Research + Innovation

Graphic & experience design students at their project presentations for SAS

Apr 30, 2025

NC State students use AI to help businesses work smarter, faster and friendlier

NC State College of Design students were tasked with creating an original B2B application incorporating generative AI to satisfy business and user needs. Using SAS’ tech stack for generative AI, students were asked to understand the data collection and output of generative AI.

Apr 3, 2025

“Design is about relationships” – Kelly Umstead named 2024-25 University Faculty Scholar

Kelly Umstead, MID faculty member and director of graduate programs for industrial design, was recently named one of NC State’s 2024-25 University Faculty Scholars. We’re excited to highlight Kelly’s achievements in the college and learn more about her.

Apr 2, 2025

New Faculty Innovators in Design: Spotlight on Yuanqing Tian

As we showcase new faculty, we are excited to highlight Yuanqing “Ching” Tian, an Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at North Carolina State University. With over 11 years of design experience, Ching’s research focuses on custom-fit wearable product design, leveraging 3D scanning technologies, parametric design, and digital fabrication. Her work aims to improve human health and wellness while promoting diversity and inclusion in design. Ching is passionate about exploring human-centered design opportunities through emerging technologies and enhancing ergonomics for diverse populations.

Mar 5, 2025

New Faculty Innovators in Design: Spotlight on Valeria Lopez Torres

Dr. Valeria López Torres is an assistant professor of graphic & experience design in the College of Design at North Carolina State University. As part of our spotlight on new faculty, we are excited to highlight her expertise in AI, interaction design, and UX/UI, showcasing the interdisciplinary approach she brings to design education and research.

Feb 18, 2025

New Faculty Innovators in Design: Spotlight on Byungsoo Kim

Byungsoo Kim is an assistant professor in industrial design in the NC State College of Design. As part of our spotlight on new faculty, we are excited to highlight his teaching and expertise in product visualization and master’s-level studio projects, showcasing the innovative perspectives he brings to the College of Design.

Feb 17, 2025

College of Design Signs MOU with National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)

The College of Design at NC State University has signed an MOU with the Faculty of Architecture of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma De México (UNAM) to promote academic and research activities between the two institutions and further affirm the value of international collaboration. Collaborations with UNAM will allow the college to extend its involvement in global issues related to urbanization and the environment and translate that knowledge into teaching and practice through the lens of a global framework.

Aerial view of the Belltower and North Campus

Jan 17, 2025

A New Chapter for Inclusive Design: North Carolina State University and Steven Winter Associates Re-Envision the Center for Universal Design

North Carolina State University (NC State) and Steven Winter Associates, Inc. (SWA) are excited to announce a transformative partnership to revitalize the Center for Universal Design. After nearly 15 years of dormancy, the center is being reborn with a new mission: to support all stakeholders and users in creating accessible, inclusive environments that serve people of all abilities and backgrounds. The newly formed Alliance for Inclusive Design Practice and Research (the Alliance), co-directed by Traci Rose Rider, Ph.D, associate professor of architecture at NC State University, and Victoria Lanteigne, Ph.D., principal of research at SWA, represents a major leap forward in advancing equity in the built environment.

Nov 25, 2024

Doctoral Students Showcase Work through Design Probes: Research Strands

On November 21, the College of Design's doctoral programs brought together practitioners from the Doctor of Design and PhD in Design programs to showcase their outstanding research in a poster session and review titled "Design Probes: Research Strands." Students bridge academia and practice across diverse design fields, and the event showcased the collaborative ecosystem that spans the college's four departments and fosters a vibrant environment for interdisciplinary perspectives.

Oct 24, 2024

Work underway on Goldsboro flood mitigation and resilience project: three projects aim to protect property and increase flood resilience

A partnership between the state and City of Goldsboro has resulted in the completion of the Goldsboro Community Floodprint, and the initial implementation of the plan’s recommendations. The floodprint is a local plan that contains flood mitigation and resilience recommendations developed through public input and planning. Funded by the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) using the state’s HUD mitigation grant and led by the N.C. State University Coastal Dynamics Design Lab (CDDL), this is the second of ten CDDL/NCORR community floodprints to be completed.

Student ASLA award winning project long marsh forward

Sep 17, 2024

Landscape Architecture Students Win National Awards for Fourth Year in a Row

The Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental planning is thrilled to share that student teams won national ASLA awards for the fourth year in a row. Since 2020, student teams in the Master of Landscape Architecture program have won 12 awards nationally.

Jul 25, 2024

The Future of Design in Technology

How will technology continue to affect our role as designers? We interviewed two faculty in the College of Design to explore technology’s role as it relates to ideation, human-machine teaming, and the impacts on our rights and resources.

NC Historic Resilience Primer. Photo courtesy of Coastal Dynamics Design Lab.

