MIAD’s ‘designing women’ win international/national awards
Three MIAD Industrial Design seniors have recently won national awards, including Natalie Schraufnagel, right.
Natalie Schraufnagel ’08 — International Design Excellence Award (IDEA)
Natalie Schraufnagel, one of MIAD’s many outstanding students in Industrial Design, received a 2007 Gold International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) for her “Smart Opt” adjustable soldering base station – the highest honor an undergraduate Industrial Design student can achieve in the United States. MIAD is the only independent college of art and design in the country whose student received this award from the Industrial Designers Society of America.
“What makes MIAD unique is the opportunity for leadership and teamwork to thrive between artists and designers based on the inspiration of an idea,” said Schraufnagel. “My success as a designer is the result of the nurturing atmosphere provided by MIAD, where artists and designers are gathered to work and live together, and make a difference in the world.”
During the summer, Schraufnagel interned at General Motors Corporation, where she collaborated with a team of graphic artists, fashion designers, engineers and other college students to conceive the "Gen Y" car, scheduled for production in 2012.
To read more about her internship, click here.
The “Smart Opt” Soldering Station (patent pending) is an ergonomically designed workstation for use in the manufacturing of computer components. Schraufnagel created the design in the class of Associate Professor of Industrial Design John Caruso, who shot the above image.
Meghan McGuire ’08 — Interzinc design contest
Meghan McGuire, also an Industrial Design senior, was one of three first-place winners in the national Interzinc design contest. This year’s theme was locking devices, and McGuire redesigned a lock for sliding glass doors for display cases. MIAD ID students have won this competition each year since entering it four years ago.
Dawn Stelter ’08 — ARM International Student Design Competition
Dawn Stelter is the third among MIAD’s designing women to receive an award. She won the Association of Rotational Molders International Student Design Competition for her “Bloppy” stackable, multipurpose youth/classroom furniture in bright fun colors. Stelter received her award in October at ARM’s International Fall Meeting this month in Detroit.
