Rice WaTER Institute Industrial Affiliates Program

The RWI Industrial Affiliates Program provides a mechanism to connect Rice water researchers with companies at all levels of the water value chain in a pre-competitive environment. Industrial members benefit by gaining exposure to cutting-edge insights with relevance to their R&D priorities. Faculty and students benefit by learning industrial needs that can shape their research agenda. One intent of the Program is to connect multiple companies with shared research needs to form consortia with faculty research groups. Another intent is to encourage sponsored research agreements between individual companies and faculty who have expertise in the Affiliate’s priority areas. Membership benefits do not include a statement of work, deliverables, or rights to intellectual property which are negotiated individually with each project. More details about the Rice Water Institute can be found at https://water.rice.edu/about-institute.

Sponsored Research

The Rice WaTER Institute Partnership Program offers companies, government entities, and non-profit organizations the opportunity to directly collaborate with Rice University faculty who are advancing transformative solutions in water security and sustainability. Through co-developed research aligned with shared priorities, Partners gain access to world-class expertise, breakthrough technologies, and a community dedicated to creating resilient, equitable water systems locally and globally.

As a WaTER Institute Partner, your organization becomes closely connected to Rice’s interdisciplinary research, education, and student talent focused on the water sector. Partners benefit from meaningful opportunities for technical exchange, thought leadership, innovation scouting, professional development, and access to emerging water-sector entrepreneurs and startups.

Rice researchers are driven to solve real-world water challenges—from infrastructure resilience and climate impacts to water treatment, data, and governance. Through coordinated, executive-level engagement, the WaTER Institute works with Partners to define strategic needs, frame research questions, and build a collaborative portfolio that accelerates impact. Partners are also connected to a broader network of Rice initiatives, centers, and innovations shaping the future of water.

We are committed to long-term, coordinated engagement with a select group of Partners representing the diverse needs of water users and stakeholders. Unlike isolated, one-off projects, the Partnership Program offers sustained relationship management by senior Institute leadership, including:

Identifying new research opportunities and faculty collaborators

Prioritizing and facilitating efficient engagement with Rice researchers

Supporting proposal development aligned with partner goals

The WaTER Institute helps steer project budgets, scopes of work, milestones, and deliverables to ensure measurable outcomes. A master research agreement streamlines contracting and technology commercialization, enabling licensing opportunities for solutions co-developed through these collaborations.

Partners also enrich the broader innovation ecosystem at Rice. In addition to sponsored research, Partnership support fuels seed grants for early-stage technology development, graduate training in water systems science and engineering, and multidisciplinary convenings such as workshops, conferences, and expert panels that advance shared understanding and influence the sector.

• Comprehensive project oversight from launch to completion

Sponsoring RWI

Invest in Water Security and Resilience

Communities, philanthropic organizations, and governments around the world are confronting escalating risks to water security as populations grow, infrastructure ages, and climate impacts intensify. The Rice WaTER Institute is leading research and partnerships that address these most urgent challenges—developing advanced water treatment technologies, monitoring systems for water quality, predictive modeling for climate resilience, sustainable infrastructure design, and new implementation strategies that ensure solutions reach the communities that need them most.

With Rice University’s collaborative strengths and global reach, the WaTER Institute serves as a hub for innovation, bringing together scientists, engineers, social scientists, and policy experts. Our convening power enables us to host impactful events—from technical workshops to global stakeholder forums—that accelerate the adoption of research into practice.

Your Gift Accelerates Impact

Philanthropic support from foundations, alumni, and friends fuels the mission of the Rice WaTER Institute. When you invest in our work, you are driving progress that strengthens water equity, availability, and resilience for people and ecosystems locally and worldwide.

WaTER Institute Research Fund

Gifts to the RWI Research Fund directly support initiatives that:

Launch transformative research through seed grants that ignite new ideas across the water sector

Develop future leaders by funding graduate fellowships and experiential learning opportunities

Your contribution empowers Rice researchers and students to generate lasting solutions that ensure secure, sustainable water for all.

