Inspire Volume 9 Issue 2 by College of Design Iowa State University

VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 FALL 2019

Office of the Dean 134 College of Design 715 Bissell Road Ames, IA 50011-1066

Judges selected six award winners and six honorable mentions (HM). 1. What About Us (HM) 2. Psychedelic Unity (HM) 3. Luxe (Light & Shadow) 4. Tired of Beauty (Eco-Friendly) 5. The Dichotomy of Thought (Kinetic) 6. Ostinatos (HM) 7. Polyphony (HM) 8. Colour Me (HM) 9. Forma Fluida (HM)

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VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | FALL 2019

College honors alumni with awards at Homecoming Five College of Design alumni were recognized Friday, Oct. 25, at the ISU Alumni Association’s 2019 Honors and Awards Ceremony. John Likens

The college presented Design Achievement Awards to John Likens (BFA 2008 Graphic Design), New York City, an Emmy Award-winning creative director and motion designer; J. Jade Liska (BLA 1994 Landscape Architecture), Kansas City, deputy director of the Kansas City Aviation Department’s Planning and Engineering Division; Robert Reinders (BA 1977 Architecture), Washington, DC, vice president of design and project management for Marriott International;

J. Jade Liska

Robert Reinders Bethany Wilcoxon Jay Pleggenkuhle

James Cramer

and Bethany Wilcoxon (BS 2008 Community & Regional Planning / Certificate 2009 Geographic Information Systems), Des Moines, senior adviser at McClure Engineering Company in Clive.

Jay Pleggenkuhle (BLA 1990 Landscape Architecture), Las Vegas, owner of Stonerose Landscapes, received the Alumni Merit Award from the ISU Alumni Asssociation Club of Chicago.

This year’s Christian Petersen Design Award went to James P. Cramer, founder and chairman emeritus of DesignIntelligence and the Design Futures Council.

If you would like to nominate a fellow alum for a College of Design or Iowa State University award, please contact Rachel Moylan, alumni relations coordinator, rmoylan@iastate.edu.

WEARABLES DESIGN SHOW Student projects demonstrate craft, imagination and energy

VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 FALL 2019

Office of the Dean 134 College of Design 715 Bissell Road Ames, IA 50011-1066

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VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | FALL 2019

College honors alumni with awards at Homecoming Five College of Design alumni were recognized Friday, Oct. 25, at the ISU Alumni Association’s 2019 Honors and Awards Ceremony. John Likens

J. Jade Liska

Robert Reinders Bethany Wilcoxon Jay Pleggenkuhle

James Cramer

and Bethany Wilcoxon (BS 2008 Community & Regional Planning / Certificate 2009 Geographic Information Systems), Des Moines, senior adviser at McClure Engineering Company in Clive.

Jay Pleggenkuhle (BLA 1990 Landscape Architecture), Las Vegas, owner of Stonerose Landscapes, received the Alumni Merit Award from the ISU Alumni Asssociation Club of Chicago.

This year’s Christian Petersen Design Award went to James P. Cramer, founder and chairman emeritus of DesignIntelligence and the Design Futures Council.

If you would like to nominate a fellow alum for a College of Design or Iowa State University award, please contact Rachel Moylan, alumni relations coordinator, rmoylan@iastate.edu.

WEARABLES DESIGN SHOW Student projects demonstrate craft, imagination and energy

C OV ER S TO RY

VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | FALL 2019

“When we talked about how to make that into something someone would wear, we started with a cape, then a hood, then decided it should be wings like a tropical bird displaying its feathers and conveying a warning,” said Krebs, from Moline, Illinois, now a sophomore in industrial design. She and Alex Cheatham, a pre-integrated studio arts student from Dubuque, were the models for “The Messengers,” winner of the Rhythmic Narrative Award in the wearables show.

By Heather Sauer

WEARABLES DESIGN SHOW First-year students share ‘powerful’ work in livestreamed performance The lower level of the King Pavilion hums with activity. Two-hundred-plus students crowd the studios, all focused on a different task. A tall young man in a cream-colored bodysuit texts his friends while an assistant dabs silver face paint on his brow. A ponytailed classmate stands patiently as others adjust her multicolored fringed cape. A couple draped in garlands of wire and plastic beads run through their dance moves in the hallway.

200+ students from 9 studio sections created 54 wearable designs that received 6 awards and 6 honorable mentions. Save the date for our next Wearables Design Show scheduled April 8, 2020.

Upstairs in the College of Design, the atrium also hums. Two-hundred family, friends and faculty find their seats on the first floor, and hundreds more peer over the railings from the upper levels. Colorful stage lights play across silver mylar-covered cardboard panels to create an elaborate mirrored backdrop. The DJ plays a thumping beat, and Iowa State University’s first Wearables Design Show begins.

