Rice–IITM Strategic Collaboration Awards (SCA)
2026 Rice–IITM SCA Winners
- AI-Guided Upcycling of Industrial Wastes for Cement Decarbonization
- Does CSR legitimize or stigmatize? CSR support and perceptions of women-led ventures in India
- Next-Generation Nuclear Physics and Detector Innovation for the LHC and EIC
AI-Guided Upcycling of Industrial Wastes for Cement Decarbonization
Cement production contributes ~9% of global anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, creating an urgent need for decarbonization. Meanwhile, billions of tons of industrial waste are generated annually, requiring costly treatment and disposal. This project establishes a collaborative partnership between Rice University and IIT Madras to address both challenges by converting industrial wastes into low-carbon construction materials. As a seed effort, the collaboration will focus on red mud, a high-volume (~10 million tons of annual production in India) and hazardous byproduct of alumina production. The project integrates AI-based materials informatics and modeling with experimental characterization to develop red mud-containing binders that balance performance, cost, and CO₂ emissions. The work leverages complementary expertise in AI-driven modeling at Rice and cementitious materials chemistry at IIT Madras. Together, the teams will develop a robust, AI-guided framework for waste valorization in cementitious materials to support cement decarbonization.
Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
Member, Ken Kennedy Institute
Rice University
Associate Professor, Building Technology of Construction Management Division, Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Does CSR legitimize or stigmatize? CSR support and perceptions of women-led ventures in India
This project examines whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) legitimizes or inadvertently stigmatizes women-led social ventures in India, many of which operate in socially taboo domains (e.g., menstruation, sexual and reproductive health). We combine a lab-in-the-field experiment with semi-structured interviews of members from the IIT Madras entrepreneurship ecosystem. The experiment employs a 2x2 design to test how two factors characterizing women-led ventures – domain stigma (stigmatized vs. non-stigmatized) and venture support (CSR vs. commercial investment) – jointly affect perceived legitimacy and willingness to support. Interviews offer a grounded insight into how legitimacy and stigma surrounding women-led ventures are locally constructed. The study is situated within IIT Madras’ entrepreneurship ecosystem, which includes incubators, intermediaries, mentors, and student entrepreneurs. Results from the one-year project will inform gender-inclusive entrepreneurship policy and CSR practices while building a durable research collaboration between Rice and IIT Madras.
Assistant Professor of Strategic Management, Jones Graduate School of Business
Rice University
Professor, Department of Management Studies
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Next-Generation Nuclear Physics and Detector Innovation for the LHC and EIC
This strategic partnership between Rice University and IIT Madras leverages world-class expertise to explore the fundamental properties of nuclear matter under extreme conditions. By combining Rice’s leadership in fast-timing silicon technology with IITM’s advanced capabilities in multi-particle correlations, the collaboration will drive discovery at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the upcoming Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). A primary focus of the project is the joint development of AC-LGAD silicon sensors, essential for the next generation of high-energy physics experiments. Beyond technical innovation, the project fosters a sustainable research ecosystem through student mobility and hands-on laboratory training. By integrating state-of-the-art detector R&D with high-impact physics analysis, this initiative positions both institutions at the forefront of global nuclear physics research while establishing a foundation for long-term international cooperation and external funding success.
Professor, Physics and Astronomy |
Co-Chair for Graduate Admissions and Recruiting |
Member, Ken Kennedy Institute
Rice University
Associate Professor, Department of Physics
Indian Institute of Technology Madras