Houston students develop underwater robot with energy-efficient buoyancy control

new tech

The project was part of a year-long senior design capstone by six students, known as Team Bay-Max, in Rice's Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen. Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

A team of Rice University engineering students has developed a new way for underwater robots to move around, save power and work more efficiently and quietly.

The robot uses reversible hydrogen fuel cell-based buoyancy control devices that convert water into hydrogen and oxygen (and the reverse) using electricity. Traditional underwater robots use thrusters or large pumps and propellers to change and hold depth, which can be heavy, have higher costs and use more energy. The use of reversible hydrogen fuel cells with balloons, allows the new robot to smoothly adjust its depth with less energy usage, according to a statement from Rice.

The project was part of a year-long senior design capstone by six students, known as Team Bay-Max, in Rice's Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen.

The students—Andrew Bare, Spencer Darwall, Noah Elzner, Rafe Neathery, Ethan Peck and Dan Zislis— won second place in the Willy Revolution Award for Outstanding Innovation at the Huff OEDK Engineering Design Showcase held at the Ion last month.

“Having spent a year on it now and putting so much time into it, getting to see the result of all that work come together is really rewarding,” Peck said in the statement.

“With a project like this, integration was critical,” Zislis added. “Another takeaway for me is the importance of determining a clear scope for any given project. With this robot, we could have focused on a lot of different things. For instance, we could have worked on improving fuel cell efficiency or making a robotic arm. Instead, we chose to keep these other elements simple so as not to divert focus away from the main part, which is the buoyancy control device. This kind of decision-making process is not just part of good engineering, but it’s relevant with everything in life.”

Elzner, for instance, focused on the dashboard that the robot feeds information to as it collects data from different sensors. It displays core system information, real-time graphs of the robot’s location and a simulation of its relative orientation, according to the statement.

Darwall, took a " deep dive into control theory and learn(ed) new software" to incorporate the video game joystick that allows the robot to combine manual control with an automatic stabilizing algorithm.

The proof-of-concept robot has potential applications in environmental monitoring, oceanographic research, and military and industrial tasks, according to Rice.

The team based the project on an academic paper by Houston researchers that showed that fuel cell-enabled depth control could reduce autonomous underwater vehicles’ energy consumption by as much as 85 percent.

It was authored by Rice professor Fathi Ghorbel and members of the University of Houston's Zheng Chen lab.

“This collaborative research aims to develop tetherless continuum soft engines that utilize reversible proton exchange membrane fuel cells and water electrolyzers to drive volume-mass transformation," Ghorbel said in a statement. "Through this design project, the BayMax team proved the efficacy of this technology in AUV interaction with the physical world.”

Ghorbel, Rice mechanical engineering lecturer David Trevas, and Professor in the Practice, Electrical and Computer and Engineering Gary Woods mentored the team.

Last month Rice also held its 24th annual Rice Business Plan Competition, doling out more than $1.5 million in investment and cash prizes to the top teams. Click here to see what student-led startups took home awards.
From Your Site Articles
The gift sets up a scholarship, an endowed chair, and a lecture series. Photo via UH.edu

University of Houston receives $6.5M to go toward supporting equity, social justice, and more

funding moves

A recent gift to the University of Houston will provide support to a couple colleges on campus, including an endowed chair, a scholarship, and a lecture series.

Thomas Michael Panos Family Estate donated $4.5 million — and was matched with an additional $2 million by the University's new "$100 Million Challenge" Aspire Fund. It's the first matched gift of the new fund. The gift includes $2 million to create the Panos Family Endowed Chair in Mechanical Engineering, $2 million to establish a scholarship endowment beginning in 2022 to support need- and merit-based scholarships for full-time undergraduate or graduate students across UH, and $500,000 to support "The Panos Family Endowed Lecture in Equity and Social Justice" in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

"We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of the Thomas Michael Panos Family Estate. This significant gift will not only help fuel academic success through innovation and discovery, but will support our ability to recruit renowned faculty and expand thought leadership," says Paula Myrick Short, UH senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, in the release. "The additional support for an equity and social justice lecture series is an especially timely and important part of our efforts to increase visibility around these issues."

