Carolina Pérez Méndez
MIT Department: Architecture
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Miho Mazareeuw
Research Supervisor: Mayank Ojha
Undergraduate Institution: University of Puerto Rico – Río Piedras Campus
Hometown: Puerto Rico
Website: LinkedIn
Biography
Carolina Pérez is a senior in UPR-RP studying Architecture and minoring in RISE-UP. She focuses on designing resilience infrastructure and empowering vulnerable communities affected by natural phenomena. She is an ambitious Puerto Rican woman studying a STEAM field who grew up on an island facing adversities. Experiencing Hurricane Maria and the 2020 earthquakes motivated her to search for climate change solutions, strategize for risk management, and contribute to community resilience. She is becoming a disaster-recovery architect who conducts risk-targeted research to mitigate damages from disasters. During her MSRP internships, she actively collaborated with the Urban Risk Lab over two summers, exploring effective methods of communicating flood risk. Currently, her dissertation focuses on emergency housing for floodwater management. Through her involvement in research labs, Carolina continually enhances her critical thinking, architectural program expertise, and rapid learning skills. Her ultimate goal is to contribute to positive change in the world.
