Rice has a great robotics culture and very diverse mechanical engineering field. Here are a few links to robotics labs in mechanical engineering
RiSys ,
Mahi and the
mems website.
In terms of the area,
Houston is very pleasant all year round except for the summer months when it gets very hot !
There are also many great job opportunities at Houston such as Medical, NASA, Petroleum and manufacturing.
And if you want to do FIRST, you can join the Rice students who help mentor the
DiscoBots 2587
If you have any more specific questions, PM me.