owl95
1st String
Posts: 1,138
Joined: Sep 2010
Reputation: 28
I Root For: Rice
Location:
|
A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
I told this story to George Webb last night, but I figured I'd share with the board.
I'm going to go into a bit of a long-winded story, so if you want to skip that, the TL:DR version is that Amit Patel of Google fame, employee #6 and one of the guys credited with their slogan "Don't be evil" is a Rice alum and got a CS degree either in 1993 or 1994. He's usually referred to as a Stanford guy because that's where he went to grad school and where he met the Google founders. I don't see him mention Rice that often in his interviews, but here is some proof he actually went to Rice(well besides the fact that I met him a couple times while we were students).
http://www.cs.rice.edu/~greiner/icpc.html
He's on the 1992 team.
My story relating to this is that in 1991 when I was a freshman at Baker, my roommates got me into playing BBS door games. BBSes were a bit of a subculture prior to the Internet. A BBS or Bulletin Board System, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log into the system using a terminal program. Back in those days you connected with a modem and the owner of the BBS ran a system with multiple lines for more than 1 simultaneous user. Anyways Amit had written a very famous BBS door game called Solar Realms Elite(SRE), that my roommates and I were very addicted to. It was pretty much on every BBS. I knew the guy that wrote it was at Rice and one day I met him and we talked about it a bit, since we were both CS majors. So, I have always known that SRE Amit Patel was a Rice alum. Years later, I read about Google Amit Patel from Stanford, and I wondered if they were in fact the same person. This was kinda hard to track down because Amit doesn't talk about Rice that much, but this article pretty much pulls it all together:
http://breakintochat.com/blog/2013/02/18...lms-elite/
I guess the really interesting part is when he says he sold enough copies of SRE to pay for all 4 years of his tuition. That's pretty cool. I don't know if anyone knew we had such a famous alum in the Tech industry. Someone should reach out to him and try to get him involved in Rice alumni activities. And I mean someone who knows him better than I do :).
|
|
09-14-2014 10:19 PM |
|
Almadenmike
Hall of Famer
Posts: 20,604
Joined: Jul 2005
Reputation: 161
I Root For: Rice Owls
Location: San Jose, Calif.
|
RE: A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
(09-14-2014 10:19 PM)owl95 Wrote: ... Amit Patel of Google fame, employee #6 and one of the guys credited with their slogan "Don't be evil" is a Rice alum and got a CS degree either in 1993 or 1994.
Amit Jayant Patel is a 1994 Rice B.A. graduate, summa c*m laude.
His Stanford web page (which is still viewable) describes his work on Solar Realms Elite, but has no mention of Rice. I wonder why.
(This post was last modified: 09-15-2014 12:08 AM by Almadenmike.)
|
|
09-15-2014 12:06 AM |
|
Tomball Owl
Hall of Famer
Posts: 12,527
Joined: Oct 2005
Reputation: 71
I Root For: Rice Owls
Location: Comal County
|
RE: A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
When I first read this thread title, I thought Rice had a satellite campus in College Station I didn't know about.
|
|
09-15-2014 10:07 AM |
|
owl95
1st String
Posts: 1,138
Joined: Sep 2010
Reputation: 28
I Root For: Rice
Location:
|
RE: A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
(09-15-2014 10:07 AM)Tomball Owl Wrote: When I first read this thread title, I thought Rice had a satellite campus in College Station I didn't know about.
We have satellite campuses?
|
|
09-15-2014 10:09 AM |
|
Barrett
All American
Posts: 2,584
Joined: Jun 2005
Reputation: 71
I Root For: Rice, SJS
Location: Houston / River Oaks
|
RE: A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
I know a guy who transferred to Rice from Brown University. He was at Brown one year, at Rice three years (and graduated with a Rice degree). He enjoyed his time at Rice, and most of his college friends are people he met at Rice.
Nonetheless, he self-identifies as a Brown alumnus.
(This post was last modified: 09-15-2014 10:43 AM by Barrett.)
|
|
09-15-2014 10:42 AM |
|
RiceDad
1st String
Posts: 1,399
Joined: Jun 2005
Reputation: 10
I Root For:
Location:
|
RE: A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
I got my MBA from Wharton, but if anyone identified me as a "Penn grad", I think I would barf! Almost everyone I know identifies with their undergraduate school. I have two friends from Wharton and rarely see them!
|
|
09-15-2014 11:27 PM |
|
owlsfan
1st String
Posts: 1,054
Joined: Apr 2007
Reputation: 11
I Root For:
Location:
|
RE: A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
"I know a guy who transferred to Rice from Brown University. He was at Brown one year, at Rice three years (and graduated with a Rice degree). He enjoyed his time at Rice, and most of his college friends are people he met at Rice.
Nonetheless, he self-identifies as a Brown alumnus."
It's the dang lack of football success at Rice, I tell you!
|
|
09-16-2014 11:26 AM |
|
RiceLad15
Hall of Famer
Posts: 16,690
Joined: Nov 2009
Reputation: 111
I Root For: Rice Owls
Location: H-town
|
RE: A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
(09-15-2014 10:42 AM)Barrett Wrote: I know a guy who transferred to Rice from Brown University. He was at Brown one year, at Rice three years (and graduated with a Rice degree). He enjoyed his time at Rice, and most of his college friends are people he met at Rice.
Nonetheless, he self-identifies as a Brown alumnus.
