MIAD Product Design senior honored as an award finalist
Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) recognized Olivia Paul ’21 (Product Design) as a 2021 Student Merit Award Finalist. The nationwide competition seeks to highlight the very best creativity, problem solving and design brilliance in each of IDSA’s five North American Districts.
View a story about Olivia’s collaboration with other MIAD students to celebrate women in product design, and watch a video about Olivia’s MIAD Senior Exhibition project.
News
MIAD faculty, alumni shine at WI Visual Art Achievement Awards
Professor Leslie Fedorchuk and alumni of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) received four of the eight individual 2026 Wisconsin Visual Art Achievement Awards for “their significant contributions to the state’s creative culture.”
National Society of Illustrators honors 13 MIAD students
First-place winner Sophia Simonson ’28 created Refractions as part of her MIAD studies in Interior Architecture and Design. She is one of 20 students studying at MIAD through a cross-registration program with Concordia University. MIAD students Kaitlyn Powers ’26 (Illustration) and Natalie Spetell ’27 (Product Design), both of whom have minors in Communication Design, received Honorable Mentions.
Pallas Textiles competition provides real-world experience
First-place winner Sophia Simonson ’28 created Refractions as part of her MIAD studies in Interior Architecture and Design. She is one of 20 students studying at MIAD through a cross-registration program with Concordia University. MIAD students Kaitlyn Powers ’26 (Illustration) and Natalie Spetell ’27 (Product Design), both of whom have minors in Communication Design, received Honorable Mentions.
2026 First-Year Exhibition showcases professional growth
An annual tradition at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design from late March through September, the juried First-Year Experience Exhibition celebrates students’ yearlong personal and professional growth.
Meet Carmen Briones and 2026 Senior Exhibition Project Echo
Carmen Briones ‘26 (Product Design) is a President’s (Honor) List student from Cambria, Wis., president of the MIAD IDSA student chapter and an intern at SI Jacobson Manufacturing. Briones designed a device called “Echo” that removes ovarian cysts without surgery.