AT LARGE Engaging With Houston Communities

PLAYING IT FORWARD

William Edmond wants William Edmond is forever grateful to his to help students pursue professors and mentors who made his a college degree and college experience a memorable one. They make sure that their made him feel that he belonged and guided him college experience is one they will always in securing internships, meaningful student jobs cherish. and a degree in psychology. Now, Edmond wants to pay it forward with undergraduates at Rice University. “I have made it my life’s mission to help others be more persis- tent in their pursuit of higher education,” he said. “Being in college should be the most exciting time in a person’s life.” As assistant director of Multicultural Affairs, Edmond helps students organize cultural events that promote diversity at Rice. Edmond works closely with the Black Student Association (BSA) especially during Black History Month when the students participate in the Martin Luther King Day parade in downtown Houston, hosts the MLK Continued on Page 2 ❱ ❱

A PODCAST FOR FIRST- GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS

When COVID-19 hit Houston, a group of Rice alumni decided to use their downtime to make a difference in the community. Norma Torres Mendoza ’13, Joseph Mapula ’15, Luz Rocha ’14 and MiJin Han ’16, got together and created a podcast to make higher education information more accessible to first-generation college students. The “How to College: First Gen” podcast also provides information about career development and shares lessons about being a first-generation college student. Since the pandemic began, the team has been meeting online every weekend to decide a course of action. With schools closed and no access to college counselors, they determined that this was an ideal challenge to address. Their market research indicated that although there were one or two college readiness podcasts led by profes- sionals at colleges or universities, there were none for first-generation students.

❱ FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS RICE UNIVERSITY Continued on Page 3 ❱ ❱ ISSUE 43 ❱ FALL 2020 vigil at the Rice Chapel and pres- “We believe it’s in an interview format in which WILLIAM ent lectures, films and discussions participants open up the talk with important to EDM0ND about issues in the Black com- a negative statistic about the Black munity. For Hispanic Heritage introduce elementary community, and then the par- Continued from Page 1 Month, Edmond helps the students to our ticipant will go on to address that Hispanic Association of Cultural campus as early as statistic by offering a more positive Enrichment at Rice (HACER) image of the Black community,” present discussions and movies, possible. They need Edmond explained. among other activities. to see that attending Edmond understands the He also mentors and cre- college is within their value of positive reinforcement. ates leadership opportunities for grasp.” When he enrolled at North students. A few years ago, Edmond Carolina Central University in and three Rice students — Yonas — WILLIAM EDMOND Durham, N.C., he said he felt anx- Tekola, Mark Laforest-Williams ious and overwhelmed in trying and Jeremiah Murrell — took the to navigate the academic world. Black Male Leadership Initiative dents at Longfellow Elementary. He quickly formed an expanding (BMLI), an informal student club, The purpose of the mentoring pro- network of professors and staff and provided a more sustainable gram is to increase the confidence members who gave him guidance structure by registering the group in the young students, encourage and encouragement. Those rela- as an official student organization them to pursue a STEM career tionships helped him land several and gave it a mission. The mission and to teach them about positive campus jobs, including manag- is to improve the graduation rate models of masculinity. ing a summer-bridge program for of Black male students at Rice, “School-age Black male incoming students identified as develop leadership skills for Black students are subject to higher at-risk students. males and foster a sense of belong- suspension rates, school expul- “My experience in undergrad ing on campus for Black male sions and placement into special collectively helped me shape my students. education classroom more than career trajectory in higher educa- “BMLI exists to foster broth- any other subgroup of students in tion,” he said. “The confidence my erhood within the Black male public education,” Edmond said. mentors instilled me allowed me population at Rice,” he said. “The This unfortunate reality is a situa- to pursue higher education and BMLI supports its members by tion in which Rice students can do student affairs as a profession at providing opportunities for fel- their part to help others. one of the best programs in the lowship, intellectual growth and In another project, BMLI and country, Ohio State University.” personal development, on and off Edmond hosted 200 elementary After he received his master’s campus.” students for a half-day experience in 2016, Edmond remained at Ohio This year’s BMLI president, during which they toured the Rice State and worked as an academic Rice senior Mathias Adamu, said campus and met with students, counselor and staff assistant to his experience of working with staff and faculty to learn about the provided academic support to Edmond on several projects has college admissions process. varsity student-athletes. A mantra, been very rewarding and he tries “We believe it’s important to he said, he lived daily at Ohio State to emulate Edmond in being a introduce elementary students to was “to create an extraordinary servant leader. our campus as early as possible,” student experience.” “William is the type to push Edmond said. “They need to see He came to Rice in 2017 and to you to be a better leader by being that attending college is within this day, he said, he lives by that there alongside you throughout their grasp.” belief. “I do my best to actualize your journey,” Adamu said. “He This semester, Adamu, Rice those words,” he said. “I genuinely sees your potential and challenges senior Collin Whitaker and value people at their core and want you with opportunities to develop Edmond will be working together them to have the space to develop yourself and your leadership, on yet another project. They plan their identity in preparation for life so your potential is just as clear to create a virtual program that after college.” ■ to you as it is to him. He never will combat stereotypes and hesitates to sit down with you and negative statistics about the Black DAVID D. MEDINA talk through what you have going community. The project will be DIRECTOR, MULTICULTURAL on and help you come up with the called Stories Beyond Statistics COMMUNITY RELATIONS best solution.” and will consist of interviews con- PUBLIC AFFAIRS Just as Edmond paid it forward ducted virtually with students and so has BMLI. With Edmond’s guid- others who will tell positive stories ance, BMLI started a mentoring about their lives. program for young Black male stu- “These conversations will be

