On Saturday, April 2, the Industrial Design faculty welcomed more than 100 guests, including 50 program alumni, to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the major. Assistant Professor Michael Rall organized the event, which included several presentations by alumni, open studio tours, a networking break and the Industrial Designers Society of America (ISDA) Student Merit presentation. A new alumni gallery was debuted on the top floor of Katherine Harper Hall, and work from several classes was on display in the main hall outside of the wood shop. The new gallery is a visual display of the accomplishments the design alumni have achieved thus far in their careers, and the department plans to expand the gallery over the coming years to reflect work of new alumni.
Among the many alumni that returned to campus for the daylong event, four presented about their professional experience and offered an open question and answer forum. The presenters were Ryan Klinger ‘10 from GoWorx®, Seth Teeples ‘12 from Trig Innovation®, Spencer Price ‘10 from LIAT® and Joe Palmer ’11 from Kikkerland®. Each shared aspects of their design career, including tips on navigating studio courses and running your own business. “The presenters did a wonderful job sharing stories and realities about finding and keeping a design job,” said Rall. “It was great to hear from many in the audience on how the presentations reached alumni and current students alike.”
The evening culminated with the IDSA Student Merit presentations. IDSA is the professional organization for Industrial Design and hosts five district conferences annually. Each school in the district sends one student to represent their program and present their work at the annual conference. This year, four seniors competed to be the Appalachian State University’s IDSA merit representative and Brandon Stambaugh was chosen as the winner by a panel of professional judges (Jim Kershaw, STX®; Ryan Klinger, GoWorx®; Claire McRoberts, Hunter Fan® and Spencer Price LIAT®). He will travel to the IDSA Southern District Conference at Auburn University on April 15 and 16.
For more information about the Industrial Design Major, please visit industrialdesign.appstate.edu.
To donate to the Industrial Design Program, please visit industrialdesign.appstate.edu/alumni and navigate to the “giving” section.
Industrial Design Alumni Day
More than 100 guests attended the Industrial Design 10 year celebration on Saturday, April 2 [Photo by Cameron McPherson]