Speaker and Lecture Series

Annually, the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership hosts various guest speakers and lecture series for RCEL students, the Rice Community, and members of the public to attend. From leading engineers' perspectives and experiences, to critical career and development advice for future engineering leaders, participants hear varying opinions and points of view on critical engineering topics.

Engineers in the C-Suite

Hosted by the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership, the Engineers in the C-Suite Speaker Series features executives and thought leaders from technology organizations who uniquely employ or depend on engineers. These accomplished leaders share experiences in navigating change and how engineers can equip themselves to lead the way. Through this series, learn about how products and workplaces are being disruptively transformed through technological advancements, and how engineers will be expected to not just adapt to but lead this transformation. This series is open to the public.

NAME	VIDEO LINK	DATE
Dr. Mark Lashier, Chairman and CEO of Phillips 66	YouTube	September 15, 2025
Sandra Johnson ’88, PhD (EE), CEO, SKJ Visioneering Inc.	YouTube	November 21, 2024

NAME	VIDEO LINK	DATE
Antonio Neri, CEO of HPE	YouTube	February 15, 2024
Jim Whitehurst '89, former CEO of Red Hat	YouTube	September 12, 2023

Rice Center for Engineering Leadership
Panel Series

The Rice Center for Engineering Leadership Panel Series at Rice University focuses on ethical and leadership issues relevant to engineers and technology students and professionals as they begin their careers. Panels feature guest speakers from a variety of industries and engineering majors engaging in a lively discussion, moderated by a current RCEL student. This series is open to the public.

PANEL	PANELISTS
Ethical Decisions: The Engineer’s Responsibility – Fall 2025	Will Blackmon ME ’93 – Director of Product Development, Ovation Data Shawn Gunter – Senior Engineering Leader, Baker Hughes Chetna Koshy ’95 – Associate Vice President for Ethics, Compliance, and Enterprise Risk, Rice University George Niño – Executive Vice President, Yokogawa Corporation of America
Ethical Decisions: The Engineer’s Responsibility – Spring 2025	Wendy-Kay Logan CS ’04 – Former Product Executive, Google Juan “Tony” Castilleja ME ’09, MME ’11 – Program Manager, Boeing Marya Cokar – Lecturer in Engineering Ethics, RCEL Darren Hill – Director, Ethics & Business Conduct, Lockheed Martin

