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The annual National Organization of Minority Students (NOMAS) symposium was held on March 4.

As part of the events, students debated on analog vs. digital advantages for architecture.

Following the debate, Virginia San Fratello delivered the in the Robert and Freda Harrison Auditorium.

San Fratello is an architect, artist and educator. She is a partner at and in Emerging Objects, which is a pioneering design and research company that specializes in 3D printed materials and objects for the built environment based in Oakland, Calif. She holds a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University in the city of New York. Her research focuses on the convergence of digital, ecological and creative material explorations. The research is applied through the design and fabrication of innovative buildings and their components, furniture elements and site specific installations that often look at inherent material resources and have embedded political consequences. Rael San Fratello was the recipient of the Emerging Voices Award, Metropolis Magazine’s Next Generation Design Award for their Hydro Wall concept, a finalist in the WPA 2.0 design competition and winner of the Van Alen Institute’s Life at the Speed of Rail competition. Their work has been published in Architect, Metropolis Magazine, L’Arca, DOMUS, the NY Times, Interior Design Magazine and MARK Magazine among others.