2 RICE AT LARGE helped me understand the many stipends for their interns. Also, the PODCAST experiences and feelings I went group will be filing for a nonprofit Continued from Page 1 through throughout my education, status to raise funds and keep up especially in high school. I never with the demands. They identified podcasts as the really knew how to explain how I “The demand for the podcast most viable method for delivering felt or even why I felt the way I did. is beyond our imagination,” said the information because it works I felt like I did not belong in a rigor- Mendoza. “We’ve had more than for people on the go. Podcasts, ous education setting or was not 800 plays already, which is incred- they said, can be accessed on worthy enough, until I listened to ible. We know now more than ever smartphones as well as desk- this episode.” that it is crucial for first-generation tops, through Apple, Spotify and “The podcast’s target audi- college students to not feel alone in Google. Podcasts are superior to ences range from high school their educational journey.” ■ reading information from a book students to first-generation college away as Ireland and South Africa because listeners can hear the students to graduates to parents though most reside in Texas and JAN F. WEST thoughts and emotions in the of first gens who want to know California. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR voices of real people. more about how to prepare their Moving forward, the podcast MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY Roxana Rivera, a Middlebury children for college,” said Han. creators want to expand the pro- RELATIONS College alum, is a first gen and About 800 people have tuned gram by providing more episodes, PUBLIC AFFAIRS podcast listener and agrees with in to the podcast so far. The highest but to do that they will need more the podcast’s developers. percentage of listeners range from volunteers. The podcast creators “My favorite episode so far is 18 to 30 years of age, though the all have full-time jobs and are in the first episode of the ‘Imposter hope is to attract more listeners dire need of help to produce the Syndrome’ series because of under the age of 17, because those segments. They also want to ramp how much I can relate to it. I can are the ones currently applying to up marketing for the program to sincerely say that this episode college. Listeners hail from as far high school students and provide

CONFERENCE TO FOCUS HOW COVID-19 INFLUENCES DATA SCIENCE

The virtual Ken Kennedy interesting challenges for translat- selected from submitted abstracts, and offered a discussion about Institute Data Science ing data to knowledge through such as COVID-19, algorithms, the Data-Driven Determinants for Conference Oct. 26–28 advances in data engineering, foundations, business impact COVID-19 Oncology Discovery focused on COVID-19 and analytics, machine learning, deep and health care. There was also Effort (D3CODE), which was estab- how the pandemic has learning, reinforcement learn- a student poster session and net- lished to create a cross-functional, influenced the use of data ing and more broadly, artificial working breaks. institutionwide data science initia- and data science. Speakers intelligence. Recognizing that Amongst the speakers, David tive linked to understand cancer in discussed everything from the discovery and innovation hap- Eagleman, examined the col- the context of the pandemic. ■ genome analysis to data gover- pens at interfaces of disciplines lapse of previous societies and nance, from human behavior and communities, the conference asked how the advent of the net ANGELA WILKINS to water treatment plants and aimed to bring together a diverse fundamentally changed our exis- EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR highlighted the role of computing set of people from multiple com- tential equations. Eagleman is a KEN KENNEDY INSTITUTE hardware and software in these munities spanning academia and neuroscientist, a New York Times endeavors. industry. bestselling author, a TED speaker For the past four years, the The conference also featured and a Guggenheim Fellow. annual conference has been talks by leading experts, which This year the conference was interested in exposing how data were complemented by themati- expanded and included a special science can be used to address cally organized sessions with talks collaboration with MD Anderson

