Alumni Profiles

CAPLA alumni find their success in the world of design and far beyond. Read all about them.

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Gustavo Antonio Noriega

Advice for Aspiring Architects (from an Aspiring Architect): Gustavo Antonio Noriega ’20 B.Arch

Gustavo Antonio Noriega, who grew up in Sinaloa, Mexico, East Los Angeles and Tucson, graduated from UArizona at the height of the pandemic and following a sudden switch to online courses. In this interview, he offers advice to those just starting out in the architecture program, as well as those looking for their first jobs as they prepare for graduation.

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Adriana Zuniga

Exploring Human-Landscape Connections: Adriana Zuniga ’10 MS Arch, Assistant Research Scientist

Assistant Research Scientist Adriana Zuniga came to CAPLA from Mexico in 2008 to pursue her MS Architecture degree. Since then, she has also earned a PhD in Arid Lands Resources Sciences and has taught and conducted research on human-landscape connections at CAPLA since 2015.

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Rich Michal's Civano house

Cowboys, Hippies and Sustainable Design: Rich Michal '07 B.Arch, M.Arch

Rich Michal came to CAPLA to study architecture after earning a bachelor's degree in construction engineering and management from Purdue University and an MBA from Indiana University. Seeking to learn more about sustainable design—and designing and constructing one of the nation’s most energy-efficient on-grid homes in the country as his master’s thesis—he pursued the B.Arch and M.Arch concurrently.