03, TX04, TX06, TX07, TX08, TX10, TX11, TX12
Other Data and Computer Science Areas
This includes research areas in Networked Systems and Modeling. Research efforts in networked systems focus on designing secure, efficient, and reliable network systems as well as optimizing the interaction between data-processing tasks and the underlying network. Application of modeling across the space exploration mission is vast with research areas such as planetary surface modeling and tracking/imaging of Mars Rovers. The Spatial Studies Lab combines diverse sets of data in order to create novel web experiences and insights through unique data visualization.
- Other Data and Computer Science Areas affiliates and NASA TX Connections
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FACULTY AFFILIATES NASA TX CONNECTIONS Ang Chen (Networked Systems) TX10, TX11 Farès El-Dahdah (Modeling) TX09, TX11
Human Systems Interactions
Human Factors research into human performance includes the understanding of how humans interact with the systems around them. This is of particular importance in space where survival is often dependent on these interactions. The Department of Psychological Sciences at Rice University focus on optimizing human well-being and overall system performance by considering the cognitive aspects of the interaction (e.g. design of displays, procedures and information). The disciplines of Human Factors and Human System Interaction are becoming increasingly important as the human presence in space expands from low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars and becomes more reliant on automated and intelligent systems.
- Human Systems Interactions Faculty affiliates and NASA TX Connections
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FACULTY AFFILIATES NASA TX CONNECTIONS Akane Sano TX06, TX11 Margaret Beier TX06 Michael Byrne TX06 Patricia DeLucia TX06 Eduardo Salas TX06, TX13 Phil Kortum TX06
Space and Science Policy
The Baker Institute's Space Policy Program and Baylor College of Medicine host the annual International Space Medicine Summit (ISMS). ISMS brings together the world’s leading physicians, space biomedical scientists, engineers, astronauts, cosmonauts and educators from the spacefaring nations for high-level discussions to identify not only necessary space medicine research goals but also ways to further enhance international cooperation and collaborative research.
- Space and Science Policy Faculty Affiliates