FALL 2020 3 FURLOUGH KITCHEN

Nathan Lonsdale Bledsoe ’09 picking up meals for their elderly “We focus on making sure that Marr majored in mechanical and Lucas Marr ’08 became neighbors. “We feel like there is a we have hearty portions for all our engineering at Rice and worked for friends at Rice through lot of shame around food insecu- meals,” said Marr. “It would not several engineering companies in their love of cooking. When rity in this country and people are be difficult for each plate to easily Houston. He admits that starting Hurricane Ike thundered through hesitant to use food banks or soup feed one adult and one child.” Furlough Kitchen was a way to get Houston in 2008, both helped kitchens,” Marr said. “We hope Not only are the portions out of the house and do something the servery chef at Lovett College that with a name like Furlough generous but they are made by he enjoys, especially cooking for make meals for everyone staying Kitchen that it doesn’t have any of chefs who cook whatever they big groups the way he and Bledsoe on campus through the devastat- those preconceived notions about like to cook. Chefs Christian used to cook for the Owlcoholics ing storm. getting a good hot meal when you and Alexandria Catalan, who Tailgates at Rice football games. Now another crisis, the need it.” were laid off from their jobs at “This was an easy way for me COVID-19 pandemic, has brought Furlough Kitchen operates out Morsel & Crumbs Catering, to help some folks out and enjoy the culinary duo back together of St. Stephen’s United Methodist prepare the meals on Tuesday, cooking for big groups again,” he again to serve the greater good of Church, where Bledsoe is a pastor. and Bledsoe and Marr prepare said. “In the month that we have the community. They have created The church is located at 2003 W. them on Thursday. The four have being doing this, I’ve seen how the Furlough Kitchen Houston, 43rd St. in Oak Forest, a neighbor- offered such appetizing food as much good we are actually doing. a pop-up restaurant that offers hood in northwest Houston. The jambalaya, Mexican carnitas and The thanks we get from people high-quality meals to anyone who kitchen is not a dine-in place but enchiladas. One week, Marr, who enjoying our meals has been really has been furloughed, laid off or are offers curbside pickup on Tuesdays runs a barbecue catering service rewarding.” simply struggling to make ends and Thursdays from 4:30 to 6:30 on the side, brought his trailer pit For Bledsoe, who double meet during the pandemic. And p.m. at the church. The process is and cooked barbecue chicken. majored in history and religious proof of need is not required. contactless as volunteers place the “We’re not intending to serve studies, said the Furlough Kitchen “I have a pretty deeply held packaged meals in the backseat, the cheapest possible meals and, aligns well with the core values theological belief that we shouldn’t trunk or cargo area of vehicles. of course, we’re not serving filet of his church, which states that test folks who say they need some Since the first meal was served or lobster, but I think if a cook everyone is a beloved child of God, help,” said Bledsoe, who has been April 28, Furlough Kitchen has likes what he or she is cooking, that the church does not belong a pastor since 2013. “Some of the provided more than 1,000 meals. the results are better,” Marr said. to them and that God is in the people coming through the line The kitchen gives 15 meals each People who want a free meal can neighborhood and not just in their have been out of work a lot longer Tuesday and Thursday to families simply go to the Furlough Kitchen building. than COVID has been a reality.” from nearby Stevens Elementary website and order up to five meals. “With these values, using our Marr added that most of the School, and then provides 100 to The idea to start Furlough resources and space to do some- people receiving the meals are 110 meals to people who drive in Kitchen came to Marr after view- thing like the Furlough Kitchen down on their luck, but some are for pickup. ing the website of a group from was a no-brainer,” Bledsoe said. Dallas who had started a similar “This has been a really meaning- kitchen. The Dallas group offered ful and exciting way to use the to setup franchises in other cities. church’s facilities.” ■ He and Bledsoe went to work and within two weeks had put together DAVID D. MEDINA a nonprofit organization so that DIRECTOR, MULTICULTURAL they could accept donations. COMMUNITY RELATIONS Furlough Kitchen has received PUBLIC AFFAIRS support from St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church, the neigh- borhood and friends. Also, the Rainbow Lodge, Hartz Chicken Buffet, Frenchy’s Fried Chicken and Artisana Bread have provided food and ingredients for the meals. Recently, Furlough Kitchen part- nered with The Common Market Texas, which is a nonprofit that provides organic produce, to sell their products and receive a por- COMFORT FOOD: Rice alums Lucas Marr and Nathan Lonsdale Bledsoe tion of the proceeds. are serving free high-quality food to those who have been furloughed or are struggling to feed their families.

