Welcome Class of 2028!
Greetings from the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership (RCEL)! We are delighted to welcome you to Rice. We hope all of you explore and embrace the myriad opportunities Rice provides during your time here.
My name is Nathan Morriss and I have the privilege of being the 2024-2025 RCEL Student Director. I am a senior majoring in mechanical engineering and am pursuing the RCEL certificate in engineering leadership.
As Student Director, I head RCEL’s student-led initiatives and work with the Co-Directors to foster community within RCEL. Today, I want to share how RCEL has helped me go from an unengaged and unconfident freshman to leading several organizations on campus.
- RCEL empowers you to be a leader.
Leadership CAN be taught! The foundation of any great leader begins with knowing one’s self. The first course in RCEL focuses on self-awareness and understanding how our unique strengths can be leveraged to lead. - RCEL lets you practice and refine your skills.
While half of RCEL courses are taught in seminar style, the other half involves interactive labs, role plays, and short team exercises intended to allow hands-on experience in leading. These environments provide safe spaces to receive feedback and see what leadership styles work for you! - RCEL provides ample mentorship and networking opportunities.
RCEL frequently welcomes industry professionals in the classroom where they engage with students in role plays and offer invaluable feedback afterwards. RCEL also hosts prominent engineering leaders from varying professions, such as their Women in STEM panel and Rice Engineering Leader Speaker Series. You also have the opportunity to receive coaching from assigned industry professionals and receive mentoring from upperclassmen as well. - RCEL can fit into any schedule!
The Certificate is only 11 credit hours and can be condensed into two years of schooling or spread out across four. The topics covered can supplement any engineering major and aid in any club. RCEL also offers several other ways to get involved, from our student leadership organization to attending the Air Force Academy and Naval Academy leadership conferences.
Entering university, I never imagined I would possess the skills to lead some of the incredibly talented individuals Rice contains. RCEL has allowed me invaluable opportunities to grow as an individual and as a leader; experiences that I cherish and takeaways I will carry with me for years to come. With an engineering degree, you’ll have the technical expertise for your profession, but RCEL will give you the skills to realize your aspirations and make a difference globally.
Feel free to reach out to me at njm6@rice.edu if you have any questions. Have a great freshman year and I hope to meet you soon!
Nathan Morriss is a senior mechanical engineering major from Texarkana, TX and a member of Hanszen college. Throughout his time at Rice, he has been active in RCEL’s student leadership and is thrilled to be this year’s student director. Nathan loves all things bikes, working at the student-run Rice Bikes shop and sitting as the VP of Triathlon for Rice’s Cycling and Triathlon Club (RUCT). He also holds leadership positions within the student ministry Cru.