{"id":15096,"date":"2018-10-31T13:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T17:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/?p=15096"},"modified":"2018-10-31T13:00:10","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T17:00:10","slug":"industrial-design-bryan-laffitte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/2018\/10\/31\/industrial-design-bryan-laffitte\/","title":{"rendered":"Associate Professor of Industrial Design Bryan Laffitte"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bryan<\/a><\/p>\n

For Distinguished Professor of Industrial Design (ID) Bryan Laffitte<\/a>, life changed in high school when his now wife of nearly 40 years, Lucy, and her family moved to Tallahassee, FL. Laffitte grew up mostly on his grandparents\u2019 farm in a very rural area near the Gulf Coast. He spent a lot of time fixing farm equipment and tools. \u201cEverything was coated with rust, and everything broke. Everything was exposed to the elements, and everything was used, because to buy a new tool was not an option,\u201d he shares. But this was the life he knew and remembers fondly.<\/p>\n

Lucy\u2019s family moved from Boston, and immediately Laffitte realized they were special. \u201cHer dad was an MD from Harvard and had gotten his undergrad from MIT, and wow, these people were different,\u201d he states. \u201cI was attracted to her and her family, and something really clicked.\u201d He was also drawn to Lucy\u2019s brother-in-law, Sam Bush, and he felt that meeting the family was like \u201cfinding the thing that you were always hoping to find.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laffitte spent time in Pennsylvania with Bush, who taught woodworking at The Hill School, an influential boarding school. Bush was an alumnus of Hill and also a master woods craftsman who trained under Karl Pacanovsky in the true European apprenticeship methods.<\/p>\n

There, Laffitte was introduced to an environment that he did not know existed. The woodworking studios were full of amazing, \u201cgleaming\u201d tools and machinery: \u201cthe condition of the tools and the knowledge of how to use them was so deep,\u201d states Laffitte. \u201cI was seeing something that I had wanted to see but not knowing I wanted to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the couple met, Laffitte was doing steel construction. When Lucy headed off to Middlebury College in Vermont, he decided to attend community college, where he buckled down and made straight As, with the intent of transferring and convincing Lucy to follow him. He settled on the University of Oregon at Eugene. \u201cI needed a place she would like. She was studying natural history, botany, biology, and forestry\u2014and there was no better place in the world than Eugene for this. All of the trees; the Cascade Mountains; the Pacific Range was 70 miles west, and you were in the middle of eco-nirvana.\u201d And Lucy followed.<\/p>\n

He took classes in fine art, metalsmithing, and jewelry making, which he didn\u2019t love, but found himself interested in the forging and casting. He continued his studies at night at a local community college taking machine shop, while pursuing his undergraduate degree during the day.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Laffitte realized he needed to go to graduate school to sustain his family. He decided on NC State, and was accepted into the Track 3 program.<\/p>\n

There, he brought together his knowledge of working with machine tools and drawing. \u201cI just started to draw like mad\u2014I had never poured myself into something so much. Vince Foote was my teacher for four years, and I never met anyone so insightful and honest. He could pick out what was right and what was wrong.\u201d<\/strong> Laffitte credits Foote, FIDSA and Professor Emeritus of ID, for keeping him motivated. \u201cNobody ever pushed me that hard, and I really loved it. He was a fantastic critic, and I learned what a blessing that can be\u2014to have someone who can see what is wrong, and can and will tell you.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

After graduation, he worked at IBM until Foote told him of a friend at Arizona State University who needed an assistant professor. That was the beginning of his teaching career. His next position was with Carnegie Mellon University. Laffitte was not a fan of cold winters and, as luck would have it, he landed a position at NC State in 1993.<\/p>\n