4 RICE AT LARGE DOING THE NUMBERS DURING COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic did not stop the Rice University School Mathematics Project (RUSMP) from offering its highly popular Summer Campus Program (SCP) for pre- college teachers. The camp went virtual and successfully ran June 8–18, with the enlisted help of the Rice/NSF Robert Noyce Master Teaching Fellows (Grant #1556006). Teachers from the Greater Houston area and beyond enrolled in the SCP and were placed into three cohorts: elementary grades 2–5, middle school grades 6–8 or high school geometry-calculus. Each cohort convened on Zoom for three hours each morning and worked individually or virtually in groups for three hours each afternoon. Lessons were carefully planned for the online learning environment. Technology tools were selected to actively engage teachers, web-based resources for teachers to use with their students were identified (rusmp.rice.edu/resources) and techniques to develop successful communities of practice for use during SCP were discussed. Three Noyce Fellows worked with the elementary cohort and focused on exploring number concepts in grades 2–5. Four fellows focused on developing algebraic reasoning in the middle school grades. Four fellows explored topics on how to inspire students about high school mathematics. Planning meetings for the cohorts were held using Zoom during the spring semester and daily during the SCP, and Google drives, which housed course materials, were set up for each cohort to use with their teachers. A variety of technologies and websites were used. Document cameras served as web cams, laptops allowed for modeling hands-on activities, Virtual Manipulatives and GeoGebra Geometry software mitment and creativity of all involved — the teachers VIRTUAL INSPIRATIONS: facilitated construction of a Golden Rectangle and and Noyce Fellows — to make this inaugural online Precollege teachers attended a inscription of a regular pentagon in a circle. Pear SCP successful. A plethora of lessons were learned by summer camp to learn how to use Deck, Numberphile and RUSMP Symbaloos were all, and the teachers felt better equipped, energized websites that will be useful in pre- also showcased. Teachers submitted responses and and ready to tackle the challenges of online learning paring for teaching math online. interacted using Nearpod, Kahoot!, Padlet, Flipgrid, this fall. Whiteboard.fi and via email. The use of Zoom break- For photos from this year’s SCP, please visit out rooms was a huge hit as it provided an authentic https://rusmp.rice.edu/about/photos-spotlights. way for teachers to collaborate. RUSMP’s Fall Networking Conference, held Oct. 3, The SCP camp has been running for 33 years and also virtual, described the challenges and successes all the activities it offers transitioned seamlessly to an of online learning and showcased what happened and online environment: readings and discussions, inde- what was learned during the SCP this past June. ■ pendent and group work, lesson development, and integrated math and art activities in the elementary ANNE PAPAKONSTANTINOU, DIRECTOR and middle school cohorts. Also a colloquium talk, “A CAROLYN L. WHITE, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Glimpse Into the World of Knot Theory,” for the high ROBIN WARD, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR school cohort was delivered by Shelly Harvey, Rice RICE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL MATHEMATICS PROJECT Department of Mathematics professor and RUSMP advisory board member. RUSMP directors Carolyn L. White, Robin Ward and Anne Papakonstantinou praised the efforts, com-

