Ronald Rael is the CEO and co-founder of the start-up company, Emerging Objects— a pioneering, creatively driven, MAKE-tank at the forefront of 3D printing architecture using innovative materials, and a partner of the creative practice, Rael San Fratello, with Virginia San Fratello. In 2014 Rael San Fratello was named an Emerging Voice by The Architectural League of New York—one of the most coveted awards in North American architecture. Their work explores architecture, art, culture, and the environment and Rael’s research and creative work transforms the practice of architecture into a cultural endeavor — one that is defiant, inventive and tied to contemporary issues. The work relies upon a deep understanding of place, and its inherent resources, and makes careful links between a broad spectrum of tools that come from manual, industrial and digital approaches to making architecture. He is also an Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley with a joint appointment in the departments of Architecture and Art Practice where he is the Director of the PrintFARM — a printing facility for architecture, research and materials. In 2009, Emerging Objects began to experiment with alternative materials for 3D printing. The advancements led to rethinking the way we might make architecture. By looking at the material palette originating in building traditions, past and recent, they are discovering new and unnatural directions for an additively manufactured future.