Meet Rice’s Graduate Ambassador Marquise Bell
Meet Marquise Bell. Bell is a third year Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Rice University. Bell is from Texas and is a Rice Graduate Ambassador. Ambassadors are students who represent the university and help prospective students gain knowledge of student life as a graduate student at Rice.
Bell chose Rice as a graduate school because of his career goals and vision to provide representation for other Black students who desire to pursue higher education. His research focuses on developing multifunctional textile-based materials and understanding their mechanical, thermodynamic, and heat transfer processes for wearable applications. He specifically works on helping make materials that can be used in astronaut spacesuits in the future.
When he is not conducting research, he serves in various leadership roles within the Rice community. He is a part of the Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA), the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student Association (Mech GSA), the Mechanical Engineering Diversity and Inclusion Committee member, and a GPS Pathways Mentor on campus. Bell is also a National GEM Consortium and a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity (NSTGRO) Fellow.
Bell advises prospective students to apply even if they do not have undergraduate research experience.
“It can be difficult to get into graduate programs without it, but it is not a definite requirement,” said Bell.
Bell also advises prospective students to make the choices that best align with them during the application process.
“Be certain in what you want and with what you are seeking,” said Bell. “Don’t try to conform your needs on what you think will get you in.”
Bell advises current students to run their own race and try not to compare themselves and their progress to others.
“Everyone's research path is unique and unlike any other,” said Bell. “Progress comes in waves and it's important to celebrate the wins, no matter the size, along the way.”
Outside of academics, Bell enjoys eating at Aga’s and XiaoLongKan. Bell also likes to go to Slowpokes for coffee and Levy Park to read.
Bell co-founded the Hirschi Men Can Scholarship for his high school and built two backyard rollercoasters between the ages of 13 and 17 in hopes of working for Walt Disney Imagineering.
Graduate ambassadors can be contacted via email at gradambassadors@rice.edu. Marquise Bell can be contacted directly by email at mdb16@rice.edu.