Jun 18, 2024

College of Design Students and Faculty Win Awards at NCASLA

Students, faculty and alumni attended the NCASLA Conference in Asheville, receiving multiple awards and presenting to professionals from across the state. The Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning sponsored fourteen Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) students in the College of Design to attend the event.

Jun 5, 2024

MADTech Department Head Derek Ham accepts new position as director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center

MADTech Department Head Derek Ham, PhD, has accepted a new position as director of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)'s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) in Pittsburgh, PA, effective September 1.

Group photo where everyone shouts "Let's go play!" at the new Governor Morehead School Outdoor Accessibility Center.

Apr 25, 2024

Freedom by Design Celebrates with Custom-Designed Outdoor Learning Center

Students of the Governor Morehead School (GMS) celebrated the redesign of their new Outdoor Learning Center surrounded by community members, builders and NC State students who contributed to the project’s design and much of the labor, both in the shop and on the site.

Matthew Peterson in scale worlds visualization

Mar 5, 2024

Matthew Peterson named University Faculty Scholar

Matthew Peterson is an associate professor of graphic & experience design and one of 22 educators institution-wide chosen as part of the 2023-2024 NC State University Faculty Scholars cohort. The program, begun in 2012 by Chancellor Randy Woodson, recognizes and rewards emerging academic leaders who demonstrate significant academic achievement. Once selected, faculty carry the title for the duration of their appointment.

Jan 31, 2024

LAF Fellowship Spotlight: Meg Calkins on a Material Shift

About 90% of a constructed site’s carbon footprint comes from the materials used to build it. If landscape architects really want to reduce the carbon footprint of their work, they need to radically rethink not just materials selection but also material assemblies and the types structures they design. This is Meg Calkins’ message to the discipline and the focus of her 2023-24 LAF Fellowship.

Portrait of Lesley-Ann Noel holding her recently published book, "Design Social Change."

Jan 10, 2024

Q&A: Lesley-Ann Noel on Her New Book, “Design Social Change”

Assistant Professor Lesley-Ann Noel's recently-published book, titled "Design Social Change" was written as a guide for topics, mindsets and principles that designers can use to drive the way they think about change. We talked with Dr. Noel about the book's mission and inspiration.

"Invisibility" - Proof of concept from Ashley Anderson's research.

Dec 12, 2023

Breaking the Stereotype: Using AI to Support Diversity in STEM

Ashley Anderson's research looks at why there aren't as many Black students earning degrees in STEM fields, and is looking at how generative AI can be used a tool to foster diversity and belonging.

Students with Professor Boone as part of the Just Communities Lab

Nov 29, 2023

New Just Communities Lab Advocates for Environmental Justice

Kofi Boone, a professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, has formed a new lab at NC State that uses design and planning as a tool to address environmental justice concerns.

Missouri River in July 1993. Image: Washington University at St. Louis.

Oct 10, 2023

Turning the Tide

What can be done to reduce the negative effects of disasters and to reduce the likelihood of future disasters occurring in the first place? Hazard mitigation involves taking actions to reduce the vulnerability of communities to the damaging effects of natural hazards and disasters. Gavin Smith, professor of landscape architecture and environmental planning, is assisting local jurisdictions, states, and national governments in addressing this vexing issue.

Title card for NC State Creatives feature of Danny Garrett

Sep 8, 2023

NC State Creatives: Danny Garrett

As a former Marine, Danny is using his time in the MAAS program to research factors that contribute to veteran homelessness and suicide. Ultimately, he aims to design a sustainable, supportive, community-based housing typology that pinpoints the specific needs of veterans.

Kristen Schaffer flips through the archives as part of the NC State Libraries special collections

Jun 29, 2023

Sifting Through the Past

Associate Professor of Architecture Kristen Schaffer shares her experience of sorting through the archives as part of the research related to the College of Design's 75th anniversary.

Two students explore Eastman prototyping as part of the industrial design studio

May 23, 2023

Celebrating A Decade of Collaboration with Eastman

Compostable takeout containers. Cosmetics packaging. Ready to assemble furniture. These are just a few of the sponsored studio projects the NC State College of Design has conceptualized for real-world applications with industry partner Eastman. They have maintained an active partnership with the College of Design over the past ten years, resulting in nine invention disclosures, five applications and one patent.

May 10, 2023

College of Design Faculty win NC State Awards in Teaching and Research

Six College of Design faculty were recognized with awards from the Alumni Association, Graduate School, Libraries and Office of the Provost this spring.

Apr 24, 2023

Coharie Tribe signs agreement for local resilience plan

The Coharie Tribe recently signed an agreement to participate in a community floodprint project, which is being funded by the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) and led by the N.C. State Coastal Dynamics Design Lab (CDDL). The tribe is the third community selected for the Eastern North Carolina Community Floodprints initiative. A total of five communities will collaborate with the CDDL for the development of a floodprint, which can then be used to bolster future community resilience.