Project evolution The Wearables Design Show in April provided a public showcase for the work

of the spring 2019 Design Studies 102 studio, the first studio for students in the Core Design Program. The wearables project originated as the doorway project, which became the passageway and then the mobile project, said Patience Lueth, architecture associate teaching professor and director of Design Studies 102. With each iteration the goal was to introduce students to large-scale construction, joinery, modularity, materiality, interaction with space, and development of skills in the wood shop or using hand tools, Lueth said. “The mobile used to be a hanging mobile. Over the past couple of years, some faculty started doing a wearable mobile in their studios. The difference is that it engages with the body,” she said. After seeing the “amazing” wearable designs produced by students in Roman Chikerinets’ (architecture assistant teaching professor) studio last fall, Nathan Edwards — art and visual

culture assistant teaching professor and co-director with Lueth of the Wearables Design Show — “began thinking we have to find a way to show this stuff off,” he said. “It’s powerful, it’s creative, it’s a different type of energy. We needed to do a wearables show.” Edwards and Lueth proposed the project for spring, and nine studio sections signed on.

Team exercises The five-week project consisted of four team exercises. Students listened to a piece of music and described how their bodies responded to it. In each studio section, the instructor could provide a list of songs, assign genres or allow students to find their own music. Then they sketched ideas for the wearable mobile based on the song and analyzed the concepts for visual and spatial impact. Precedent studies of other artists’ and designers’ wearable work helped inform the process. The teams then developed models to learn about scale and prototyping before finally constructing and installing (wearing) the full-scale project.

Sending a message Laney Krebs’ team focused on a theme of environmental degradation and the risk of ignoring what is being lost. They listened to Disturbed’s “Another Way to Die” — with lyrics including “consequences we cannot deny / will be revealed in time” — and sketched ideas onto a giant sheet of craft paper, switching areas so each student added onto another’s sketches.

“When we were choreographing our routine, we wanted it to flow and be very rhythmic, but until the wearable was finished we couldn’t really practice. At the dress rehearsal I remember thinking, ‘I hope it’s going to open; I think it’s going to open,’ and when it worked it was such a relief!” Krebs said. The team chose recyclable materials such as cardboard and craft paper for most of their wearable, created a ducttape harness and used Command strips and Velcro to attach the wings and chest plate so they could remove and reuse everything. Dry-brushed black acrylic paint, watercolors and red crayon were used to highlight details on the wings and headpieces, which were repeated in the models’ makeup.

Relaxation and tension The Vibrant Award-winning team drew inspiration from techno and retro music, which influenced the colors, materials and mechanics of their “Great Bird of the Galaxy,” said Colin Long, from Ankeny, who served as the model. “Our interpretation of the music was relaxation and tension working together, and that led to our string mechanisms,” said Long, also now a sophomore in industrial design. “For another project we did a light-exposure photograph that had a circular pattern we wanted to use, and the retro music made us think of vibrant colors. Those two together reminded us of a peacock. Our title is a synonym for peacock.” Long dressed in a black full-hood bodysuit that covered his head and hands, black pants and shoes. The wearable consisted of Plexiglas triangles covered in colored film with chipboard

Left: “The Messengers” modeled by Laney Krebs and Alex Cheatham. Right: “Great Bird of the Galaxy” modeled by Colin Long. Photos by Cameron Campbell.

borders outlined in white painter’s tape, strung together with 50-pound fishing line. The team subbed maple plywood for the chipboard in the “wings” for strength and rigidity. With the wings folded and his right arm tucked behind his back, Long started down the runway, activating an arm mechanism by pulling and releasing strings with his left hand, and allowing an unstringed leg piece to swing with every step. At the end of the runway, he pulled a cord to extend both wings like a peacock fanning its tail feathers. “That’s where we heard everyone gasp. That was awesome,” he said.

Building bridges Because the projects would be livestreamed, the organizers worked with a local DJ to translate the songs students had taken as inspiration for their work into original, non-copyrighted music with similar beats. They also consulted Sarah BennettGeorge, the faculty adviser to The Fashion Show — the Department of Apparel, Events and Hospitality Management’s annual student-run fashion show — for advice on how to mount a runway show and to ensure the two events would not compete with one another. “Sarah was very supportive of what we’re doing. I’m all about building bridges, and I think the wearables show is a bridge.

It’s not just about connecting people within the college but connecting the college to others across campus and in the community,” Edwards said. A panel of six judges, including faculty and staff; alumnus Sam Stagg (BArch 1998 Architecture), principal of Haila ASP in Ames; and an Ames High School student evaluated all 54 entries during dress rehearsal the night before so awards could be announced immediately after the show. “The wearables were judged on multiple criteria, reflecting how well students used what they learned in previous projects about visual translation, color theory, light and shadow, converting two dimensions into three dimensions, materiality and construction, etc.,” Lueth said.