Thomas Michael Panos emigrated to Houston from Greece and only had a sixth-grade education. His sons — Mike and Gus Panos — both earned college degrees in engineering.

"They were the kind of people who would help anybody," says Scott Harbers, who lived next door to the Panos family decades ago in what is now Midtown Houston, in the release. "As a family of immigrants, I know they would appreciate the diversity of the student body at the University of Houston. They had a tremendous interest in education and equal rights. I'm hopeful that this gift will help advance the lives of students who need help to complete their studies."

The $100 Million Challenge initiative was established in fall of 2019 thanks to an anonymous $50 million donation to the school, and the campaign is set on inspiring another $50 million in support of four areas that will address issues with major societal impact: sustainable energy and energy security, resilient infrastructure and smart cities, population health, and global engagement. Donors who commit $2 million to go toward an endowed chair will have their gifts matched through the program.

"The '$100 Million Challenge' is a transformational initiative to propel our academic enterprise to unprecedented levels of distinction, and this first matching gift launches us," says Eloise Brice, vice president for university advancement, in the release. "The work and research being done at UH, and accelerated through the Challenge, will have a tremendous impact on the quality of life for all Houstonians."

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Houston-area lab grows with focus on mobile diagnostics and predictive medicine

mobile medicine

When it comes to healthcare, access can be a matter of life and death. And for patients in skilled nursing facilities, assisted living or even their own homes, the ability to get timely diagnostic testing is not just a convenience, it’s a necessity.

That’s the problem Principle Health Systems (PHS) set out to solve.

Founded in 2016 in Clear Lake, Texas, PHS began as a conventional laboratory but quickly pivoted to mobile diagnostics, offering everything from core blood work and genetic testing to advanced imaging like ultrasounds, echocardiograms, and X-rays.

“We were approached by a group in a local skilled nursing facility to provide services, and we determined pretty quickly there was a massive need in this area,” says James Dieter, founder, chairman and CEO of PHS. “Turnaround time is imperative. These facilities have an incredibly sick population, and of course, they lack mobility to get the care that they need.”

What makes PHS unique is not only what they do, but where they do it. While they operate one of the largest labs serving skilled nursing facilities in the state, their mobile teams go wherever patients are, whether that’s a nursing home, a private residence or even a correctional facility.

Diagnostics, Dieter says, are at the heart of medical decision-making.

“Seventy to 80 percent of all medical decisions are made from diagnostic results in lab and imaging,” he says. “The diagnostic drives the doctor’s or the provider’s next move. When we recognized a massive slowdown in lab results, we had to innovate to do it faster.”

Innovation at PHS isn’t just about speed; it’s about accessibility and precision.

Chris Light, COO, explains: “For stat testing, we use bedside point-of-care instruments. Our phlebotomists take those into the facilities, test at the bedside, and get results within minutes, rather than waiting days for results to come back from a core lab.”

Scaling a mobile operation across multiple states isn’t simple, but PHS has expanded into nine states, including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Arizona. Their model relies on licensed mobile phlebotomists, X-ray technologists and sonographers, all trained to provide high-level care outside traditional hospital settings.

The financial impact for patients is significant. Instead of ambulance rides and ER visits costing thousands, PHS services often cost just a fraction, sometimes only tens or hundreds of dollars.

“Traditionally, without mobile diagnostics, the patient would be loaded into a transportation vehicle, typically an ambulance, and taken to a hospital,” Dieter says. “Our approach is a fraction of the cost but brings care directly to the patients.”

The company has also embraced predictive and personalized medicine, offering genetic tests that guide medication decisions and laboratory tests that predict cognitive decline from conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson’s.

“We actively look for complementary services to improve patient outcomes,” Dieter says. “Precision medicine and predictive testing have been a great value-add for our providers.”

