Rice Ken Kennedy Institute

Rice has received $15M from the US Army Research Office to establish the Center for Large Aperture Secure Sensing, Imaging and Communications, or CLASSIC—a five-year research center that will bring together universities and national labs across the country to develop advanced antenna technologies for future wireless systems. The center will be led by Edward Knightly, Rice University Electrical and Computer Engineering's Sheafor-Lindsay Professor. “This center gives us the opportunity to develop the science and engineering needed for a new generation of wireless networks with radically new capabilities, resilience and security,” Knightly said. ➡️ https://lnkd.in/d9z8xXYt

Tianjun Sun was honored with an early career achievement award by the Academy of Management for her work to improve the measurement of human behavior and abilities using “psychometric AI,” an emerging field that combines psychological measurement with artificial intelligence. "As AI tools become more common in hiring, education and health care, researchers are increasingly asking whether those systems are measuring people accurately and fairly. That’s where Sun’s work comes in." 🔗 Read more: https://lnkd.in/d7NE9uHZ Sun is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Rice University and a member of the Rice Ken Kennedy Institute.

If you've used ChatGPT, clicked on a recommendation or watched AI reshape your industry, you already have a relationship with AI. The question is: do you understand how it works? Along with Rice University School of Engineering and Computing, and with Dean Luay Nakhleh and Professor Joe Warren, we are excited to announce two new Rice Computer Science AI courses, open to every major. No coding. No math. No excuses. COMP 101: Vibe Coding with LLMs teaches how to build programs alongside large language models. Designed for students with no coding experience. COMP 238: Understanding the Machines gives a clear-eyed look at how generative AI actually works, including the ethics, the stakes and the implications. The new courses are open to all Rice students, regardless of major. No prerequisites. Learn More: https://ow.ly/21LB50ZwLR3 What aspect of AI are you most curious about? #RiceCS #RiceAI #HigherEdAI

Charting technology frontiers in wireless communications, sensing, imaging and AI ⚙️🚀 Register for Rice's Electromagnetics to Intelligence (EM2AI) Workshop on August 31 to join industry experts, government agencies and academic researchers in exploring how AI is transforming the future of physical system design. The workshop will focus on: 🔹 Bridging the imaging and communications research communities 🔹 AI as a co-architect for next-generation system design 🔹 Fostering industry-academia connections Organizers: Rahman Doost, Taiyun Chi, Nakul Garg, Robert LiKamWa, Ashu Sabharwal, Santiago Segarra, Ashok Veeraraghavan, Jiarong Xing, Kaiyuan Yang, Edward Knightly | Rice University Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice Ken Kennedy Institute Learn more: https://lnkd.in/guh_wu_u

Building next-generation research infrastructure ⬇️ The NSF-funded READINESS project, lead by materials scientist Jun Lou, will create an AI-powered, remote-accessible lab to transform how materials are synthesized and tested. The Ken Kennedy Institute is proud to support this work by sponsoring the proposal working group that helped bring this vision together, in collaboration with the Rice Advanced Materials Institute (RAMI), Rice University Computer Science, and Rice University Materials Science and NanoEngineering. It's an inspiring win for Rice and the future of advanced materials research. 🎥 Video by: Jorge Vidal

Lydia E. Kavraki received an honorary doctorate from the University of Crete, Department of Computer Science in Greece, where she began her studies and earned an undergraduate degree in computer science. This recognition honors Lydia's international leadership and contributions to research and innovation in computer science, robotics, computational biology and AI. "The University gave me not only an excellent education that made my career possible, but also a way of thinking: the courage to ask difficult questions, the discipline to persist when problems appear unsolvable, and the conviction that science must ultimately serve people and society," said Kavraki. 🔗 Read more: https://lnkd.in/dTWwZQE5

We are proud to honor the remarkable achievements of our very own Director, Lydia E. Kavraki, along with Rebecca Richards-Kortum at the Triple Crown of Discovery celebration on August 27. Together, Professors Kavraki and Richards-Kortum have earned membership in all three U.S. National Academies—the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Medicine. This extraordinary distinction is held by fewer than 35 living researchers nationwide. Register: https://lnkd.in/eTAdEW3Z

Two weeks left of the early-bird ticket sale! 🎟️ The Ken Kennedy Institute at Rice University is hosting the 5th annual AI in Health Conference on September 15-17, 2026. Join us in Houston, TX for an annual update on the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence in health and presents a research-driven outlook for the future of computational health innovation. Claim your seat at a discounted rate before the early-bird sale ends on August 10. Conference tickets include access to keynote presentations, technical talks, poster sessions, networking receptions, and the sponsor exhibit hall. Register now at https://lnkd.in/gXbe4cJA #AIHealthConference #AIHealth #AIHC26 #RiceUniversity

Award Announcement: A team led by Rice University's Caroline Ajo-Franklin, Professor of BioSciences, won a Phase I award for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Genesis Mission to build an AI engine for sustainable biomanufacturing 🧬 ⚙️ The project will combine synthetic biology, protein engineering, AI and automated experimentation to accelerate the microbial production of natural compounds that could produce alternatives to petroleum-based fuels, rubbers and solvents. To do so, the interdisciplinary team draws together "extraordinary star power" from researchers across both the Rice Synthetic Biology Institute and Rice Ken Kennedy Institute. 🔗 More about Rice's Genesis Mission awards: https://lnkd.in/gvQyH3rq