Rep. Weber tours Higgs’ Particle Flow & Tribology Lab

Chairman of House Energy Subcommittee sees cutting-edge friction and engineering research firsthand

Rep. Randy Weber, R-Friendswood, right, chairman of the Energy Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, recently received an in-depth tour of Rice’s Particle Flow and Tribology Lab (PFTL). The PFTL’s director, Fred Higgs, the John and Ann Doerr Professor of Mechanical Engineering (who is also currently serving as the interim vice provost for academic affairs), led the tour, during which several of his graduate and Ph.D. students showed Weber their current research. Pictured, from left, are Nia Christian (in foreground), Lynnora Grant, Joshua Wagner and Olufunto Faweya. The House Science Committee has jurisdiction over NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Weather Service, energy research and development programs at the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency, and all environmental standards and research programs. The tour came about as a follow-up to Higgs’ June 28 testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology’s Joint Subcommittee on Energy and Subcommittee on Research and Technology at the hearing “Materials Science: Building the Future” in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Jeff Fitlow)