Born into a hardworking family in Orocovis and San Juan, Puerto Rico, Oswaldo Rivera-Ortiz has combined the best of two callings – architecture and teaching, for the past two decades. He earned his bachelor’s in environmental design in his homeland at the University of Puerto Rico and got his master’s in architecture at the University of Southern California, while traveling the world. But he graduated into the Great Recession, and the twists of life led him into teaching. After twelve years working as a bilingual elementary school teacher and an architecture, urban planning and interiors instructor at Richardson High School and CityLab High School in Dallas, Texas, he joined Stantec at their Plano office. He now is a project manager designing K-12 and post-secondary learning environments. He also coordinates internship programs with high school students, organizes K-12 design camps and a college fair with AIA Dallas, helped create and acts as juror of the TX Society of Architects’ Design Challenge for secondary students, and manages a network of over 100 high school architecture programs across Texas. Beyond these, his biggest blessings are his adventures with his 4 little kids and wife, across the US, and back home in Puerto Rico.
Chisom’s professional career provided her numerous opportunities to create unique scenes by thinking critically, develop creative design concepts, and translate them into working documents. Within the professional field of architecture, Chisom specializes in planning and design with an emphasis on conceptual implementation, building enclosure modeling, interior architecture, and programming. Another area of her strong expertise is photorealistic visualization, documentation drawings, design coordination, and collaboration with team members, clients, engineers, and stakeholders.
Having practiced in China, Malaysia, Cambodia, Brazil, South Africa, and United States, Chisom has been a major contributor on projects of different scales that include residential, civic, cultural, educational institutions, hospitality, office, transportation, and urban design. Today, Chisom is currently working as a Staff Services Architect at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. She started with the Agency in September 2017 after working for the private sector for several years.
Chisom had always expressed interest in the relationship between public policy and architecture, which is evident in her educational background. Chisom holds a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design degree from Columbia University. She also received her Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Science in Public Policy, Planning, and Management from University of Southern California.
Rachel Wiggins graduated from Mirabeau Lamar High School in Houston, TX and will be attending the University of Southern California this fall. Her passion for art ranges in various forms, from jewelry making to painting to makeup. She hopes to use this passion for art and her upcoming architectures courses at USC to design and build sustainable low-income housing to provide affordable yet eco-friendly housing options.
Laura Pisciotte is a first-year student at the University of Southern California. In high school, she was part of the Key Club, Speech and Debate team, and Mu Alpha Theta, all in which she held leadership positions. She volunteered at her local hospital and taught Spanish virtually to low-income students. Her passion for architecture blossomed in her childhood while in Colombia and fostered through a summer architecture program at Washington University. Laura hopes to become a licensed architect with a focus on sustainability and accessibility.
Esmeralda Aceituno is an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California studying for her Bachelors of Architecture. She is double minoring in Communication Design and 3-D Animation in Cinematic Arts. She was born and raised in East Los Angeles, California.
Annabelle Asali is a first-year at the University of Southern California. She is very excited to study architecture in order to get her B.Arch. She hopes to be a licensed architect with USC’s IPAL Program. In her free time, she loves to do calligraphy, watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and take pictures. She is extremely grateful that the Architects Foundation has sponsored this scholarship as it has helped her get one step closer to achieving her dream.