Restriction and beauty Best in Show was awarded to “Nubian Redemption,” a subtly powerful wearable design influenced by demonstrations against the government of Sudan that turned violent when police and military forces cracked down. “I went home for winter break in December, and I was part of the first big

protest. They were throwing tear gas bombs and shooting at us,” said Hiba Salih, from Khartoum. “I returned to the States with that in my heart, wondering how I could respond through my studio work. I’m thankful that my group wanted to learn more about what was going on in Sudan, and they were willing to create a wearable based on that.” Fortuitously, Salih’s team was assigned African music to respond to. Through their precedent studies, they found a common theme: restriction and beauty. Their wearable included a form-fitting chest piece, bracelets and anklets representing oppression, while goldcolored chains symbolized both beauty and the exploitation of Africa’s resources. The black exterior of a broad cape signified how Sudan is overlooked by the global community, while its colorful interior of traditional African fabrics expressed the beauty and hope of the Sudanese people. “The first time our model came in wearing the mashrabiya-panel collar, she walked stiff and straight, and our

professor said she looked like a Nubian queen,” said Salih, now a second-year architecture student. “Our title derived from this idea of reclaiming the traditional role of women in Sudan as powerful and in control.”

Expanded opportunity The show was such a success, and students and faculty alike were so energized, they plan to make it an annual event. To ensure all students in the Core — not only those in the spring 102 studios — are included, this year’s Wearables Design Show will feature projects from both semesters and the event will take place in two acts with an intermission. A new student organization has been formed to raise funds and coordinate the next show, which is scheduled April 8, 2020. “The wearables show gave our students a chance to not just share their work but also to believe in themselves and recognize that what they do is important,” Edwards said. “They saw and felt how people experienced their work. We’re excited to offer this opportunity to more students in the coming years.” 3

C OV ER S TO RY

VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | FALL 2019

By Heather Sauer

200+ students from 9 studio sections created 54 wearable designs that received 6 awards and 6 honorable mentions. Save the date for our next Wearables Design Show scheduled April 8, 2020.

Project evolution The Wearables Design Show in April provided a public showcase for the work

Left: “The Messengers” modeled by Laney Krebs and Alex Cheatham. Right: “Great Bird of the Galaxy” modeled by Colin Long. Photos by Cameron Campbell.

C OV ER S TO RY

VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | FALL 2019

By Heather Sauer

200+ students from 9 studio sections created 54 wearable designs that received 6 awards and 6 honorable mentions. Save the date for our next Wearables Design Show scheduled April 8, 2020.

Project evolution The Wearables Design Show in April provided a public showcase for the work

Left: “The Messengers” modeled by Laney Krebs and Alex Cheatham. Right: “Great Bird of the Galaxy” modeled by Colin Long. Photos by Cameron Campbell.

I N T ER N AT I O NAALU LM S TNU I OO F I L E ID PR

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“The goal of all of our arts programs is to really give high school kids across Iowa the opportunity to learn new skills and new design tools in a low-stress environment that’s focused more on exploration than on the finished product,” she said.

now is the time to explore things and discover what they’re capable of, and then go beyond that,” she said. Luschsinger’s background in theater and summer camps makes her well-versed in mentoring young people. Although it’s

Opposite: Three generations of College of Design graduates: Luchsinger with her grandfather, Terry Allers, and mother, Kristina Allers, at commencement in May. Below: At the National 4-H Youth Photography Summit. Photos courtesy of Abby Luchsinger.

I transform this and use it to build communities? This same process that you use for a studio project could be used in a business model, as a nonprofit arts incentive to stage immersive performance experiences like ‘The Point!’ using local musicians and bringing people out to their local parks,” Luchsinger explained. She pitched that same idea at the Great Iowa State Pitch Off: Standing Innovation at the state fair in August and advanced to the finals. “I love getting new feedback and perspectives each time,” she said.

Building communities Although she didn’t expect it, through her service with AmeriCorps and time spent in Ames for college, Luchsinger says she’s fallen in love with Iowa. To her, there’s something special about small-town living.

By Heather Sauer

“Getting to know people in the little coffee shops and the diners and saying ‘okay, this is what this community is like; how specifically could the arts be used in this place?’ and then creating a way to better serve the people that make that specific area unique” is her focus.

