Four engineering alumni, including civil and environmental engineer Jim Blackburn, have been honored by the Association of Rice Alumni (ARA) for their contributions to Rice. They were recognized at a dinner held May 12 at the River Oaks Country Club.
A National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant will allow Rice, the city of Houston and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to develop an environmental health and housing registry. The goal is to help the community understand the impact of storms like Harvey on public health.
“Civil engineering is not limited to constructing buildings and bridges. It’s also highly computational and works closely with other disciplines. I’m doing more computational physics now than ever before.”
Jennifer Hunter and Patrick Kurp, Engineering Communications
NEWDL is short for Nanotechnology Enhanced Water Design Laboratory. It is a treatment unit that turns surface water into safe, potable water. Rice will use the lab for undergraduate education and research.
Pieper received the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award in recognition of “a lifetime of professional achievements, leadership and contributions made professionally and to society at large.” After graduation, he joined Brown & Root Inc., an engineering, procurement and construction company based in Houston and owned by brothers Herman and George R. Brown.
