Design student team takes top award

Wednesday, March 12th, 2008

The team of Haley Van Wagenen, left, Alison Hecht, center, and Alexandra Sumpter placed first in the Interior Design Educators Council international competition for students.

Winners were announced last week at the annual conference in Montreal, Canada.

The theme of the competition was social justice and affordable housing within the U.S. and Canada.

Student teams were given two weeks to research and design affordable housing within a pre-determined space of 4.5 meters by 15 meters, the size of a pre-fab housing unit. They were challenged to take advantage of solar orientation, encompass needs of all populations and reduce waste.

Also competing were Kara Schmidt, Eva Newell and Catie Carpenter. Both K-State teams were regional finalists.

“The students’ success is reflective of the quality of our program and the faculty’s efforts to encourage the thoughtful, problem solving skills that are necessary to find solutions for today’s challenging world,” said Peggy Honey, the team’s coach and assistant professor in the Department of Apparel, Textile and Interior Design.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 and is filed under Dean's Blog.