By Hailey Allen

ABBY LUCHSINGER Recent grad continues to choose her own adventure Abby Luchsinger sits by the window at Stomping Grounds in Ames and orders a vanilla cappuccino. At 20 years old, she can easily blend in as just another student getting her afternoon caffeine fix before heading to class. But make no mistake — while she may be young, this recent Iowa State University graduate (BA 2019 Interdisciplinary Design) has a vision for her future and a determination to get there that’s as fiery as her hair. Originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, Luchsinger came to Iowa State specifically for the interdisciplinary design program — a combination of design studios and liberal arts classes that focus on building critical thinking skills and learning design methods, theory and applications in order to generate new ways to solve complex problems. 4

“I’m a third-generation College of Design student,” she said. “My grandpa (Terry Allers, BArch 1970 Architecture) and my mom (Kristina Allers, BFA 1994 Interior Design), along with my uncle (Jeff Allers, BArch 1994 Architecture), all studied here. That entire side of the family has always been really supportive of Iowa State and the College of Design.” With her family so involved in the creative arts, their support extends not only to when things work out, but also when they don’t. Luchsinger says being able to rely on her family when learning how to handle failure is one of the things she’s most grateful for. They’ve always been encouraging of “all these crazy, entrepreneurial arts initiative things I’ve been trying to do since, like, elementary school,” she said.

From stage to service “I used to say growing up that I was fluent in silence,” Luchsinger, a self-described introvert, said. It wasn’t until she started doing theater in middle school that she found her voice and discovered a passion for helping both people and communities grow through the arts. To Luchsinger, theater was a way to build confidence and spark action. Now, she hopes to spread these feelings to the world around her by incorporating her theater background into her innovative design projects. As a member of AmeriCorps for Iowa 4-H from September 2018 to August this year, Luchsinger was able to combine her arts, communication and design abilities to help plan and lead statewide workshops, events and summer camps for young students.

One such program Luchsinger worked on was the Iowa 4-H Reporters, a collaboration with Iowa Public Television and iHeartRadio during the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. For 11 days in August, high school students interested in journalism covered activities going on throughout the fair. The best part, Luchsinger said, was watching them become more independent and gradually take more initiative to go out and get stories. Additionally, she and fellow Iowa State graduate Clark Colby (BArch 2011 Architecture & Environmental Studies / MS 2016 Architecture) ran photography workshops last spring at Iowa high schools, on campus and at professional conferences. In early March, they took a group of high school 4-Hers to Washington, DC, for the first National 4-H Youth Photography Summit. “I love working with high schoolers. I think they have a lot of incredible ideas, and they’re at a point in their life when

not something she expected going into the interdisciplinary design program, she’s grateful she found a way to pass on her love of the arts and be a mentor to others as well.

Connecting the dots The interdisciplinary design faculty pushed Luchsinger to make her projects both applicable and impactful, Luchsinger said. Along with being a mentor, Luchsinger has also used her interdisciplinary design experience to form business models. Back in March, Luchsinger was a runnerup in the Iowa State Innovation Pitch-Off for her Acoustic Paintbrush Productions project. The original pitch idea came from a fall 2018 class Luchsinger took in which she was challenged to create a way to bring more people to Ames parks. Drawing again from her theater roots, Luchsinger decided to stage Harry Nilsson’s 1970 album “The Point!” in a park. “So I had this studio project that I loved doing. Then I thought, how can

“I want to continue using the arts to build communities through Acoustic Paintbrush Productions. In, like, two years I would love to have established that in a few different parts of Iowa and get other people involved,” she said. Luchsinger recently became a project coordinator with the web design company Saltech Systems. Using her interdisciplinary design knowledge, she is eager to help create a powerful and authentic brand presence for the company and build strong relationships between its designers and clients. “My biggest goal is that I can continue to learn and grow from any opportunity or situation,” Luchsinger said. She often calls interdisciplinary design a “choose your own adventure” degree, because there are so many ways to apply her skills and always more to explore. Luchsinger finishes her cappuccino and pauses. “I also have a banjo,” she said, laughing. “I got it for Christmas last year and I’ve been trying to learn to play it!” Who says the adventure ends when you graduate? 5

I N T ER N AT I O NAALU LM S TNU I OO F I L E ID PR

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By Heather Sauer

By Hailey Allen

not something she expected going into the interdisciplinary design program, she’s grateful she found a way to pass on her love of the arts and be a mentor to others as well.

ORY N AS L TSUTDUID I N T ERIDNITSER C I PNLAT I NIA OI O

Meshallah Muhammad, left, interior design, and Mayli Grady, industrial design, were members of the winning team, The Cherry Sisters. Photo by Christopher Gannon.

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legal flaws in order to meet their client’s educational goals. “This was different from some other design studios because so much research was involved,” Ford said. “The students went into this project with no content.” Another challenge for students was to understand the story their client wants to tell, he said. “What new knowledge do they want visitors to have gained when they leave the facility and what are ways to achieve that through their designs?” The faculty developed an open framework for the course’s curriculum, allowing for self-direction and interdisciplinary development of the teams designing within the 3,400 square feet of space on the first floor of the Judicial Branch Building.