FALL 2020 5 THE BRIDGE TO INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION RICE UNIVERSITY AND SPRING ISD Rice University’s Puentes Binational collaborations representatives from financial PROMOTE DAILY Consortium was created have already fostered invaluable intelligence units in the north- more than 10 years ago to experiences for the researchers ern states of Mexico and the U.S. LEARNING provide scholars with an and helped in moving forward the The Disruptive Housing opportunity to carry out relationship between U.S-Mexico project, led by academics from Spring ISD has partnered multidisciplinary research on and provided knowledge transfers Rice University’s school of with the Rice University issues of importance to the between the two countries. architecture and humanities, Department of Athletics relationship between Mexico For example, a recent collabo- resulted in a workshop that this fall to encourage daily and the United States. ration project between Monterrey focused on Mexico’s collec- student learning, whether in- In 2018, Puentes was revi- Tech and Rice University during tive housing practices in urban person or virtual. talized and included among its the first months of the COVID 19 settings. Students in K–12 will have members Rice University, the pandemic resulted in a valuable These experiences demon- an opportunity to win a ticket to University of Miami, Monterrey mapping case project. Puentes strate the value of international a Rice Owls baseball game and a Tech, the University of Monterrey provided a grant to support a collaborations in which hosts campus tour that will take place in and the University of las Américas, group of researchers to share their and visiting scholars benefit spring 2021. To qualify, students Puebla. expertise by reproducing a map of from the exchange of knowledge only need to attend class with a That year, the consortium COVID cases for Texas and extrap- and the creation of research teacher, show daily progress in launched a series of new programs olating the same information networks. The goal of this enter- school or submit an assignment. and funding opportunities to layers to report on COVID cases prise is to produce books and All of these efforts qualify to show support its goals of enhancing in Mexico. The Mexican map was manuscripts written by several daily student learning. collaborative research among its produced by Roberto Ponce from authors who will share the Teachers will be monitoring members. Puentes funds projects Monterrey Tech and the Texas map knowledge they have acquired students’ progress throughout the that seek to increase connection by Fares el-Dahdah, director of through the spaces created by fall semester starting Tuesday, between the universities in the the Humanities Research Center. the Puentes Consortium. Sept. 8. In addition to the baseball two nations. The purpose is to This academic partnership could For more information game and campus tour, up to create a long-term effective dia- eventually lead to a comparative about the Puentes Consortium, 100 K–8 students will be given a logue by building knowledge and study about inequality and Covid- please visit the website at www. chance to be recognized on the incentivizing joint research whose 19 between Texas and Monterrey. puentes-consortium.org. ■ field and enjoy a pregame “field findings will be communicated to Another example was the day” inside Tudor Fieldhouse leaders and decisionmakers. Crime Assets and Best Practices IVONNE CRUZ or the Waltrip Indoor Training Over the past 12 years, Puentes Against Money Laundering PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR Center. has supported international project, in which members of the PUENTES CONSORTIUM “We’re excited to be partner- mobility for over 23 scholars and consortium participated in edit- BAKER INSTITUTE ing with Rice to encourage our published more than 25 aca- ing a high-level document that students to actively engage in demic research and white papers. contained information on how learning every day,” said Mark Puentes is now preparing the 2021 to battle money laundering and Miranda, executive chief of dis- call for applications for grants and organized crime in Mexico and trict operations. “Whether online programs under remote condi- the United States. The information or in-person when available, we tions. These opportunities are in the document was gathered want all of our students to show up available to all members of the through a series of workshops every day.” Rice community. led by Puentes scholars and Students who want to partici- pate don’t need to do anything but A NETWORK OF show engagement in all of their KNOWLEDGE: The classes. Winners will be notified in Puentes Consortium January. ■ is bringing together scholars from Mexico and the U.S. to exchange knowledge and create research networks.

6 RICE AT LARGE SNACKS FOR ALL

A couple of Rice University MBA students used their business skills this summer to give medical staff and the economy a small boost to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Coco Ma ’20 and Kathleen Harcourt ’20 created a nonprofit organization that delivered free meals to medical staff who treated patients infected with the virus. “Medical staff were making tough choices and working hard to protect our community,” said Ma. “We wanted to boost their morale while also supporting small local businesses staying open,” said Harcourt. At Rice, Ma specialized in marketing and entrepreneur- ship and Harcourt focused on finance at the Jones Graduate School of Business. SnacksForMedStaff, a non- profit whose logo is “Help Medical SERVING OF SUPPORT: Rice MBA students provided snacks to medical staff as way to thank them for combating Workers and the Economy, One the pandemic. Snack at a Time,” raised $20,000 through word of mouth and the their eyes because someone had lacked personal protective equip- ate student, Eric Schumacker ’22, online fundraiser GoFundMe. The thought of them.” ment and heavy workloads.” spent a lot of time creating our money was used to buy meals and Taking care of health care She added that the hospital, website.” energy drinks from local restau- workers was dear to Ma, who grew where her mother works as an SnacksForMedStaff, Harcourt rants and stores and delivered via up in Hangzhou, China, and had upper-level administrator, had said, took a life of its own and gave UberEats and DoorDash to various heard the hardship that medical literally treated thousands of her and Ma a sense that they are hospitals in Houston and around staff have endured there. “In the COVID-19 patients. “I remember making a difference during this the country. past several months, I had seen so one day my mom sent me a mes- crisis. About 3,300 meal packages many heartbreaking stories about sage saying she went to work that “We wanted to do something were delivered to 23 hospitals frontline medical workers passing morning but the hospital couldn’t good for the community,” she said. such as Houston Methodist, Ben away due to coronavirus. Many give her a mask because they had “We were feeling down about how Taub, Memorial Herman in the health care workers had mental or run out. But everyone still worked hospital workers were experienc- Woodlands, Lyndon B. Johnson, physical breakdowns because they hard to treat patients like any ing sometimes war-like situations Davam Urgent Care, Aspire other day.” with COVID-19 and how small and HCA in Conroe. Deliveries After watching through businesses were closing and have also been made to hospi- “Medical staff Chinese media how people were leaving people unemployed. This tals in New York, Pennsylvania, were making tough sending food and energy drinks to nonprofit empowered us to do ■ Michigan and California. choices and working the health care workers, Ma said something about it.” The response from the medi- she thought about doing some- cal staff was heartwarming. “They hard to protect our thing similar in the United States. DAVID D. MEDINA always told us how incredibly community. We She proposed the idea to Harcourt, DIRECTOR, MULTICULTURAL grateful they are and how much wanted to boost their who loved it. COMMUNITY RELATIONS it means to them that we are morale while also “At first, we only intended to PUBLIC AFFAIRS doing this,” said Harcourt. “Many spend our money and just send a of them were stressed out and supporting small few meals,” said Harcourt, “but exhausted and receiving a small local businesses once our classmates found out token of thanks really lifted their staying open.” what we were doing, they started spirits to keep going forward. A giving donations and sending us few times tears were brought to — COCO MA ’20 contacts at hospitals, and gradu-

