Connection Creation

Every year, in line with our goal of building meaningful, diverse connections, we host a variety of sustainability-focused events. This includes three designated “Outreach Activities,” CWC-tailored events designed to maximize the interest and passion we can create for renewable energy.

Historically, these activities and events have included information/recruiting sessions with our industry partners (learn more below!), interdisciplinary panels featuring industry professionals, collaborations with other universities, and educational visits to local Houston institutions.

Through this approach, we hope to inspire a well-rounded understanding of the many aspects of wind energy, educating people and inspiring them to make a difference in related fields.

We recognize that the future of the energy transition is dependent on the size, passion, and expertise of the future renewable energy workforce. As such, we work to create an extensive advertising campaign that covers not just what we do, but why we do it. On social media, our posts range from team updates and general announcements to leads bios and fun, sustainability-focused reels.

In the 2024–2025 competition year, we greatly expanded our online presence. We made our first-ever posts on Rice Wind Energy’s LinkedIn page, providing a more professional online presence and contributing to our reach and team member visibility to professionals in the renewable energy industry. This was also the year we founded the official team website, which now serves as a central hub for the team’s goals, history, progress, and accomplishments.

One of our key objectives on the Connection Creation team is engaging with a wide variety of stakeholders to diversify our network and create more opportunities for Rice Wind Energy.

Given the importance of maintaining industry connections to our goal of inspiring others to engage in the energy transition, we partner annually with industry-leading companies such as GE Vernova and EDP Renewables to host campus-wide information/recruiting events.

Additionally, we regularly interview wind industry professionals to gain direct insight into their positions, why they enjoy it, and their advice for aspiring Rice Wind Energy members.

In 2024–2025, we introduced the leadership position of “Subteam Outreach Representative” (SOR) for students from every non-CC subteam (Blades, Mechanical, Controls, Generator, and Project Development).

SORs perform the role of a Connection Creation team member, attending weekly team meetings and helping plan events. However, they also lead brainstorming sessions within their subteams, provide subteam-specific technical insights into CC initiatives, and perform subteam-specific tasks. This collaboration strengthens our outreach strategy with a more holistic perspective and fosters stronger bonds across all subteams.