Buildings and designs are appearing to have more curves, and thanks to technology and digital programs that allow parametric design, architecture appears to be more organic. The constant search for blurring the line between the natural environment and the built environment is increasingly evident. However, it cannot be based on image, that subjective label that dominates our culture when thinking about architecture. In a lecture given at Berkeley by Janine Benyus, founder of the Biomimicry Institute, she emphasizes the importance in making design decisions. Why the curve, that angle, orientation, materials, or systems?

Over the summer, I have been doing research at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez with professors Rafael Mendez and Rodolfo Romanach in the pharmaceutical research lab.  It has been great getting to work with them and the graduate students of the lab.  The research is focused on using light absorption characteristics of pharmaceuticals to detect their concentrations.  The method of interest has been near infrared spectroscopy.

I am Lance Bettinson, a Stanford chemical engineering student fortunate enough to participate in the REU program here at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. When UPRM offered me the chance to pursue interdisciplinary summer research in chemical engineering, I accepted without hesitation. I anticipated a wealth of new cultural and academic experiences accompanying the opportunity to contribute to the scientific effort here in the Caribbean. I have yet to be disappointed.