STEM students tour steam tunnels

A group of eighth- and ninth-grade students enrolled in the Energy Explorations Academy, a weeklong summer program offered by the Rice Office of STEM Engagement, took a rare tour of the three-mile network of steam tunnels beneath the Rice campus. The oldest tunnel was dug over a century ago, said David Hoffman, who supervises the Rice District Energy System for Facilities Engineering and Planning (FE&P). At the end of the tour, the students were invited to sign their names on the walls in a section of the tunnels where FE&P has allowed underground art from the Rice community to accumulate over the years. (Photo by Katharine Shilcutt)