David Ruth

Rice University
Latest in Product Development
The Hidden Costs of Standing Still
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The Hidden Costs of Standing Still
October 1, 2026
Large agricultural drone with orange payload container hovering above dry field under clear blue sky
'StarGate' Aerial Medical Evacuation Drone Could Transform Battlefield
October 16, 2026
CORSAIR gaming device with white and red design on dark background
Tesla's New Roadster Can Thrust Itself in the Air
October 16, 2026
GM Defense UGV unmanned ground vehicle concept in sage green with autonomous capabilities on stormy landscape
GM's UGV Concept Kills the Cabin for Unmanned Defense
October 15, 2026
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This is illustration shows how a triboelectric generator embedded in a shoe would produce electricity as a person walked.
Product Development
New Power Management System Boosts Energy-Harvesting
According to technology experts, the meshing of devices, apps and perhaps other technologies will simplify the movement of information across previously isolated networks, systems and devices.
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Will 2016 Bring an Even Bigger Mesh?
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Tubular Cable Conveyor Test Lab Completed
Financial Storytelling in the Age of AI
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Financial Storytelling in the Age of AI
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The 2026 AI-Powered Financial Analysis Handbook
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The 2026 AI-Powered Financial Analysis Handbook
Several actions you can take right now to win with AI.
October 1, 2026
A face made of a unique polymer at Rice University takes shape when cooled and flattens when heated. The material may be useful in the creation of soft robots and for biomedical applications.
Product Development
Shape-Shifting Face
Some have even called this morphing material 'mighty'.
January 7, 2019
Rice University graduate student Gladys López-Silva holds a lithium metal anode with a film of carbon nanotubes. Once the film is attached, it becomes infiltrated by lithium ions and turns red.
Product Development
Nanotubes Could Give World Better Batteries
Thin nanotube films effectively stop dendrites that grow naturally from unprotected lithium metal anodes in batteries.
October 26, 2018
Laser-induced graphene is a highly conductive addition to a piece of bread. A Rice University lab is using an industrial laser to write graphene patterns on everyday objects, including food, cloth, cardboard and wood.
Product Development
Do You Take Graphene With Your Toast?
Researchers create patterned graphene onto food, paper, cloth, cardboard.
February 16, 2018
Rice University researchers led by graduate student Dylan Losey want to help humans and robots collaborate by enabling interactive tasks like rehabilitation, surgery and training programs in which environments are less predictable. In early studies, Losey and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, used gentle feedback to train a robot arm to manipulate a coffee cup in real time.
Product Development
Engineers Refine Collaborative Robots
Like toddlers, robots can use a little help as they learn to function in the physical world.
December 5, 2017
Indented tobermorite, a natural analog to the calcium-silicate-hydrate mix in cement, responds differently than bulk tobermorite, depending on the size of the indentation and the force. Layers that bond through indentation remain that way after the force is removed, according to Rice University engineers.
Product Development
Unique Properties Found in Indented Cement
How tiny indentations can benefit the crystals in concrete.
July 20, 2017
Rice University engineers have built a lab prototype of a flat microscope they are developing as part of DARPA's Neural Engineering System Design project. The microscope will sit on the surface of the brain, where it will detect optical signals from neurons in the cortex. The goal is to provide an alternate path for sight and sound to be delivered directly to the brain.
Product Development
Team Develops Microscope for Your Brain
They want to design a new way for sight and sound to be delivered directly to the brain.
July 14, 2017
The internal components of a battery-less pacemaker introduced this week by Rice University and the Texas Heart Institute. The pacemaker can be inserted into the heart and powered by a battery pack outside the body, eliminating the need for wire leads and surgeries to occasionally replace the battery.
Product Development
Team Debuts Battery-Less Pacemaker
It harvests energy wirelessly from radio frequency radiation transmitted by an external battery pack.
June 6, 2017
Lithium metal coats the hybrid graphene and carbon nanotube anode in a battery created at Rice University. The lithium metal coats the three-dimensional structure of the anode and avoids forming dendrites.
Product Development
Graphene-Nanotube Hybrid Boots Batteries
These new prototypes store three times the energy of lithium-ion batteries.
May 19, 2017
Molecules that alight on a surface used to test nanocars look more like obstacles, according to researchers at Rice University and North Carolina State University testing the mobility of single-molecule cars in open air.
Product Development
Nanocars Taken for a Rough Ride
If you're driving a nanocar on the open road, things are bound to get sticky.
June 2, 2016
Test samples show a graphene nanoribbon-based film developed at Rice University with both passive and active de-icing properties. When the film at left is heated without an application of lubricants, ice melts but water droplets remain on the surface. With lubricants, at right, ice begins to melt and slides off. The material may be suitable for de-icing and anti-icing applications in extreme environments.
Product Development
Graphene De-icer for Aircraft
The new material still melts ice from wings and wires when conditions get too cold, but if it's +7°F, ice won't form at all.
May 23, 2016
A toothpaste-like composite with hexagonal boron nitride developed at Rice University is an effective electrolyte and separator in lithium-ion batteries intended for high-temperature applications.
Product Development
Compound Helps Lithium Batteries
New ‘white graphene’ allows lithium-ion batteries to set one of the widest temperature ranges ever reported.
April 11, 2016
Rice University scientists embedded graphene nanoribbon-infused epoxy in a section of helicopter blade to test its ability to remove ice through Joule heating.
Product Development
Graphene Could Keep Ice Off of Wings
Rice University develops conductive material to heat surfaces, simplify ice removal.
January 25, 2016
Rice University postdoctoral researcher Pei Dong holds a sample of SAC, a new form of self-adapting composite. The material has the ability to heal itself and to regain its original shape after extraordinary compression.
Product Development
Rice Develops Self-Healing, Flexible Composite
An adaptive material invented at Rice University combines self-healing and reversible self-stiffening properties.
January 11, 2016