WMU Richmond Institute for Design and Innovation

I had such a great time at #AfroTech this past week!? Thank you to WMU Richmond Institute for Design and Innovation for helping me get here!? It was great to be in a community that’s so passionate about tech and innovation. I’m feeling inspired!!?

Last week, I attended the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) International Design Conference in Austin, Texas. I was honored to accept the IDSA Student Merit Award and represent WMU Richmond Institute for Design and Innovation at Western Michigan University for the first time at the district level. It was an incredible opportunity to engage with the design community, reconnect with coworkers from my recent internship with Teague, and share the celebration with fellow award winners. Thank you to Newell Brands for hosting our finalist round, and to Jeffrey Browne, Annabel Huber, Jill Buckley, Lea Stewart for volunteering their time and expertise. A heartfelt thank you to Michael Kahwaji, Alfredo Carreno, Michael Seeley, and Jacob Ballard for their guidance and support throughout the process. I'm excited to venture into the next stage of my career!

In words of Dr. Karika Parker, Ph.D. #GoBroncos

The community design event was a tremendous success last night. Bursting with energy, passion, and impactful conversations! We extend a huge thank you to the Southwest Michigan design community for coming together—scholars, mentors, volunteers, professional designers, faculty, business owners, Project Pipeline students and families, and RID+I students alike. Events like this show why we do what we do and remind us of the power of coming together to share, learn, and grow. As we push forward in our mission to advocate for design equity and establish our region as a vibrant design hub, our doors remain wide open. We welcome everyone into our spaces, committed to hosting more community events and forging ahead with sustainable progress. A special shout-out to TowerPinkster President and CEO, Bjorn Green, AICP, and Interior Design Manager, Meghan Boyer, who not only shared insights on the Heritage Hall renovation but also empowered young designers to voice their perspectives in the industry. They discussed how TowerPinkster is working towards professional equity and even opened up about their personal life journeys. Dr. Karika Parker blew us away with her inspiring presentation! Her deep dive into historical justice and her work on Albert White's contributions to Michigan architecture was both powerful and enlightening. Stay tuned for more updates on her upcoming book that promises to shine a brighter light on these essential stories. A huge thank you to Hayward Babineaux and Nadine Rios-Rivas for leading the way in creating accessible pathways for emerging designers, including Project Pipeline students and the our newly formed NOMAS student group. Let's keep the momentum going!

Join us and fellow WMU faculty at Tech Week to explore new ideas and inspire innovation together!

Another awesome #RIDI student summer design internship.

We are recapping the final days of the trip that Kelsi Schmottlach and Anastasia Charnesky from WMU Richmond Institute for Design and Innovation took to China. These talented students won FinaMill’s design contest. Here’s a wonderful recap of some of their experiences visiting #Guangzhou. Guangzhou- Day 1 “We took a flight in the morning to make it to Guangzhou. Alex is always telling us how quickly these cities have grown, and the area that we were staying in had been freshly built around the time of the pandemic. It is hard to understand the speed of development without witnessing the change, so I feel encouraged to return in 5-10 years to truly understand. Around the hotel were a few bustling shopping malls and we stopped there for lunch. We had simple rice and meat dishes, served to us via robot.? The rest of the day was spent at the FinaMill headquarters. Alex and his team were focusing mostly on figuring out an issue with the garlic grinder they were developing. We got to see his team solve this problem on the fly, and we worked with them, proposing changes to the different pieces of the pod. After we figured out that the problem stemmed from the metal grinding plate, we talked to the team about redesigning their new spice measurement product. Together Ana and I found 3 elements of the design that could be improved, and we played this fun game with Alex, tossing designs back and forth to understand the manufacturing issues within our designs. It taught me how helpful it is to design along-side engineer minded people.” #designstudents #industrialdesign Western Michigan University

Follow the experiences of our students Kelsi and Ana in China as they get hands-on experience in the manufacturing process. Thank you FinaMill for the incredible opportunity!

Grateful to be an Alumni of Western Michigan University and honored to be featured alongside other great alumni! Two years later and I am still incredibly thankful for my professors, mentors, and peers across both the Western Michigan University - Haworth College of Business and WMU Richmond Institute for Design and Innovation. #gobroncos ????

Last fall, FinaMill sponsored a design competition with WMU Richmond Institute for Design and Innovation The contest offered a first prize that was the experience of a lifetime; a two-week tour of #China to see the art, architecture, museums, and manufacturing.?Two students, Kelsi Schmottlach and Anastasia Charnesky are in China right now and are journaling about their experience.?Here’s the first of several entries from the students as they immerse themselves in the country. “Hong Kong - It's a city where the buildings are almost as big as the mountains behind them. There's a huge variance of design between the older and newer architecture. Each are hubs for life and community from the food vendors on the streets to the lively families at the parks. The museums are art themselves. The new contemporary art building repurposes the lights found in the night markets to connect back to the soul of Hong Kong. I was in awe of the art I saw, I never thought I'd be able to see the images from my textbooks in real life. A third of the M+ museum had a collection about design. I love furniture design and find that the most interesting pieces were ones that mixed the old and new, just like the city of Hong Kong. The woven plastic patio chair showed this best by integrating a chair design that's a product of industrialization with this heavily skilled hand-weaving process. The seafood there is so fresh it swims in coolers next to stove tops. The restaurants are bustling, and you'll sit next to strangers just to have a place at the table. I learned about their culture of drinking warm water with their meal, a habit I practice independently in America. It was a strange yet funny connection.” Western Michigan University #Design #innovation