Rice University Computer Science

Last night in Paris, scholars from philosophy, engineering, public policy and the arts gathered at the Rice Global Paris Center for the opening welcome reception of "Human Flourishing in the Age of AI," a three-day international conference asking one of the most pressing questions of our time:

What does it mean for humans to thrive in a world shaped by AI?

Rice CS's Rodrigo Ferreira is co-organizing alongside Robert Howell, Yasser El-Sayed Professor of Philosophy and Department Chair, and Steven Gubka, Postdoctoral Associate in Ethics of Technology. Welcome remarks also came from Dean Luay Nakhleh of the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing and Senior Associate Dean Fay Yarbrough of the School of Humanities and Arts.

Two more days of panels, research presentations and conversation still ahead.

Follow along this week.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/4xeygeY

Eating independently. Drinking independently. Communicating freely.
For people living with paralysis, these are life-changing goals, and Rice engineering is helping make them possible.

Nishal Shah, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is leading the computational work on a new BrainGate clinical trial, decoding brain signals to drive robotic assistive devices.

Rice + Baylor. The first BrainGate team in Texas.

Read more: https://bit.ly/43bv1XO

Clinical trial seeks to advance intuitive assistive robotics for people with paralysis Rice, in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine, will join BrainGate, a consortium of universities and academic medical centers working on creating brain-computer interface technologies.

Quantum computers with completely different hardware, learning together. Sounds like a stretch. Rice University Computer Science researchers made it work and tested it on real IBM quantum hardware.

See more here: https://bit.ly/4uBNr03

Quorus: Layerwise Federated Learning for Heterogeneous Quantum Clients Quantum federated learning is becoming increasingly important as qu...

Graduate students and postdocs: the deadline to register for the poster session and apply for travel grants for the Crossroads of AI & Society Workshop is this Friday, May 29.

Travel grants of up to $500 are available, with priority given to poster presenters.

The workshop takes place July 15-16, 2026 in Paris, France. Registration is FREE.

Learn more and register at aaforml.com/2026

Robots that help in surgery, respond in emergencies and make daily life easier. The researchers at Rice University Computer Science are not waiting for the future to figure this out.

They are building it now, with NASA 30 miles away and the Texas Medical Center right next door.

Watch the video. Subscribe for more.
https://bit.ly/3Q0aKl0

Robotics & Physical AI in the Department of Computer Science at Rice University In the field of Robotics & Physical AI, Rice University Computer Sc...

What happens when computer scientists, economists and social scientists sit down together to talk about AI? That's exactly what this workshop is designed to find out.

Registration is open for the Crossroads of AI & Society Workshop, a two-day event hosted by Rice University at the Global Paris Center, July 15-16, 2026 in Paris, France.

The workshop brings together researchers across computer science, economics and the social sciences to explore how AI systems are designed, deployed and governed. Sessions will cover fairness, privacy and incentives, with invited speakers from MIT, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University, Yale, Caltech, Georgia Tech and more.

Graduate students and postdocs: there is a poster session open to you, and a limited number of $500 travel grants are available with priority given to poster presenters.

Key deadlines:
Poster session and travel grant applications: May 29
General registration: June 12

Registration is FREE. See the full speaker lineup and organizer team in the comments, and learn more at aaforml.com/2026

It's not just what you know. It's what you do with it.

Nearly 300 engineering and computing graduates participated in an induction ceremony for the Order of the Engineer and The Pledge of the Computing Professional. They received a stainless steel ring or a pin spelling "honor" in binary as a reminder of their commitment to ethical practice and service to society.

Computer Science and Business major Trisha Chinnimeni said it perfectly: "It's about what you do with what you learn."

In computer science, we have enormous power. The algorithms we write. The systems we design. The data we collect and how we use it. These decisions shape how information flows through the world, whose voices get amplified, what gets automated, who benefits and who gets left behind.

We're in a moment of rapid technological change. That means the work our graduates do next will matter more than ever. Every line of code carries choices. Every design decision has consequences. And every one of our students is leaving Rice understanding that technical excellence and ethical responsibility go hand in hand.

This is what computer science is really about. Not just solving problems, but solving them in ways that respect people. Not just building systems that work, but systems that work for everyone.

Our graduates are committing to that. They understand that what you learn in computer science is a tool. What you do with it is everything.

Read the full story: https://bit.ly/3RPZwjr

‘It’s about what you do with what you learn’: Engineering, computing graduates affirm commitment to public good Nearly 300 graduates of the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing took part in the induction ceremony for the Order of the Engineer and The Pledge of the Computing Professional.

Matthew Hendricks has joined the Rice Computer Science department as our new Executive Administrator. He brings deep experience in higher education operations, and we wasted no time making him feel at home.

Welcome to the team, Matthew.

Read more about Matthew: https://bit.ly/4fjZryh

Big news from the Department of Computer Science at Rice University.
Three of our faculty have been promoted, effective July 1, 2026.

Congratulations to:
Vicente Ordónez-Román, promoted to Full Professor
Konstantinos Mamouras, promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure
Rodrigo Ferreira, promoted to Associate Teaching Professor

These three represent the kind of faculty that make Rice Computer Science what it is: researchers pushing boundaries, teachers who genuinely care and scholars thinking carefully about where technology is taking us.

We are so proud of each of them.