Industrial-Design Students Win Scholarships in Local Furniture-Design Competition

Six students from Western Washington University’s Industrial Design program received recognition and $6,000 in scholarships for their children’s furniture designs as a part of the annual Mount Baker Products Furniture Design Competition.

Western students, children, parents and a panel of seven judges have reviewed and selected the winning designs among 21 different student projects. Entries were judged on concept, creativity, functionality, structure, craftsmanship and form. 

They were judged by Lisa Van Doren, Paul Kearsley, Lisa Ochs, Karen Morris, Ray Klein, Arunas Oslapas, and Kyle Thomas.

Van Doren is an owner of Ideal, a design shop on 1227 Cornwall Ave. in Bellingham. Kearsley is a designer and part time Industrial Design department faculty member at Western. Ochs is the program coordinator in Western’s Engineering and Design Department and a mother of two. Morris is a paraeducator at Wade King Elementary School and a mother of two. Oslapas is a professor of Industrial Design at Western. Klein is a designer and owns Klein Product Development, and Thomas is the lead industrial designer at Architectural Elements in Bellingham.

·         First prize and a $2,000 scholarship was awarded to Calyn McLeod of Lynden for “Mod Beam,” a modular balance beam for Bellingham Cooperative School.

·         Second prize and a $1,500 scholarship was awarded to Peter Jacobson of Edmonds for “Washington for Frame,” a costume wardrobe with silhouette mirrors.

·         Third prize and a $1,000 scholarship was awarded to Justin Janczakowski of Mukilteo for “Slope,” a pediatric physical therapy ramp and scooter board for the Bellingham School District Therapy Department.

·         Fourth prize and a $700 scholarship was awarded to Jill Kuyt of Longmont, Colorado, for “Artislce,” a three-sided art easel and chalkboard for preschoolers.

·          Fifth place and a $500 scholarship was awarded to Tacha Pradappet of Federal Way for “Rhiza,” a plant roots observatory for Blossom Child Daycare.

·         Industrial Design students awarded Noah Lanphear of Seattle with the Designers Choice Award and a $300 scholarship for his indoor climbing play structure featuring a rope and an inclined ladder.

Scholarship money and wood for the projects were provided by Mount Baker Products, Inc.

For more information, contact Jason Morris, Western Washington University Department of Engineering and Design, at (360) 650-2514 or Jason.Morris@wwu.edu.