Two recent projects in collaboration with Minneapolis companies helped industrial design students at UW-Stout get professional experience, and the university benefited as well.
The projects were with Tennant, which makes cleaning products, and Room & Board, which makes furniture and accessories. Both projects were in classes taught by Associate Professor Jennifer Astwood.
Tennant donated $8,000 to the industrial design program, and Room & Board donated $2,000, along with a sofa.
Also, students Suzi Biehl, of Union Grove, and Brendan Byrne, of Eden Prairie, Minn., each received $1,000 scholarships from Room & Board as winners of a competition with 14 other class members.
With Tennant, 22 students worked with company designers Tou Yia Thao and John Ickes before presenting their ideas for off-the-floor cleaning solutions at company headquarters, which students toured to begin the project.
With Room & Board, 16 students designed products with a small-space living theme and presented at company headquarters. The winning designs by Biehl and Byrne were a coffee table and media console.
Brian Linehan, a 2010 UW-Stout graduate and Room & Board merchandise associate, helped coordinate the project with Astwood. Three Room & Board designers also came to UW-Stout during the project to provide feedback to students during the design process.
Along with having their projects critiqued by professionals, students could see their ideas turned into products by the companies. A similar project and contest with Room & Board was held in spring 2017, also with Astwood’s students.
Learn more about UW-Stout’s industrial design Bachelor of Fine Arts program, part of the School of Art and Design.
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Photo
Jennifer Astwood