Looking to the future, PHS sees mobile healthcare as part of a larger trend toward home-based care.

“There’s an aging population that still lives at home with caretakers,” Dieter explains. “We go into the home every day, whether it’s an apartment, a standalone home, or assisted living. The goal is to meet patients where they are and reduce the need for hospitalization.”

Light highlighted another layer of innovation: predictive guidance.

“We host a lot of data, and labs and imaging drive most treatment decisions,” Light says. “We’re exploring how to deploy diagnostics immediately based on results, eliminating hours of delay and keeping patients healthier longer.”

Ultimately, innovation at PHS isn’t just about technology; it’s about equity.

“There’s an 11-year life expectancy gap between major metro areas and rural Texas,” Dieter says. “Our innovation has been leveling the field, so everyone has access to high-quality diagnostics and care, regardless of where they live.”

Aegis Aerospace appoints Houston space leader as new president

moving up

Houston-based Aegis Aerospace's current chief strategy officer, Matt Ondler, will take on the additional role of president on Jan. 1. Ondler will succeed Bill Hollister, who is retiring.

“Matt's vision, experience, and understanding of our evolving markets position us to build on our foundation and pursue new frontiers,” Stephanie Murphy, CEO of Aegis Aerospace, said in a news release.

Hollister guided Aegis Aerospace through expansion and innovation in his three years as president, and will continue to serve in the role of chief technology officer (CTO) for six months and focus on the company's technical and intellectual property frameworks.

"Bill has played an instrumental role in shaping the success and growth of our company, and his contributions leave an indelible mark on both our culture and our achievements," Murphy said in a news release.

Ondler has a background in space hardware development and strategic leadership in government and commercial sectors. Ondler founded subsea robots and software company Houston Mechatronics, Inc., now known as Nauticus Robotics, and also served as president, CTO and CSO during a five-year tenure at Axiom Space. He held various roles in his 25 years at NASA and was also named to the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium Executive Committee last year.

"I am confident that with Matt at the helm as president and Bill supporting us as CTO, we will continue to build on our strong foundation and further elevate our impact in the space industry," Murphy said in a news release. "Matt's vision, experience, and understanding of our evolving markets position us to build on our foundation and pursue new frontiers."

Rice University launches new center to study roots of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

neuro research

Rice University launched its new Amyloid Mechanism and Disease Center last month, which aims to uncover the molecular origins of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other amyloid-related diseases.

The center will bring together Rice faculty in chemistry, biophysics, cell biology and biochemistry to study how protein aggregates called amyloids form, spread and harm brain cells. It will serve as the neuroscience branch of the Rice Brain Institute, which was also recently established.

The team will work to ultimately increase its understanding of amyloid processes and will collaborate with the Texas Medical Center to turn lab discoveries into real progress for patients. It will hold its launch event on Jan. 21, 2026, and hopes to eventually be a launchpad for future external research funding.

The new hub will be led by Pernilla Wittung-Stafshed, a Rice biophysicist and the Charles W. Duncan Jr.-Welch Chair in Chemistry.

“To make a real difference, we have to go all the way and find a cure,” Wittung-Stafshede said in a news release. “At Rice, with the Amyloid Mechanism and Disease Center as a catalyst, we have the people and ideas to open new doors toward solutions.”

Wittung-Stafshede, who was recruited to Rice through a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas grant this summer, has led pioneering work on how metal-binding proteins impact neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Her most recent study, published in Advanced Science, suggests a new way of understanding how amyloids may harm cells and consume the brain’s energy molecule, ATP.

According to Alzheimer’s Disease International, neurodegenerative disease cases could reach around 78 million by 2030 and 139 million by 2050. Wittung-Stafshede’s father died of dementia several years ago.

“This is close to my heart,” Wittung-Stafshede added in the news release. “Neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are on the rise as people live longer, and age is the largest risk factor. It affects everyone.”
View All Listings