Maybe he just really wanted to be at Brown and was distraught that he got stuck at Jones.
|
|
09-16-2014 11:34 AM |
|
RiceFight
Bench Warmer
Posts: 228
Joined: Sep 2013
Reputation: 7
I Root For: Rice
Location:
|
RE: A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
(09-16-2014 11:34 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote: (09-15-2014 10:42 AM)Barrett Wrote: I know a guy who transferred to Rice from Brown University. He was at Brown one year, at Rice three years (and graduated with a Rice degree). He enjoyed his time at Rice, and most of his college friends are people he met at Rice.
Nonetheless, he self-identifies as a Brown alumnus.
Maybe he just really wanted to be at Brown and was distraught that he got stuck at Jones.
Nobody wants to be in Brown. It just sorta happens
(This post was last modified: 09-16-2014 12:39 PM by RiceFight.)
|
|
09-16-2014 12:38 PM |
|
ChicagoOwl (BS '07)
1st String
Posts: 2,252
Joined: Oct 2008
Reputation: 15
I Root For: YOU!
Location: The frozen tundra
|
RE: A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
(09-16-2014 12:38 PM)RiceFight Wrote: (09-16-2014 11:34 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote: (09-15-2014 10:42 AM)Barrett Wrote: I know a guy who transferred to Rice from Brown University. He was at Brown one year, at Rice three years (and graduated with a Rice degree). He enjoyed his time at Rice, and most of his college friends are people he met at Rice.
Nonetheless, he self-identifies as a Brown alumnus.
Maybe he just really wanted to be at Brown and was distraught that he got stuck at Jones.
Nobody wants to be in Brown. It just sorta happens
|
|
09-16-2014 01:01 PM |
|
waltgreenberg
Legend
Posts: 33,305
Joined: Feb 2006
Reputation: 141
I Root For: Rice Owls
Location: Chicago
|
RE: A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
(09-16-2014 12:38 PM)RiceFight Wrote: (09-16-2014 11:34 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote: (09-15-2014 10:42 AM)Barrett Wrote: I know a guy who transferred to Rice from Brown University. He was at Brown one year, at Rice three years (and graduated with a Rice degree). He enjoyed his time at Rice, and most of his college friends are people he met at Rice.
Nonetheless, he self-identifies as a Brown alumnus.
Maybe he just really wanted to be at Brown and was distraught that he got stuck at Jones.
Nobody wants to be in Brown. It just sorta happens
So true. Their campus is a dump, especially in the wintertime when I happened to visit. As soon as I got back in the car I told my parents I would not be going to Brown under any circumstances.
|
|
09-16-2014 04:37 PM |
|
75src
All American
Posts: 3,591
Joined: Mar 2009
Reputation: 25
I Root For: Rice
Location:
|
RE: A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
BA Rice
MS, MBA Texas A&M
JD University of Houston
My preferences are top to bottom. I qualify as an alum at all 3 and all 3 ask me for money. I identify mostly with the law school at UH instead of the school as a whole because I would very seldom need to go to the rest of campus. I am accepted as an Aggie by other local Aggies since I am also a former student with my class year determined by when I received a master's.
I wore blue and gray last Saturday. I walked around Northgate after the game and a young blond asked me if I really went to Rice and I said I did. Also, I pointed out that I had also gone to A&M. I wished I could have talked longer with the blond.
(09-15-2014 11:27 PM)RiceDad Wrote: I got my MBA from Wharton, but if anyone identified me as a "Penn grad", I think I would barf! Almost everyone I know identifies with their undergraduate school. I have two friends from Wharton and rarely see them!
|
|
09-17-2014 04:25 PM |
|
ChicagoOwl (BS '07)
1st String
Posts: 2,252
Joined: Oct 2008
Reputation: 15
I Root For: YOU!
Location: The frozen tundra
|
RE: A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
(09-17-2014 04:25 PM)75src Wrote: I wore blue and gray last Saturday. I walked around Northgate after the game and a young blond asked me if I really went to Rice and I said I did
Uh oh, I wonder how long *that* conversation lasted?
(09-17-2014 04:25 PM)75src Wrote: ... I wished I could have talked longer with the blond.
Yup, sounds about right.
|
|
09-17-2014 05:38 PM |
|
75src
All American
Posts: 3,591
Joined: Mar 2009
Reputation: 25
I Root For: Rice
Location:
|
RE: A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
less than 5 minutes
(09-17-2014 05:38 PM)ChicagoOwl (BS 07) Wrote: (09-17-2014 04:25 PM)75src Wrote: I wore blue and gray last Saturday. I walked around Northgate after the game and a young blond asked me if I really went to Rice and I said I did
Uh oh, I wonder how long *that* conversation lasted?
(09-17-2014 04:25 PM)75src Wrote: ... I wished I could have talked longer with the blond.
|
|
09-17-2014 06:06 PM |
|
grol
Baseball Fan
Posts: 10,669
Joined: Jun 2005
Reputation: 42
I Root For: Rice Owls
Location: Wimberley
|
RE: A prominent Rice CS Alum flying under the radar
(09-15-2014 10:07 AM)Tomball Owl Wrote: When I first read this thread title, I thought Rice had a satellite campus in College Station I didn't know about.
Me too. If I'd read this earlier I would have had an easier time with Alan's trivia question.
|
|
09-18-2014 12:09 PM |
|