Liana Kalushner to Represent Northeast District at National ID Conference

PHILADELPHIA (April 6, 2009) – Liana Kalushner, a senior Industrial Design major at the University of the Arts, was recently selected as an Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) National Merit Award winner after making a series of project presentations at the IDSA Northeast District Conference.

Chosen from among 11 finalists, Kalushner presented her four innovative projects to earn a three-year IDSA membership and a complimentary student registration to the society’s international conference and education symposium being held in Miami in September. Her work will be on display at the event.

“Part of what set Liana and the University of the Arts apart was the way she approached the projects,” said Beth Van Why, visiting assistant professor in the University’s Industrial Design department and IDSA faculty advisor. “Each one presented a unique user group, the research behind the needs of the user and showed the importance of understanding the client prior to designing. Liana has been working with groups of people she doesn’t interact with regularly to find opportunities for design – creating thoughtful, appropriate and exciting solutions for a diverse set of people and situations in society.”

Judged on scope of work, quality of work, quality of thought, visual presentation and verbal presentation, Kalushner presented presentations on the following projects:

• Kick It Can: Turning Boredom Into Productive Play, which addresses trash build up on public transit by making a refuse container that sits on the ground, allowing users to take the boredom of being in an isolated place and turn it into productive play.
• Urban Dating Guide: Gaining Insight Through Dog Breeds, an information-mapping project in which certain breeds of dogs are matched to different personality types, taking the guesswork out of dating.
• Greensgrow: Model Urban Farm, where a dilapidated lot in Northeast Philadelphia was transformed into a farm that included a hydroponic garden, raised flower beds and a greenhouse. Kalushner and classmates created reusable, interchangeable signage, displays with interchangeable shelves, and a shade-creating solution utilizing pre-existing shade material with newly designed and fabricated supports.
• Petro Free: Breast Milk Pump and Bottle Filter System that takes petro-chemicals out of breast milk.

The IDSA is the voice of the industrial design profession, advancing the quality and positive impact of design. The award format is that the students present a variety of work, to best showcase their overall abilities as a designer and to present the approach to design education at the school where they've been educated. In an effort to better encourage, reward and celebrate excellence in industrial design education, the IDSA Education Council and Board of Directors created the IDSA Merit Awards Program. Through a juried selection, one outstanding senior from each of the five district conferences is selected to represent his/her district at the IDSA National Conference during the year that he/she receives the award. This elevated recognition serves to connect undergraduate design students with the IDSA’s national scope while honoring them in a national arena for academic design achievement.

The University of the Arts is the nation’s first and only university dedicated to the visual, performing and communication arts. Its 2,300 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs on its campus in the heart of Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts. The institution’s roots as a leader in educating creative individuals date back to 1868.

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