ENGAGING ENVIRONMENTS By Chelsea Davis & Heather Sauer

Students develop proposals for judicial branch learning center As the Iowa Judicial Branch Building shifts from physical to digital files, Iowa State University College of Design students have developed proposals to turn the soon-to-be-vacant space into an experiential learning center for the public. Last spring, the students worked in six teams — each with students from architecture, graphic design, industrial design and interior design — to create unique design concept proposals for the space. The interdisciplinary studio was led by Andrea Quam (BFA 1997 Graphic Design), associate professor of graphic design; Pete Evans (BArch 1995 Architecture / Graduate Certificate 2014 Human Computer Interaction / MID 2017 Industrial Design), associate teaching professor in industrial design; and Michael Ford (BFA 1992 Interior Design), assistant professor of practice in interior design. Students presented their proposals in May to Iowa Chief Justice Mark Cady;

Michael Gartner, former president of NBC News and former Iowa Board of Regents president; Steve Sukup (BS 1979 Industrial Engineering), chief financial officer for Sukup Manufacturing; Molly Kottmeyer, counsel to the chief justice; and Jim Evans, director of state judicial facilities.

conversation with Wintersteen, Cady mentioned his dream for a learning center at the Iowa Judicial Branch Building in Des Moines. Wintersteen connected Cady and judicial branch staff with the College of Design — and this interdisciplinary option studio was formed.

“I have never been more inspired and impressed than after seeing the students’ presentations and design [proposals],” Cady said in a follow-up letter to ISU President Wendy Wintersteen. “I am very excited to take the next steps to bring the learning center closer to reality.”

To prepare for the project, the students looked to the Colorado Judicial Learning Center in Denver as a precedent. They toured the center in February to learn more about its beginnings and how it was designed.

Judicial branch representatives ranked the presentations into first, second and third places and three honorable mentions. The proposals may be incorporated into future designs for the space.

Research and storytelling This is the first-ever collaboration between the Iowa Judicial Branch and Iowa State University. During a

“In Colorado, the students were able to experience not only how the learning center was built, but the behind the scenes of the research and design work it took to create it,” Quam said. They returned to Iowa recognizing the extensive research of Iowa’s judicial history they needed to conduct in order to design exhibits that were not only aesthetically interesting, but with zero

“We wanted them to take ownership and really think critically about how to create an engaging environment,” Quam said.

Interactive and experiential Student designs ranged from lowtech tactile interactions to high-tech explorations, including a virtual reality courtroom, touch-screen learning opportunities, trivia, interactive exhibits and other digital experiences. “I’m interested in politics and government, so I was excited to work on this project,” said Meshallah Muhammad (BFA 2019 Interior Design), a member of the winning team, The Cherry Sisters. “We wanted to take information that seems difficult and complex and make it understandable for people of all ages.” Their proposed display involved opportunities for visitors to learn about the US Constitution, including different theories of constitutional interpretation; how Iowa’s justices and judges are selected and their roles in upholding the law; and several Iowa landmark legal cases — among them, Cherry v. Des Moines Leader, from which they took their team name. Part of the exhibit featured angled walls like an unfolding map, representing how those who interpret the law look to the Constitution for guidance much as they would consult a map. A rear projection of the preamble would change color as visitors interacted with it, creating a visual

Above: Part of the Cherry Sisters’ proposed exhibit would allow visitors to explore different theories of constitutional interpretation. Below: Third-place team A-Sean created a virtual reality exhibit in which visitors could experience a mock court case in the role of prosecutor, defense attorney or judge.

connection between them and the words in the document. “Grasping all of the content and realizing we had to be very precise was intimidating at first,” said teammate Alyssa Mullen (BArch 2019 Architecture). “When you work in the real world, you can’t say how something ‘kind of’ works; we had to figure out the concepts before we could model what the exhibit would look like and what people would learn from it.” This project gave students an opportunity to work with a real client and a real space, and to learn how to apply their disciplinary expertise to an interdisciplinary team, Quam said.

Second-place team The Key’s proposed exhibit allowed visitors to select different Iowa landmark cases and follow the case folder card through the rest of the interactive game.

“It helped them experience what they’ll be doing in professional practice,” she said. “The justices haven’t had a lot of exposure to the design disciplines, so this was an opportunity for them to see what design can do for the state of Iowa,” Evans said. “The students’ projects incorporated examples of advanced exhibit design and other technologies that pushed the clients in some ways they hadn’t anticipated, and I think they really appreciated that.” 7

ORY N AS L TSUTDUID I N T ERIDNITSER C I PNLAT I NIA OI O

Meshallah Muhammad, left, interior design, and Mayli Grady, industrial design, were members of the winning team, The Cherry Sisters. Photo by Christopher Gannon.

VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | FALL 2019

ENGAGING ENVIRONMENTS By Chelsea Davis & Heather Sauer

Judicial branch representatives ranked the presentations into first, second and third places and three honorable mentions. The proposals may be incorporated into future designs for the space.

Research and storytelling This is the first-ever collaboration between the Iowa Judicial Branch and Iowa State University. During a

“We wanted them to take ownership and really think critically about how to create an engaging environment,” Quam said.

Second-place team The Key’s proposed exhibit allowed visitors to select different Iowa landmark cases and follow the case folder card through the rest of the interactive game.

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that, but it needs to be flexible,” Miller said. For the past three years, the college’s VR capabilities consisted of a mobile cart equipped with a computer and Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets.

the latest devices. The center workspace is equipped with a freestanding DIRTT wall system clad in whiteboards and an embedded 70-inch HD monitor, which can be used in tandem with activity in the ingenuity lab when the overhead door is open.

“The lab will help students establish their VR/AR knowledge base,” he said. “They can’t jump immediately from an original idea or design to VR or AR; it’s going to take technical expertise, and they may need to find other people with that expertise to work with or simplify their design.” The Surprenant Ingenuity Lab will provide opportunities to explore not only VR and AR but also 3D scanning and other technologies. Games will also be part of the learning experience.

IMMERSIVE TE CH NOLOGY By Heather Sauer

“Much of the VR industry so far has been focused on game development. Games are really important to experience VR and AR, but we’re not going to make it a gaming club,” Versteeg said. “We’ll use games to help people understand immersive technology better and illustrate possibilities for their own work.”

Surprenant Ingenuity Lab helps students imagine what’s next Many design firms today have what they call a VR lounge — a space where employees can experiment with virtual and augmented reality applications to help colleagues and clients better visualize, experience and understand the impact of design decisions. As technology evolves, student learning needs to evolve with it. A new College of Design facility provides students with opportunities to explore and experiment with the latest immersive technology and help determine where that tech goes next. Chad Surprenant (BS 1993 Civil Engineering), together with his wife, Tara, and children Noah, a freshman in civil engineering at Iowa State; Ellie, a junior in high school; and Caleb, a high school freshman, gave the College of Design a $150,000 gift to transform the former spray room and center space on the building’s third floor into a 600-squarefoot collaborative environment called the Surprenant Ingenuity Lab. 8

“This technology is something you have to experience to see how it could influence and affect your designs. Oftentimes, people don’t know what can be done, or they want to do too much for their current skill level. I can help them explore the options,” Versteeg said.

Surprenant is the president and CEO of ISG — a Mankato, Minnesota-based design firm co-founded by his late father, Ken (BS 1966 Civil Engineering), in 1973, that now has 10 offices in four Midwestern states and recently created its own “ingenuity space” where visualization specialists can collaborate. “We’re now using VR not only for the aesthetic aspects of projects but for far more practical reasons,” Surprenant said. “For example, when we’re working with people in a plant, with VR they can see the functional processes of the building; then they can identify potential operational problems that may affect the design, equipment or staffing. VR helps us evaluate the nuts-and-bolts use of a facility.” Initially, the family intended to split their Iowa State gift between the Colleges of Engineering and Design. “Because we’re a multidisciplinary firm with business in both architecture and engineering,

we wanted to support initiatives that were emblematic of how we built our company. We did a College of Design tour in summer 2017 and kind of fell in love,” Surprenant said. That tour, he said, is where the ingenuity lab idea first germinated. “When we met Mike Miller and he was showing us various needs in the college, the VR lab was a metal cart with a computer and goggles. Seeing that specific need and knowing we could do something transformative made it very easy to commit the whole gift to Design.”

Designed to evolve Miller, director of operations for the College of Design, worked with Surprenant to realize the family’s vision. “We agreed to shift the focus to a space where the newest stuff happens, whatever that may be. Right now, virtual and augmented reality are the things we want to do, and the space is designed around

Opposite: A student explores the virtual reality technology in the new Surprenant Ingenuity Lab. Above: Mitch Versteeg walks students through the lab’s capabilities and helps them brainstorm potential projects. Photos by Christopher Gannon.

“With mobile carts, the benefit is being able to move the technology where needed. On the down side, equipment setup is more complicated,” Miller said. “In the new space, we can install the equipment permanently, so when you arrive it’s just a matter of getting yourself ready, not the space.” “Additionally, we’ve upgraded to the newest wireless headsets by Oculus and HTC, which allow users to move untethered from the lab into the review/ workspace. And we’ll be investing in an augmented reality headset,” he said. Featuring an overhead door on one wall, the lab features an LED whiteboard and a high-end workstation capable of running the latest software and powering

With the door closed, the lab and workspace can be used independently. Rolling tables and storage can be moved to reconfigure the space. Everything is modular, adjustable and adaptable so the space can evolve as technology changes.

