Meet Autumn Bruncz. Bruncz is a second year Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University. Bruncz is from Alabama 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.
Bruncz chose Rice as a graduate school because of her passion for doing research from previous research experiences during her time as an undergraduate. Her research focuses on quantifying the fundamental properties of metallic nanoparticles.
When she is not conducting research, she serves in various leadership roles within the Rice community. She is a part of the Queer Graduate Student Association (QGSA) and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduate Student Association (ECEGSA) on campus.
Bruncz advises prospective students not to limit their curiosity and to ask questions about everything.
“The graduate students you talk to have been in your position before and have gone through the same experiences and can help you get a better picture of what life is really like at Rice inside and outside the lab and office,” said Bruncz.
Bruncz advises current students that the best advice to get through graduate school is to always “plan ahead and be extra prepared.”
Outside of academics, Bruncz enjoys the fun events that are always happening on campus and going to Valhalla.
Bruncz is also a Game of Thrones fanatic who named her cat Jaime, after the character Jaime Lannister from the show.
Graduate ambassadors can be contacted via email at gradambassadors@rice.edu. Autumn Bruncz can be contacted directly by email at arb26@rice.edu.