The Department of Mechanical Engineering in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing at Rice University hosted the 2026 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Region IV Student Conference from March 27–29.
More than 200 high school, undergraduate, and graduate students from Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico to present original research, exchange ideas, and connect with peers and professionals in aerospace. Organized by AIAA — the world's largest aerospace technical society with nearly 30,000 members from 91 countries — the conference has long been a cornerstone in advancing engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense.The two-day program featured 58 paper and poster presentations spanning aeronautics, astronautics, and aerospace engineering. Participants competed for cash prizes and built connections across institutions and disciplines. High school and undergraduate students presented on Saturday, while Sunday was dedicated to graduate-level research.
"Hosting the AIAA student conference at Rice was a real pleasure,” said Marcia O'Malley, chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Thomas Michael Panos Family Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Rice University. “The energy these students bring is inspiring, and being here in Houston, where our long partnerships with NASA have shaped so much of Rice's activity in this domain, makes it an especially fitting place to gather the next generation of aerospace leaders."
Keynotes explore human spaceflight and aerospace innovation
Dr. Ekaterina Kostioukhina, founder of the Hiberia Project, opened the keynote program with a talk on human hypo-metabolic states and their applications to long-duration spaceflight. Framing the human body as a complex composite material, she explored how induced hibernation could help address key challenges NASA identified for deep space missions, including reducing food consumption, minimizing waste, lowering psychological risks, and decreasing the resources needed for transit.
On the second day, Julie Strickland, founder of Strawberry Innovation and a veteran spacesuit engineer, delivered a keynote on innovation and the patent life cycle. Using lunar regolith as a case study, she outlined a practical framework for turning an engineering problem into a patentable solution. She also presented her own patent, the Astronaut Integral Rescue System (AIRS), a spacesuit-integrated stretcher designed in partnership with junior engineers to enable astronaut rescue under extreme conditions.
The conference marked the South Central Region’s first student conference in a two-day format, organized by Rice’s AIAA student chapter. In addition to technical sessions, the program included a MathWorks workshop on AI applications in aerospace.
“We extend our deepest gratitude to the students who organized the conference, led by Ryan Mattana, Rice University mechanical engineering student and Aerodynamics Lead of the Rice AIAA student chapter, and to the faculty, staff and sponsors MathWorks, Venus Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines, whose generous support made this conference possible,” said Dr. Humberto Silva III, Associate Fellow of the AIAA and member of the organizing committee.
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