Explore and experiment Systems support specialist Mitch Versteeg, who has experience in high-end computer graphics and VR, helped choose the lab’s equipment and set up the space. He will oversee day-to-day usage and provide technical support to students and faculty. During open hours, students will be able to explore and experiment with the technology, brainstorm potential projects and bounce ideas around with him.

Educate and support For Surprenant, the Iowa State project echoes the firm’s efforts to educate and support the next generation of designers. “We’re not only using VR for clients to be able to visualize their projects better; we have been using it to get students interested in design and what’s possible with technology. We’re very active in the Waterloo (Iowa), Mankato and Apple Valley (Minnesota) public schools, providing them opportunities to see the types of work we do and the tools we employ to get our work done,” he said. “It’s a natural extension to provide Iowa State students with opportunities to experiment and develop new uses for technology or new technology itself. I’m looking forward to seeing how students will use the lab in ways I had no idea could even be done.” 9

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that, but it needs to be flexible,” Miller said. For the past three years, the college’s VR capabilities consisted of a mobile cart equipped with a computer and Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets.

IMMERSIVE TE CH NOLOGY By Heather Sauer

I N T ER N ATVI O AILN S I SNI T GTSUCDHI O OL ARS

South African visiting scholars Peter Mokumo and Vusi Makamu learn the fundamentals of GIS in CRP 551 with Neha Mehrotra. Photo by Alison Weidemann.

VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | FALL 2019

of that there are animals moving from neighboring reserves into their farms. Now there’s conflict between farmers and wildlife.” Mokumo, a lecturer in the UL department of biodiversity, is looking at insect pests and how to minimize their impact on corn and tomato production — especially the fall armyworm that is responsible for increasing crop damage. “There are a lot of subsistence farmers in South Africa who depend on maize, because maize is our staple food,” he said. “So now what they are facing with climate

activity out of the College of Design and coordinate these cross-college and crossdepartmental teams.” “Beyond the opportunity to work with outstanding faculty across the university, we’re able to provide these scholars experience with community-engaged work,” Owusu said. “Iowa State is known for applied research — putting knowledge into practice — and for sharing that knowledge through extension and outreach. The College of Design is a leader in community engagement and using creative ways to bring different stakeholders together to address complex problems in communities.” Coming to the US also gives these scholars access to more technology and resources than are available in South Africa, and exposure to different teaching methods they can use in their own classrooms in the future.

By Hailey Allen

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION

Francis Owusu and Caroline Westort with faculty and students at the University of Limpopo last December. Photo courtesy of Francis Owusu.

South African scholars share a semester in the States It’s September once again and fall semester is in full swing. The mornings are cooler, the leaves are changing and three campus visitors are embarking on a brand-new experience. Vusi Makamu, Peter Mokumo and Tshepiso Ramalepe are the first group of visiting scholars seeking PhDs through a new collaboration between South Africa’s University of Limpopo and Iowa State University. South Africa has a unique problem. A large number of faculty members at the country’s higher education institutions are aging and retiring, leaving a significant gap between them and the next generation of emerging academics. This is particularly true at historically disadvantaged universities like the University of Limpopo, which were established for nonwhite Africans under apartheid. Many younger faculty have not had the opportunity to gain research experience or pursue advanced degrees. To fill this critical need, the South African Department of Higher Education and Training launched the University Staff

Doctoral Programme under the University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP) and invited proposals for partnerships between its universities and institutions in the United States. “The UCDP seeks to increase the number of academics with PhDs in South Africa by enhancing the infrastructure and resources for PhD and master’s supervision,” said Caroline Westort, assistant professor of landscape architecture. “In other words, there aren’t enough people being trained in research in South Africa, so this program has been funded to supplement training opportunities with international collaborations like this one between the University of Limpopo and Iowa State.” Westort and Francis Owusu, chair of the Department of Community and Regional Planning, lead the Iowa State side of the partnership. “We see great synergy between our position as a top-tier research institution

and our mission as a land-grant institution with the goals of the UCDP,” Owusu said. “It’s a great privilege to be able to share our resources to help the University of Limpopo increase its research and scholarly capacity.”

