Research mixer draws large crowd
Undergrad and grad students team up to discuss Rice’s research portfolio

BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News staff

Earlier this month hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students flooded the Central Quad to network during a first-of-its-kind research mixer hosted by the Graduate Student Association (GSA) and Student Association (SA). Conceived as an open forum in which students of all disciplines could learn the extensive research portfolio of Rice University, the event was successful in helping students of all years get more involved in the Rice research community.

"One of the best ways for students to find out whether they like graduate school life and research in general is to work as an assistant in a lab alongside graduate students," said Sumedh Warudkar, GSA secretary and one of the mixer’s organizers. "We hoped this event would help undergraduates learn more about what is happening outside their classrooms and in the research labs."

The research mixer hit its mark, according to Joseph Song, a Hanszen College first-year student.

"Through this event I feel that I have gained my spot within the research community, even as a freshman," Song said. "By learning from research projects and accomplishments from Rice University, I feel inspired to work on research for my own experience and for the good of communities around me."

The research mixer was also a great opportunity for graduate students to find some helping hands for their own research projects.

"Having a motivated and enthusiastic undergraduate researcher on your project is better than having someone who is just doing the work because the professor has assigned it," Warudkar said. "The mixer also gave us graduate students the opportunity to talk about our research — it’s a great feeling to tell someone outside your community what you work on."

Warudkar is a fourth-year doctoral candidate working with George Hirasaki, the A.J. Hartsook Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, on carbon dioxide capture and storage, which is a potential short- or mid-term solution to climate change. He said carbon dioxide capture and storage involves separating CO2 from point-emission sources like power plants and storing them in depleted oil or gas fields.

"Fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas will continue to provide us energy for the next few decades while renewable sources come online," he said. "Capture and storage allows us to continue fossil-fuel use while preventing further climate change."

Warudkar said his research lab team has mostly industry-funded projects with ample openings for undergraduate researchers.

"Our lab works on one of the most-demanded industry research areas and in the process of working in our lab, students make industry contacts, can generate publications and, on occasion, even patent applications," he said. 

The organizers created the mixer to open students’ eyes to such opportunities. GSA President Corinne Allen said they had several goals in mind for the mixer, but chief among them was to build bridges between the undergraduate and graduate student research communities.

"We thought it was important to demonstrate the variety of interesting research opportunities on campus in a casual setting," Allen said. "Not only would it enable the recruitment of undergraduates for our projects, but it could build a rapport between undergrads interested in research and the graduate students conducting research."

The casual setting — out of the labs and on the green space — allowed for more natural conversation to flow and for students to learn about a wide range of projects. Interested in researching green technology, Song was particularly excited by the Rice Endowment for Sustainable Energy Technology program, which is devoted to finding ways to incorporate alternative energy solutions on campus.

"Through the mixer, I got to know more about this program and how freshmen were provided the opportunity to take a step within Rice’s research community," Song said. "This research mixer has truly inspired me to push myself beyond my comfort zone and dive into a challenging and very rewarding experience."