• Advance real-world solutions via workshops, conferences, and policy engagement that scale technology and inform governance

• Inspire student innovation by supporting water-focused student organizations, competitions, and entrepreneurial pathways

• Enhance education and outreach through curriculum development, community partnerships, and strategic communications

Supporting Start Ups

Rice WaTER Solutions Program

Accelerating Water Innovation from Discovery to Deployment

The Rice WaTER Solutions Program supports translational research that advances promising technologies from the lab into real-world application. By providing targeted funding, entrepreneurial mentorship, and pathways to commercialization, Solutions grants empower Rice faculty and students to bring breakthrough water innovations to market—where they can strengthen the resilience, equity, and sustainability of water systems globally.

Our program fuels the development of new products, services, and startups emerging from Rice research. From advanced treatment and monitoring technologies to nature-based infrastructure and decision-support tools, Rice innovators are driving practical solutions that make water safer, more reliable, and more affordable for communities and industries.

The Rice Office of Technology Transfer partners closely with the WaTER Institute to streamline intellectual property licensing and support commercialization strategies. Solutions Program sponsors also gain early visibility into a growing pipeline of water startups and investment opportunities originating from Rice.

By bridging research excellence with entrepreneurial action, the Rice WaTER Solutions Program accelerates impact where it matters most—delivering water security for all.

Specific Water Challenges

Rice WaTER Research Consortia

Collaborating to Solve Sector-Defining Water Challenges

The Rice WaTER Institute is launching a series of topic-focused research consortia designed to convene key stakeholders around the most urgent science, technology, and policy questions shaping the future of water. These consortia unite resources and expertise across sectors to support rigorous, multidisciplinary analysis and to catalyze innovation where it is most needed.

Consortia may focus on areas such as climate-resilient water infrastructure, industrial water reuse, coastal and urban flooding, nature-based solutions, and equitable access to safe drinking water. Each initiative identifies research priorities, emerging technology needs, and critical policy pathways that can accelerate real-world progress.

Participation is pre-competitive, encouraging broad involvement from companies, government agencies, foundations, NGOs, and thought leaders across the water sector. Consortium membership offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional sponsored research while still providing meaningful engagement with Rice experts, including:

Involvement in expert workshops and technical convenings

Opportunities to influence best practices and research agendas

By joining a Rice WaTER Institute Research Consortium, members help shape the solutions that will secure resilient, sustainable water systems for communities and industries worldwide.

• Insights into emerging technologies and policy directions

• Early, pre-publication access to research findings

Supporting Students, Next Generation of Water Leaders

Investing in the Next Generation of Water Leaders

The Rice WaTER Institute is committed to expanding support for students who are driving high-impact research in water resilience and security. Graduate fellowships have a transformative effect—enabling Rice to attract and train exceptional students who will go on to tackle global challenges such as water quality, climate adaptation, infrastructure resilience, and equitable access to safe water.

Fellowships provide comprehensive support, including tuition, health insurance, and a living stipend. Beyond financial assistance, WaTER Institute Fellows benefit from mentorship, applied learning opportunities, engagement with policy and industry leaders, and exposure to the full breadth of interdisciplinary water science, engineering, and policy research at Rice.

Our goal is to cultivate a diverse community of future leaders who will shape water solutions in academia, public agencies, non-profits, and the private sector—regionally and around the world.

Fellowship gifts may support water research broadly or be targeted to specific themes aligned with donor interests. Endowed fellowship and naming opportunities are available for supporters looking to make a permanent impact on water’s future.

Together, we can empower the talent that will secure water for generations to come.

Membership Benefits

• Participation in the Annual Meeting and quarterly Distinguished Lecture Series to engage with faculty, students and other companies
• Access to the NEWT Alliance which includes researchers and facilities at Yale, Arizona State and the University of Texas – El Paso (NEWT Alliance is the continuation of the influential NSF funded NEWT Engineering Research Center)
• Invitations to Workshops and Symposia
• Sponsored research projects under a separate agreement that may include preferred cost sharing
• Opportunity to form pre-competitive research consortia with other industry members and research institutes.
• Access to test beds utilized for sponsored research
• Opportunities to recruit students
• On‐location short courses or seminars tailored to the industrial affiliate’s needs

Expectations for Industrial Affiliates

• Each company is expected to name a representative to participate on the Rice WaTER Institute’s Advisory Board for periodic consultation on Institute policy and strategy. We also encourage active participation in Institute events.

• There is no annual fee, however, we do require the one-time signing of a membership agreement that identifies expected roles and responsibilities and basic confidentiality terms.

If you are interested in partnering with the Rice WaTER Institute, please contact Executive Director, Eric.Willman@rice.edu.