Industrial Design

Kuangming Qin (MFA 2024 Industrial Design) received a 2024 merit award from the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). CONGRATULATIONS!

Giant Congratulations Ali Ibanez, Graphic Design (2024) for competing in the Paris Paralympics on the women’s basketball team. Go Ali! Also congratulations as well to Phillip Croft, Industrial Design (2025) and Isaiah Rigo, Industrial Design (2024) for making it to the paralympic trials for Track and Field.

This summer, Mania Taher received the 2024 Sally Kress Tompkins Fellowship, awarded jointly by the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) and the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS-U.S. National Park  Service). This fellowship award enabled her to complete a survey and report documenting  the physical and social histories of the Dearborn Mosque building and community in Dearborn (est. 1938), Wayne County, MI. This building, only the second mosque built in the United States, serves as a case study of early American mosque architecture. The Dearborn Mosque engages significantly with resettlement histories of the 20th-Century Arab immigrants of Dearborn and Detroit who were predominantly industrial workers at the Ford automotive company.

Dr. Cliff Shin was quoted in the February 19, 2024 article, "Apple's freshest design might just be this puffy space-age carrying case" by Aaron Mok of Business Insider.

Industrial Design Professor Suresh Sethi was recently interviewed by Kevin Mako, President of MAKO Design + Invent in his Podcast "Use Inventor Narrative to Design Great Hardware Products." Listen to the Podcast here.  

Deana McDonagh was recently featured in FOX 32 Chicago, "University of Illinois developing 'Star Wars'-inspired self-driving wheelchair." Video and article by Natalie Bomke here.

"Review of assistive devices for the prevention of pressure ulcers: an engineering perspective" was recently published in Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology  by Mahshid Mansouri, Girish Krishnan, Deana C. McDonagh, Christopher M. Zallek & Elizabeth T. Hsiao-Wecksler. Article link here.

Deana McDonagh was recently interviewed on WAND discussing "New robotic hands-free wheelchair to help with mobility in users." The segment may be viewed here.

Professor McDonagh was recently quoted in the article "Fast Furniture Is Cheap. And Americans Are Throwing It in the Trash. The mass-produced furniture that sold furiously during the pandemic could soon be clogging landfills." by Debra Kamin. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/31/realestate/fast-furniture-clogged-landfills.html      

In November, the Beckman Institute will open the doors to the (dis)Ability Design Studio. The partnership between the Beckman Institute and the University’s Disability Resources and Educational Services will support the interdisciplinary design research focused on real-life experiences of people with disabilities. Industrial Design Professor Deana McDonagh and Coach Adam Bleakney, directors, of the (dis)Ability Design Studio were interviewed in The Daily Illini.

The BFA Industrial Design major qualifies as a STEM-designated study. All students currently enrolled and graduating in May 2023 or later in the BFA Industrial Design Program will graduate from ID as a STEM-designated major. Students will be able to apply for STEM Scholarships and OPT extensions for international students who are eligible to work in the US for up to three years following graduation