Climate-change challenges Makamu, Mokumo and Ramalepe arrived in Ames at the end of August and will spend the semester attending classes and working with faculty from across the university on individual research topics related to climate change. Ramalepe, a senior laboratory assistant in zoology at the University of Limpopo (UL), is studying wildlife conservation and the impact of land-use and climate change in South Africa. “In the past two to three decades, the landscape has started to degrade because of climate change, and people have converted more land to farming” just to survive, she said. The nature reserves are shrinking as formerly wild areas are put into production, and “as a result

change is the introduction of pests that we’ve never experienced before.” Makamu’s focus lies in the municipal response to climate-change challenges. The South African government is working to manage the impacts of climate change at the national level, he said, but local governments are failing to plan for service provision in the face of changing conditions. “Services such as water supply are becoming a problem now. When I was growing up, we used to get running water and didn’t have a shortage. But recently, we have timetables that say we can have water at this time and then not at this time” and electricity also has been rationed, said Makamu, who currently coordinates international exchanges and study abroad for UL but plans to teach in the university’s public policy program after completing his PhD.

Research and technology Given the interdisciplinary nature of the scholars’ projects, Westort said, “we are very well-suited to host this research

“[This program] is not only for our own project developments, but also to learn how things are done here, and hopefully we can copy one or two things to bring back with us,” Makamu said.

“Or four or five,” said Ramalepe, laughing. One thing she admires about the Iowa State culture is the more collaborative professor-student relationship. “Students are so open with their professors, they even call them by their first name. I think you aren’t as scared to talk to the [faculty]. The idea of encouraging students to discuss [with professors], it’s amazing.” The scholars also “admire the quality of research here,” Mokumo said. “One of my professors writes books. I mean, what are the chances of being taught by an author in your specific field?” Makamu, Mokumo and Ramalepe also bring expertise to share with Iowa State, Owusu said. “They can share their own experiences with how climate change manifests itself differently in different parts of the world and the challenges in different cultural contexts,” he said. “We see this as the beginning of a longterm relationship between our two universities, and the College of Design is leading that effort.”

inspire Inspire is published twice per year by the Iowa State University College of Design and is mailed to more than 17,000 alumni and friends. Newsletter Staff Editor Heather Sauer Writers Hailey Allen, Chelsea Davis, Heather Sauer Photographers Cameron Campbell, Brenna Fransen, Christopher Gannon, Luke McDonell, Alison Weidemann Graphic Designer Alison Weidemann Contact Us 146 College of Design 715 Bissell Road Iowa State University Ames, IA 50011-1066 inspire@iastate.edu design.iastate.edu Connect With Us facebook.com/CollegeofDesign Instagram: @isucollegeofdesign LinkedIn: Iowa State University – College of Design Alumni Updates Have you married, moved, changed jobs, published or exhibited your work or earned an award? Let us know at http://www.design.iastate.edu/ alumni/share-your-news/. On the Cover Lilian Juma, now a second-year architecture student, models “Nubian Redemption,” the Best in Show winner in the inaugural Wearables Design Show. Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, ethnicity, religion, national origin, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. Veteran. Inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies may be directed to Office of Equal Opportunity, 3410 Beardshear Hall, 515 Morrill Road, Ames, Iowa 50011, Tel. 515 294-7612, Hotline 515-294-1222, email eooffice@iastate.edu

I N T ER N ATVI O AILN S I SNI T GTSUCDHI O OL ARS

South African visiting scholars Peter Mokumo and Vusi Makamu learn the fundamentals of GIS in CRP 551 with Neha Mehrotra. Photo by Alison Weidemann.

VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | FALL 2019

By Hailey Allen

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION

Francis Owusu and Caroline Westort with faculty and students at the University of Limpopo last December. Photo courtesy of Francis Owusu.

Research and technology Given the interdisciplinary nature of the scholars’ projects, Westort said, “we are very well-suited to host this research

“[This program] is not only for our own project developments, but also to learn how things are done here, and hopefully we can copy one or two things to bring back with us,” Makamu said.

VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 FALL 2019

Office of the Dean 134 College of Design 715 Bissell Road Ames, IA 50011-1066

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VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | FALL 2019

College honors alumni with awards at Homecoming Five College of Design alumni were recognized Friday, Oct. 25, at the ISU Alumni Association’s 2019 Honors and Awards Ceremony. John Likens

J. Jade Liska

Robert Reinders Bethany Wilcoxon Jay Pleggenkuhle

James Cramer

and Bethany Wilcoxon (BS 2008 Community & Regional Planning / Certificate 2009 Geographic Information Systems), Des Moines, senior adviser at McClure Engineering Company in Clive.

Jay Pleggenkuhle (BLA 1990 Landscape Architecture), Las Vegas, owner of Stonerose Landscapes, received the Alumni Merit Award from the ISU Alumni Asssociation Club of Chicago.

This year’s Christian Petersen Design Award went to James P. Cramer, founder and chairman emeritus of DesignIntelligence and the Design Futures Council.

If you would like to nominate a fellow alum for a College of Design or Iowa State University award, please contact Rachel Moylan, alumni relations coordinator, rmoylan@iastate.edu.

WEARABLES DESIGN SHOW Student projects demonstrate craft, imagination and energy