Laffitte reunited with his mentor. For the next 15 years, they worked as colleagues, collaborating and team-teaching studios. \u201cI got some intense training,\u201d Laffitte interjects. \u201c[Foote] would let me go first and then come along behind me and correct everything I did, in front of the class. It was in good humor, and it took me 12 or 14 years to get where I wouldn\u2019t totally miss something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laffitte impresses students with his amazing drawing talent. A motorcycle is often the image of reference, which he effortlessly sketches with his signature grace and fluidity. \u201cI do love to draw motorcycles,\u201d he quips. \u201cI sold my 1967 Triumph Bonneville 650 in order to go to college, and I still dream about it, with its exposed machinery, beautiful form, and all its metal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mentoring and encouraging students is where Laffitte\u2014and his students\u2014find the most reward. \u201cI get motivation if I am really focusing and really connecting with what the students are doing and pushing them exactly where they need to be in order for them to get where they want to go. When they graduate and get a job in the field that they always wanted to work in, this is something that the entire faculty contributes to,\u201d Laffitte reflects. \u201cThat is the satisfaction that makes the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\"Bryan<\/a>\n\nFor Distinguished Professor of Industrial Design (ID) Bryan Laffitte<\/a>, life changed in high school when his now wife of nearly 40 years, Lucy, and her family moved to Tallahassee, FL. Laffitte grew up mostly on his grandparents\u2019 farm in a very rural area near the Gulf Coast. He spent a lot of time fixing farm equipment and tools. \u201cEverything was coated with rust, and everything broke. Everything was exposed to the elements, and everything was used, because to buy a new tool was not an option,\u201d he shares. But this was the life he knew and remembers fondly.\n\nLucy\u2019s family moved from Boston, and immediately Laffitte realized they were special. \u201cHer dad was an MD from Harvard and had gotten his undergrad from MIT, and wow, these people were different,\u201d he states. \u201cI was attracted to her and her family, and something really clicked.\u201d He was also drawn to Lucy\u2019s brother-in-law, Sam Bush, and he felt that meeting the family was like \u201cfinding the thing that you were always hoping to find.\u201d\n\nLaffitte spent time in Pennsylvania with Bush, who taught woodworking at The Hill School, an influential boarding school. Bush was an alumnus of Hill and also a master woods craftsman who trained under Karl Pacanovsky in the true European apprenticeship methods.\n\nThere, Laffitte was introduced to an environment that he did not know existed. The woodworking studios were full of amazing, \u201cgleaming\u201d tools and machinery: \u201cthe condition of the tools and the knowledge of how to use them was so deep,\u201d states Laffitte. \u201cI was seeing something that I had wanted to see but not knowing I wanted to see.\u201d\n\nWhen the couple met, Laffitte was doing steel construction. When Lucy headed off to Middlebury College in Vermont, he decided to attend community college, where he buckled down and made straight As, with the intent of transferring and convincing Lucy to follow him. He settled on the University of Oregon at Eugene. \u201cI needed a place she would like. She was studying natural history, botany, biology, and forestry\u2014and there was no better place in the world than Eugene for this. All of the trees; the Cascade Mountains; the Pacific Range was 70 miles west, and you were in the middle of eco-nirvana.\u201d And Lucy followed.\n\nHe took classes in fine art, metalsmithing, and jewelry making, which he didn\u2019t love, but found himself interested in the forging and casting. He continued his studies at night at a local community college taking machine shop, while pursuing his undergraduate degree during the day.\n\nEventually, Laffitte realized he needed to go to graduate school to sustain his family. He decided on NC State, and was accepted into the Track 3 program.\n\nThere, he brought together his knowledge of working with machine tools and drawing. \u201cI just started to draw like mad\u2014I had never poured myself into something so much. Vince Foote was my teacher for four years, and I never met anyone so insightful and honest. He could pick out what was right and what was wrong.\u201d<\/strong> Laffitte credits Foote, FIDSA and Professor Emeritus of ID, for keeping him motivated. \u201cNobody ever pushed me that hard, and I really loved it. He was a fantastic critic, and I learned what a blessing that can be\u2014to have someone who can see what is wrong, and can and will tell you.\u201d<\/strong>\n\nAfter graduation, he worked at IBM until Foote told him of a friend at Arizona State University who needed an assistant professor. That was the beginning of his teaching career. His next position was with Carnegie Mellon University. Laffitte was not a fan of cold winters and, as luck would have it, he landed a position at NC State in 1993.\n\nLaffitte reunited with his mentor. For the next 15 years, they worked as colleagues, collaborating and team-teaching studios. \u201cI got some intense training,\u201d Laffitte interjects. \u201c[Foote] would let me go first and then come along behind me and correct everything I did, in front of the class. It was in good humor, and it took me 12 or 14 years to get where I wouldn\u2019t totally miss something.\u201d\n\nLaffitte impresses students with his amazing drawing talent. A motorcycle is often the image of reference, which he effortlessly sketches with his signature grace and fluidity. \u201cI do love to draw motorcycles,\u201d he quips. \u201cI sold my 1967 Triumph Bonneville 650 in order to go to college, and I still dream about it, with its exposed machinery, beautiful form, and all its metal.\u201d\n\nMentoring and encouraging students is where Laffitte\u2014and his students\u2014find the most reward. \u201cI get motivation if I am really focusing and really connecting with what the students are doing and pushing them exactly where they need to be in order for them to get where they want to go. When they graduate and get a job in the field that they always wanted to work in, this is something that the entire faculty contributes to,\u201d Laffitte reflects. \u201cThat is the satisfaction that makes the difference.\u201d"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Professor of Industrial Design Bryan Laffitte has mentored and inspired countless students. Learn about his journey to design.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":15097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-15096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-experience","category-newswire","tag-industrial-design"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}