Apr 11, 2023

Winners from the 2023 Graduate Research Symposium Announced

Three College of Design students were winners at the Graduate Student Research Symposium. Marybeth Campeau (Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning) won first place, with Daniel Garrett (Advanced Architectural Studies) and Keagan Vargo (Industrial Design) winning second and third place, respectively.

Feb 14, 2023

Meg Calkins selected for LAF Fellowship for Innovation and Leadership

The Landscape Architecture Foundation chose Meg Calkins, professor of landscape architecture and environmental planning, as one of 6 fellows for 2023-2024.

Jan 25, 2023

Media Arts, Design and Technology Department Embraces Name Change to Highlight the Future of Design

The Art + Design Department in the NC State College of Design will now be known by a new name, the Department of Media Arts, Design and Technology, affectionately known as MADTech. “This name change reflects a shift in the future of our department towards the emerging trends in digital media production" says Department Head Derek Ham. "It aligns with our academic content, our faculty expertise, and focuses on the areas of the profession that use emerging technology for creative use.”

Design students in Buckminster Fuller's class design a geodesic cotton mill or textile mill

Jan 18, 2023

75 Years of Leading by Design: College of Design Celebrates a Momentous Milestone

The College of Design celebrates its 75th anniversary throughout 2023 with a series of lectures, events, alumni weekends, and more.

Jan 12, 2023

Preparing the next generation of green professionals with LEED Lab

North Carolina State University (NC State) is preparing the next generation of green building leaders through LEED Lab. This multidisciplinary immersion course uses project-based learning in the built environment to educate and prepare students to become green building leaders and sustainability-focused citizens.

A partial rendering of the San Ignacio Church interior

Jan 9, 2023

A Digital Heritage: Interdisciplinary Project Aims to Bring Colombian Church to Life

By combining the fields of archaeology and 3D design, Assistant Professor of Archaeology Julie K. Wesp and Assistant Professor of Media Arts, Design and Technology, Justin Johnson are working together to bring a centuries-old church back to life.

woman using Spin e-scooter and cell phone

Jan 6, 2023

Researchers study electric scooter rider behavior through partnership with Spin

Dr. Deepti Adlakha is working with NC State researchers and Spin, a leading service provider in micromobility, to study user behavior on NC State's campus.

Dec 15, 2022

College of Design and ITRE partner on $50,000 grant to design innovative approaches to encourage walkable development along decaying multilane suburban highways.

Associate Professor Celen Pasalar received the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s 2022 Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) Stage 1 grant in support of the project "Catalyzing Walkable, Sustainable, and Equitable Urban Development Using Innovative Transportation Strategies."

Dec 7, 2022

Design For ImpACCt Promotes Design Innovation To Solve Social Problems

Students from NC State College of Design, Boston College, Clemson University, and Virginia Tech partner each year for design summits as part of the Design for ImpACCt program to develop creative solutions to real-world social problems.

Sharon Joines: 3 Tips for collaboration from a design professor

Nov 22, 2022

3 Tips for Collaboration from a College of Design Professor

For the last 7 years, LAS collaborator Sharon Joines has used her expertise in industrial design, human centered design, and ergonomics to help the Laboratory for Analytic Sciences (LAS) advise other cross-sector collaborators on how to work better together. She shares how researchers from different sectors can more effectively communicate to support the lab's analytic prototyping projects.

Nov 18, 2022

FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies Expands Strategic Partnership with NC State through Initiative for Community Growth and Development

FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies expands its strategic partnership with North Carolina State University (NC State) to create future innovation opportunities through new research projects, sustainable facility design, and bioprocessing advancements at the future Holly Springs cell culture biomanufacturing site. The strategic partnership will focus areas of research and facility design to support FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’ goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 for its new $2 billion site in Holly Springs.

Oct 11, 2022

Putting the user first: two alums explore how their heritages shaped their work as UX designers

We took time to sit down with two graduates of the Master’s of Graphic Design program, Laura Rodriguez [MGD ‘11] and Luis Zapata [BID ‘11, MGD ‘17] to ask them about their experiences as students, as well as how their cultural identity has shaped their careers.

Sep 21, 2022

Industrial Design Graduate Wins Gold at 2022 IDEA Awards

Master of Industrial Design graduate, Abby Scheer, recently won Gold in the Student Category for the 2022 IDSA IDEA Awards. The award is considered by many to be the most prestigious product and industrial design award in the United States.

JMark Scearce composes music for Carolina Ballet

Sep 6, 2022

Designing for Dance

“Designing for dance is the ultimate act of design,” says Professor of Art + Design J. Mark Scearce, Ph.D. For the ballet’s 25th anniversary, four of Scearce’s ballets will be produced, giving design students a rare front row seat in the art of meeting client expectations.