PANEL	PANELISTS
Ethical Decisions: The Engineer’s Responsibility – Fall 2023	Naomi Halas – University Professor; Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering; Director, Smalley-Curl Institute; Director, Laboratory for Nanophotonics Ed Graham ’89 (ChE) – Vice President, ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions Jeff Bishop ’04 (EE) – Founder and CEO, Key Capture Energy Stephanie Taylor ’05 (CE) – Senior Project Manager, LJA Engineering; Member, Rice Engineering Alumni Board
The Gender Factor: Leadership Double Standards in Tech – Spring 2024	Edith Arnold ’05 (ME) – Senior Engineering Manager, Apple Brittany Bennett (EE) – Department Manager, Burns & McDonnell Elizabeth Figueroa ’10, PhD ’15 (BIOE) – Senior Consultant, Dark Horse Consulting Group Laura Schaefer ’95 (ME) – Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Rice University
The Gender Factor: Leadership Double Standards in Tech – Fall 2024	Loren Hopkins ’89, ’98, PhD – Chief Environmental Science Officer, Houston Health Department; Professor in the Practice of Statistics, Rice University Karen Lozano ’96, ’99, PhD – Endowed Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UT Rio Grande Valley; Founder/Director, TRGV Nanotechnology Center Cassandra McZeal ’98, ’99, PhD – Modeling, Optimization & Data Science Supervisor, ExxonMobil Pretta VanDible Stallworth ’83, ’85 – Trustee District IX, Houston Community College
The Gender Factor: Leadership Double Standards in Tech – Spring 2023	Sandy Anuras ’01 – Chief Technology Officer, Sunrun Stefanie Breyer EE ’95 – Founder, Breyer Coaching; Former SVP of Product Planning, National Instruments Leteshia Lowe – Senior Software Engineer, IBM; President, SWE Houston Area Claudia Zettner ’95 (ME), PhD – Professor in the Practice, PMP, RCEL
Ethical Decisions: The Engineer’s Responsibility – Fall 2022	Rajitha Aluru – Sr. Manager, Technology Development, J&J Center for Device Innovation Shalawn Kirkland Jackson – Joint Interest Technical Manager for Kazakhstan, ExxonMobil Luay Nakhleh – Dean, George R. Brown School of Engineering; Professor of Computer Science and BioSciences Amy Suhl – President, AL Suhl LLC; Former VP & CIO of Project & Technology, Shell
The Gender Factor: Leadership Double Standards in Tech – Spring 2022	Deborah Gronke Bennett ’82 (EE) – Systems Software Engineer, Zinget Software Nancy Henson ’90 (EE) – Solutions Architect, NI Global Professional Services Shawn Simmons ’99 – SSHE Manager, Mobil Equatorial Guinea AJ Beard ’01 (EE) – Vice President of Operations, Unify Consulting
Ethical Decisions: The Engineer’s Responsibility – Fall 2021	Rakesh Agrawal CS ’97 – Founder of Snapstream; Startup Investor Brandi Bridges – Vice President of Industry 4.0, P33; ARA Board Member Chip Lutton EE ’89 – Patent Attorney; Former In-House Counsel at Apple, Google, and C3.ai Joanna Nathan BioE ’11, MBioE ’12, MBA ’19 – Manager of New Ventures, Johnson & Johnson; President, Rice Engineering Alumni
The Gender Factor: Leadership Double Standards in Tech – Spring 2021	Edith Arnold ’05 (ME) – Senior Engineering Manager, Apple Charlos Ward ’96, ’06 (ChE) – General Manager of Projects, BP Stormy Peters ’96 (CS) – Director, Open Source Program Office, Microsoft Priya Prasad ’08 (ChE) – Counsel, ExxonMobil
Ethical Decisions: The Engineer’s Responsibility – Fall 2020	Mark Duncan ChE ’83 – Rice Trustee; Former CEO, Micron Technology Kate Hallaway CE ’04 – Project Manager, BGE Inc. Bryan Hassin CS ’01 – Cofounder and CEO, Third Derivative Kate Montgomery BIOE ’09 – Manager of Clinical & Medical Affairs, EnSpectra Health
The Gender Factor: Leadership Double Standards in Tech – Fall 2020	Wanda Gass ’78 – President, Design Connect Create; Retired Fellow, Texas Instruments Cassandra McZeal ’99 – Manager, Computational & Data Sciences, ExxonMobil Suzanne Plummer ’89 – Corporate Vice President, Advanced Micro Devices Kate Hallaway ’04 – Project Manager, BGE Inc.
Rice Ethics and Leadership Panel Discussion – Spring 2020	Alisa S. Max, P.E. – Chief Operations Officer, Harris County Engineering Department C. Fred Higgs III, Ph.D. – Faculty Director, Rice Center for Engineering Leadership Nathaniel Richards – Founder and CEO, Entrance Consulting Ebony Wiley – Leadership Initiatives, RCEL; Former Executive Applications Engineering Leader, GE
The Gender Factor: Leadership Double Standards in Tech – Fall 2019	Wendy Hoenig ’86 – Founder and CEO, H&H Business Development Joanna Papakonstantinou ’09, Ph.D. – Mathematics Faculty, Episcopal High School Yvette Pearson, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE – Associate Dean, Rice University Amy Suhl, MBA – VP CIO, Shell Global Solutions
RCEL Panel Discussion on Ethics and Leadership in Engineering – Spring 2018	C. Fred Higgs III, Ph.D. – Interim Vice Provost of Academic Affairs; John and Ann Doerr Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Faculty Director, RCEL Yvette Pearson Weatherton, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE – Associate Dean for Accreditation & Assessment, George R. Brown School of Engineering Sergio Kapusta ’81, ’06, Ph.D. – Former Chief Materials Scientist, Royal Dutch Shell Priya Prasad ’08, J.D. – Intellectual Property Attorney, Exxon Mobil Corp.

MEML@Rice Speaker Series

As part of the Master of Engineering Management and Leadership (MEML) program, the MEML@Rice Speaker Series features professional engineers discussing topics of professional development for MEML students, and how technology and technological advancements impact engineers and engineering leaders in various industries. This series is tailored for current MEML students, but is open to the public.

Name	Talk Title	Date
Chris Hyams '95	HEAD AND HEART: Leading Technology with Humanity While Everything Changes	January 22, 2026
Kate Montgomery, PhD	How to Join a Medtech Startup Solving Real Problems: My personal experience and how I’d do it now	November 13, 2025
Vicky Thomas	BEYOND THE TECH: What It Really Takes for Engineering Leaders to Build Successful Products	April 3, 2025

Lourdes Martinez Villasenor, PhD	Ethical Design of Intelligent Systems for Healthcare	February 20, 2025
Janette Mendez-Santioago, PhD	Managing Major Projects in a Multicultural / International Environment	November 14, 2024
Bryan Hassin ’01, ’02	CEO, DexMat	October 10, 2024
Sandy Anuras ‘01	Engineering Great Technology Teams: Balancing technical brilliance with human humility	March 21, 2024
Karen Pieper	What I Wish I’d Know: Learning to learn when BIG career change happens	January 18, 2024
Doug Turlip	Blooming Where You Are Planted	November 9, 2023
C. Fred Higgs, III	Blooming Where You Are PlantedI-4 Engineering Leadership: Getting the most out of the Rice MEML experience	March 30, 2023