image: Naomi Halas, Peter Nordlander and Hossein Robajatzi
Credit: Rice University
Naomi Halas, University Professor ⎯ Rice University’s highest academic distinction ⎯ and Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been awarded the 2026 Hill Prize in Engineering, presented by the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology (TAMEST).
Halas shares the honor with longtime collaborator Peter Nordlander, the Wiess Chair and Professor of Physics and Astronomy and professor of electrical and computer engineering and materials science and nanoengineering, and Hossein Robajatzi, vice president for research at Syzygy Plasmonics and an adjunct professor of chemistry at Rice.
The team was recognized for its work advancing light-driven technologies for sustainable ammonia synthesis, a long-standing challenge with implications for agriculture, energy and climate. Ammonia is essential for fertilizer production and is increasingly viewed as a promising hydrogen carrier and fuel, yet its conventional production relies on the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process, a major source of global greenhouse gas emissions. The Hill Prize will enable the team to work on improving light-based catalysts and reactor prototypes while forging collaborations with industry partners to scale up sustainable ammonia production processes.
The project builds on decades of foundational research by Halas and Nordlander in nanophotonics and plasmonics, which laid the scientific groundwork for antenna-reactor photocatalysts ⎯ nanoscale systems that use light to directly drive chemical reactions. That research also underpins Syzygy Plasmonics, a Houston-based startup founded on technology developed at Rice. The company’s approach combines advanced photocatalysts with innovative reactor design to enable light-driven production of ammonia and other industrially important chemicals without external heating or direct emissions.
Funded by Lyda Hill Philanthropies, the Hill Prizes recognize exceptional Texas-based innovators pursuing high-risk, high-reward research with the potential for broad societal impact in seven categories, including artificial intelligence, biological sciences, engineering, medicine, physical sciences, public health and technology. The 2026 recipients will be recognized at the opening reception of the TAMEST 2026 Annual Conference in San Antonio Feb. 2.
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This news release can be found online at news.rice.edu.
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About Rice:
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of architecture, business, continuing studies, engineering and computing, humanities, music, natural sciences and social sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. Internationally, the university maintains the Rice Global Paris Center, a hub for innovative collaboration, research and inspired teaching located in the heart of Paris. With 4,776 undergraduates and 4,104 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 7 for best-run colleges by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by the Wall Street Journal and is included on Forbes’ exclusive list of “New Ivies.”