Ben Coleman - Envisioning Research Contest Entry

Aug 26, 2022

Students Visualize Structures of Oppression; win NC State Envisioning Research Contest

Students in the College of Design recently took top prizes in the Graphics and Data Visualization and photography categories of the NC State Envisioning Research Contest. Three of the four entries from the college were part of the DIY Cartography: Oppressive Infrastructures class, which explored how we as a society are grappling with how to best serve diverse communities and create more equitable futures for all while visualizing the complex historic context around oppressive infrastructures in the US.

Aug 17, 2022

Ethnographic Fiber Artist Karen Baker on Slow Fashion and Natural Products: How One DDes Student Explores the Lost Histories of Textiles

Karen Baker, current student in the Doctor of Design Program at NC State's College of Design, is a weaver focused on design, history, and critical studies of textile and fiber in Washington, DC. She is currently researching the textile, fiber and craft contributions and techniques of enslaved and free African American weavers before the Great Migration.

3D-printed ceramic items sit on a shelf in Shawn Protz's ceramics lab

Jun 27, 2022

2022 Designlife Magazine

Read about the people and activities featured in the 2022 issue of Designlife Magazine.

Professor Derek Ham demonstrates how augmented reality can highlight the history of Negro League Baseball and the impact of players like Buck Leonard.

Jun 20, 2022

History and Augmented Reality Meet to Uplift a Black Icon from North Carolina

Students and faculty are bringing new life and awareness to icons like Negro League Baseball player Buck Leonard, using AR to enhance typical displays into interactive, mini-museums. Working with a grant from the NC State Foundation focused on “Mixed Reality for Social Impact,” Derek Ham, department head of Art + Design at NC State’s College of Design, is helping to tell the stories of underrepresented communities in the medium he knows best – Augmented Reality (AR).

Jun 17, 2022

Can We Reverse the Rise in Maternal Mortality?

Two Ph.D. students from the College of Design joined a team of UNC-Chapel Hill doctoral candidates and won the 2022 Map the System Competition in Chapel Hill. Now, they are headed to Oxford University to compete against research teams from around the globe.

Jun 16, 2022

In Search of Thoreau’s Flowers: An Exploration of Change and Loss

Robin Vuchnich, a new media artist, user experience designer, and an assistant professor of practice in the College of Design, leveraged digitized specimens from the Harvard University Herbaria to craft an immersive experience in the gallery theater of the Harvard Museum of Natural Science. In Search of Thoreau’s Flowers: An Exploration of Change and Loss is an immersive multidisciplinary experience that marries art and science through a modern artistic interpretation of Thoreau’s preserved plants.

Jun 2, 2022

Brian Leonard Believes in Design That Improves Lives

Industrial designer Brian Leonard often finds himself in debates about form versus function. But rather than focusing on how something looks, he’s more concerned with how design can benefit people now and in the future.

Screen Grab from Iyare Oronsaye's project "Juneteenth" for the Minnesota Historical Society

May 24, 2022

Student Profile: Iyare Oronsaye Seeks to Improve Diversity in Animation

Iyare Oronsaye is currently the director and assistant professor of the animation and illustration program at the University of Northwestern as well as a student practitioner in the College of Design's Doctor of Design (DDes) program. As a DDes student, Oronsaye is researching how inclusivity can make positive impacts within the animation industry.

Video still from group one demonstrating how emergency services could be designed for AVs.

May 20, 2022

When Graphic Design Meets Big Tech: Red Hat Sponsored Studio Tackles Autonomous Vehicles

Graphic design students recently partnered with Red Hat to create solutions for a world dominated by autonomous vehicles. Students then had to design for a variety of human factors such as family needs, career specializations and security concerns.

May 12, 2022

NLI Director Joins 80 Researchers Worldwide to Create Parameters for Healthy and Sustainable Cities

Director of the Natural Learning Initiative Dr. Deepti Adlakha’s latest research work was published as part of The Lancet Global Health Series on Urban Design, Transport and Health. Urban design and city planning influence how we can travel, the quality of the air we breathe, our access to essential facilities and services, our participation in social events, and our enjoyment of green spaces. All this is vital to our physical and mental health. In 2016, a series of papers in The Lancet highlighted the myriad links between cities and health and proposed a set of city planning indicators. In this follow-up series published in The Lancet Global Health, authors show how the indicators can benchmark and monitor progress to guide urban policy to achieve population health and sustainability targets. They provide tools that other cities can use to replicate the indicators and explore “where to next” to create healthy and sustainable cities, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

May 7, 2022

Ph.D. Graduate Shares Her Journey From Program Acceptance to Assistant Professor

Meichun Liu, a recent graduate, shares her story from acceptance in the Ph.D. in Design program at NC State to landing a tenure-track assistant professor position at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. She shares tips for success after graduation and talks about her discovery of the program and her research focus.