Rice University experts available at CERAWeek

MEDIA ADVISORY

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Rice University experts available at CERAWeek

HOUSTON – (March 3, 2017) – For the first time, Rice University is an academic partner at CERAWeek, the premier international gathering of energy industry leaders, experts, government officials and policymakers, leaders from the technology, financial and industrial communities as well as energy technology innovators. This year marks the 36th anniversary of the gathering, which will be at the Hilton Americas-Houston March 6-10. The conference is ranked among the top five “corporate leader” conferences in the world.

Charles McConnell, executive director of Rice’s Energy and Environment Initiative, is leading Rice’s involvement in the conference.

Below is a list of CERAWeek open press events in which Rice is a participant. All events will be at the Hilton Americas-Houston, 1600 Lamar St.

Monday, March 6:

Who:  McConnell.

What: Welcome presentation to the Future Energy Leaders program.

When: 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Who:  Linda Capuano, fellow in energy technology in the Center for Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

What: Panel, “Technological Innovation in Energy Sector — Evolution or Revolution?”

When: 7:30-9:15 p.m.

Tuesday, March 7:

Who:  McConnell.

What: Presentation, “Putting Carbon to Work: Leapfrogs for Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage.”

When: 7:30-8:40 a.m., Agora Studio Session, fourth floor.

Who:  Pedro Alvarez, the George R. Brown Professor of Materials Science and NanoEngineering.

What: Presentation, “NEWT: A Vision to Address Grand Challenges at the Water-Energy Nexus.”

When: 2:30-3 p.m., Agora Exploration Pod, fourth floor.

Who:  Aydin Babakhani, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering.

What: Presentation, “Disrupting Oil & Gas Exploration and Production With Advanced Micro-Sensors.”

When: 5-5:30 p.m., Agora Exploration Pod, fourth floor.

Wednesday, March 8:

Who:  Antonio Merlo, dean of Rice’s School of Social Sciences and the George A. Peterkin Professor of Economics.

What: Presentation, “Man+Machine: The Changing Workforce.”

When: 11:30 a.m.-12:40 p.m., Agora Studio Session, fourth floor.

Who:  Peter Hartley, the George and Cynthia Mitchell Chair in Sustainable Development and faculty scholar in the Center for Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute.

What: Presentation, “Prospects for LNG Hubs.”

When: 11:30 a.m.-12:40 p.m.

Who:  Matteo Pasquali, the A.J. Hartsook Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, chair of the Department of Chemistry and professor of materials science and nanoengineering and of chemistry.

What: Presentation, “Nanotechnology 3.0: Transformative Applications for the Oil & Gas Industry.”

When: 3:30-4 p.m., Agora Exploration Pod, fourth floor.

Thursday, March 9:

Who:  Fred Higgs, the John and Ann Doerr Professor in Mechanical Engineering and faculty director of the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership.

What: Presentation, “A Machine Learning-Enabled, Design-for-Economics Framework for 3-D Printing Drill Bits.”

When: 5:30-6 p.m., Agora Exploration Pod, fourth floor.

Several Rice faculty and graduate students also have been invited and will participate in unique events as part of the CERAWeek Future Energy Leaders and Women Leaders in Energy programs.

Media wishing to cover events at CERAWeek must obtain credentials from the conference organizers. Visit here for more information.

For more information on Rice’s involvement at CERAWeek or to schedule an interview with a speaker, contact David Ruth, director of national media relations at Rice, at david@rice.edu or 713-348-6327.

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This news release can be found online at news.rice.edu.

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,879 undergraduates and 2,861 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for happiest students and for lots of race/class interaction by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. To read “What they’re saying about Rice,” go to http://tinyurl.com/RiceUniversityoverview.