FALL 2020 7 TEACHERS LEARN HOW MACHINES CAN IMPROVE OUR HEALTH

Every summer, the Rice Office of STEM Engagement (R-STEM) brings K–12 teach- ers to campus to conduct discovery research, but because of the pandemic, the program went virtual. The Summer Web-Based Institute for Technologies in CompSci and Healthcare (SWITCH) brought together six computer science educa- tors from Houston and Austin to conduct research virtually in the lab of Ashutosh Sabharwal, the Ernest Dell Butcher Professor of Engineering and chair of the elec- trical and computer engineering department. The main theme of the SWITCH RET summer research especially Mary Jin, teachers Kristen Antoine-Morse, assistant The lessons range from was Machine Learning for Health. mastered the OpenCV library for principal at Istrouma Magnet High students using face detection in In recent years, machine learn- computer vision; explored popular School in East Baton Rouge Parish a health and wellness context to ing has become a state-of-the art machine learning engines such Schools, gave a talk on implicit students creating tools that can solution for many challenging as Tensorflow and Kaggle; and bias and its presence in classroom help parents of nonverbal children problems and if used strategically, created programs that highlighted settings. communicate with them. could improve health care avail- facial detection, landmark detec- Further still, Temiloluwa “I have become more acutely ability and affordability. tion and emotion detection while Prioleau, assistant professor of aware of how ‘powerful’ research This idea of using computer linking these programs to creating computer science at Dartmouth and data play a significant programming to improve health low-cost and effective health College, spoke with the group role in solving problems,” said care outcomes is the focal point technologies for underserved about computer scientists using Azku Bukhari, a middle school of both the NSF expeditions in communities. various types of data to assist in computer science teacher in the Computing and Precise Advanced Also, various university the process of creating a vaccine Houston Independent School Technologies and Health Systems faculty members and graduate for COVID-19. The interns were District. for Underserved Populations that students volunteered to share able to interact with over a dozen This work was funded by both Sabharwal’s team is spearheading. their research with the cohort. more speakers on various topics the National Science Foundation’s The teachers explored gaze Gerard Coté, director of the Center pertinent to their project. Expeditions in Computing and detection through Python for Remote Health Technologies During their summer virtual PATHS-UP ERCs. The journey of programs that processed a live and Systems at Texas A&M, gave research experiences, interns were the SWITCH interns can be read feed video to track the iris of the a presentation about reliable, at- able to learn, engage, create and on their blog at https://ret2020. person being imaged. Under the home technologies that can limit share. The topics explored were blogs.rice.edu/. ■ guidance of graduate students, the need for hospital visits, while pivotal in developing engaging grade-level appropriate lesson ALLEN ANTOINE plans that will be tested in their ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR classrooms and have been submit- MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER ted for publication in education SCIENCE journals. RICE OFFICE OF STEM ENGAGEMENT

PROGRESSIVE PROGRAMMING: Azka Bukhari, a SWITCH intern, displaying her code for facial recognition. ABOVE: Christopher Franklin, a SWITCH intern, working out the specifics of gaze detection.

8 RICE AT LARGE