First in Sustainable Design Competition

Park scholarships Bring Top s tudents to college of design

The Park Scholarships at NC State are one of the most prestigious undergraduate scholarships in the United States. Currently valued at $59,000 for in-state students (40 awarded this year) and $107,000 for out-of-state students (10 awarded this year), the innovative, year-round program had more than 1,000 applicants for those 50 scholarships. Competition is fierce and time-consuming as prospective students work from completing applications through initial, semifinalist and finalist interviews, some given by previous Park Scholars and alumni. College of Design freshman Alex Wiedemann is one of those rare recipients. The Clayton, N.C.-native knew others from her high school who were Park Scholars, such as Casey Coats (see story at right), and she was very familiar with the College of Park scholar Alex Wiedemann Design since she attended Design Camp the summer before her junior year.

“I really fit in here. There are opportunities to really connect with the faculty,” she says.

One of the requirements of each Park Scholar is to select a community service agency to be involved with while enrolled at NC State. Wiedemann, a graphic design major, is working with two other Park Scholars to create an electronic marketing plan for the Eastern Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society to help spread the word about M.S. and the society’s activities.

She also enjoys being part of the Park Sparc program where Park Scholars visit high schools to encourage students to apply.

college of design Park scholar is also leader of the Pack

Also from Clayton, N.C., Landscape Architecture (LAR) Junior Casey Coats received the Leader of the Pack award of $1,000 at the homecoming football game against Ga. Tech on November 4, 2006.

The Leader of the Pack scholarship replaced the homecoming king and queen several years ago. Interested students must submit three essays and an application, which along with their GPA determine if they are one of 12 semi-finalists (six male and six female). Semi-finalists then make a 10-minute presentation, immediately followed by an interview, to determine six finalists. The week before homecoming, finalists are allowed to campaign and the student body takes a vote. The vote is only part of the total score, so no one knows who wins until homecoming.

Though suffering from mononucleosis, Coats made it to the game and walked away with the scholarship! Since Park Scholars get free tuition, room and board for four years, Coats will use the scholarship to pay for her required fifth year in LAR.

Coats’ list of accomplishments also include being appointed as an alumni student ambassador and serving on two homecoming committees. She was also selected to participate in Wolf Aide, a program that teaches leadership skills.

In addition to being a Park Scholar and participating in the mandatory learning labs during breaks, Coats is president of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, NC State Chapter.

Park scholar and leader of the Pack casey coats with her parents.

HgTV dream Home – nc state edition

Afather-son team of NC State alumni recently worked on a oncein-a-lifetime project—the HGTV 2006 Dream Home.

In 1982, Al Platt, Architect (M.Arch 1975) opened his practice in the mountains of Brevard, N.C. Al’s son, Parker (BEDA 1994, B.Arch. 1999), joined him in 1994. The name was changed to Platt Architecture in 2005 and it is now a 12-person firm specializing in residential and community based architecture. Parker's NC State classmate Jan Erik “Bud” Holland (BEDA 1994; M.Arch. 1997), who joined the firm in 1997, served as project manager for the Dream Home project.

When HGTV made plans with Grey Rock Development to build the 2006 Dream Home at Lake Lure, Jack Thomasson, home planner for HGTV, recommended Platt Architecture, a firm that strives to design houses that complement landforms and preserve the natural integrity of the land. Mark Barker, principal of MWB Construction from Black Mountain, N.C., was chosen as the builder.

The entire project moved very quickly through design and was completed in nine months, which is normally up to a three-year process.

The small firm usually works on 8-10 homes a year, but the success of the Dream Home project has increased demand for their work. “We have heard from people all over the world who compliment the home and our design,” says Al Platt.

Al and Parker Platt

More information about the 2006 Dream Home located at Lake Lure, N.C., can be found at hgtv.com/ dreamhome. Learn more about Platt Architecture at www.plattarchitecture.com.

Platt Architecture staff in front of the HgTV dream Home. l-R: John Witherspoon, Parker Platt, Bill Pauer, celia Hickson, Brad Kimzey, Amy Montieth, sue Whitehurst, stephanie Holland, Bud Holland, laura Botch, Ava carr, Al Platt, steve l’Heureux. not pictured, Wendy lofton, celesta Britton and Brian fireman.

cotton steers folbot to success

After 24 years, product designer Phil Cotton (BPD 1968) still looks forward to going to work every day as owner of the Folbot kayak company.

“I still go in and have fun,” Cotton said. “I like to build things and I’m a product designer, so every day is play day!”

Cotton’s journey as an NC State student did not begin in product design, though. He was accepted originally into the mechanical engineering program. After visiting his brother’s product design studio where they were building kites, Cotton was intrigued and entertained the possibility of a major change prior to his freshman year. Luckily for him, Dean Henry Kamphoefner permitted him to enroll in product design.

“Back then a lot of the curriculum overlapped with architecture and landscape architecture,” Cotton says.

During the late 60s when Cotton graduated from NC State, most men had to go into the service. So after his June graduation he was off to the U.S. Navy’s officer candidate school in Rhode Island in July.

After completing his service, Cotton accepted a job in the carpet division of Burlington Industries, which meant moving to Lexington, Va. He spent eight years as a project engineer “creating fun things like a tile-stacking machine,” he adds, since he was the only product designer on staff.

In 1979 he relocated to Charleston, S.C., to become the general manager of a textile company. He stayed with the company, but was looking for another challenge.

Luck was still riding with Cotton when a friend’s father, who was the head of industrial development in Charleston, suggested that he look into purchasing Folbot, whose founder passed away in 1982.

Enamored with the idea of becoming his own boss and relying on his own business decisions, Cotton was able to round up four investors and became the president of Folbot.

Although the company brought kayaking to the U.S. in 1935, there had been no product innovation for years according to Cotton, “If the sales are this good with this product, surely, I can improve on that!”

Although faced with a reluctance to change within the company, Cotton started revamping the aesthetics of most models to meet market demand for lighter, stronger, highertech boats. He decided to abandon wood for polycarbonate and aluminum.

At his youngest son’s request, he built a long, skinny fast boat that has been successful. He still sketches his designs and builds full-scale prototypes since such high-end equipment is at his disposal.

Now Folbot has 17 employees in Charleston and they have distributors in Germany, Canada, England and Australia. Seventy-five percent of Folbot sales are in the U.S. and all warranty and repair work is done in Charleston.

“I don’t paddle as much as I should,” Cotton says. “I do test every boat personally.”

Normal turnaround of an order is about two weeks since each boat is customized, but the Internet has increased business.

“Since 1983, it’s been a good living for my employees and me … and we’ve made it successful with our focus on customer service,” explains Cotton.

He has discovered that if you go out of your way, it is great advertising. “It works better when 99 percent of the customers are nice, patient and understanding … a live voice answers the phone,” Cotton says. “If there is a problem, we take care of it.”

“I talk to 90 percent of our customers at some point and our customer service is second to none,” Cotton adds, attributing part of the wisdom to the many classes he had through textiles companies on how to deal with people.

“I’m not money-driven … if I break even and have fun, I’m happy!” he says.

Right: illustration is of the cooper, one of folbot’s latest folding frames. Below: Phil cotton tests a cooper kayak on the Ashley River a few blocks from his office.

Visit the Folbot Forum (www.folbotforum.com), noted as the best and biggest manufacturer’s kayaking forum with information on Flotillas and more.