Explorer Categories: Engineering

My motivation for much of what I do in life comes from two places: a desire to help other people, and a love for the outdoors. Naturally, this has led to a desire to reduce the impacts of climate change, both to reduce the suffering of other people and to minimize damage done to the environment. This desire is reflected in my research, where I am currently working in clean hydrogen production by methane pyrolysis in order to find ways to switch over to cleaner full sources. I’m also working on high temperature energy storage to ensure the stability of renewable energy, and I’ve previously worked on projects in biomass energy and flood prevention. My work aligns with my intention to do what I can to help other people, and I plan to continue this for the rest of my life.

Rachel Rex graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2018 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. As an undergraduate and one-year post-graduation, she worked in the Barman Laboratory, where she developed multimodal, plasmonic nanoprobes for prostate-cancer imaging.

Now, Rachel is a second-year PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley, working in the Sohn Lab. Since beginning her PhD, she has been developing a microfluidic platform for rapid, low-cost diagnosis of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. She is also researching the inconsistent efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade, a promising form of cancer immunotherapy, in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. Beyond her research, Rachel works to facilitate progress in education by promoting social justice in STEM. She is a member of a graduate student organization called Bias Busters, which aims to address implicit and structural bias in UC Berkeley’s engineering departments. Within this group Rachel helps lead workshops on diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM.

Caleb Xavier Bugg is a graduate student in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (IEOR) at The University of California, Berkeley. We create mathematical models to optimize decision-making processes, using all the information and resources available at the time of decision. Ultimately, we hope to move Our society towards the equitable distribution of raw materials and production means.