Coincidentally, both winners of the 2017 industrial design education scholarships traveled from around the world to find opportunities in the United States.
Xinyao Liu, S/IDSA, expects to earn her MSID in fall 2017 from ArtCenter College of Design. She earned a bachelor’s degree from East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai and held several impressive internships in China and the United States.
Now, Liu is the winner of the Gianninoto Graduate Scholarship, originally established with a $25,000 contribution by the late Francesco Gianninoto, FIDSA. The US package designer was a founder of the Package Design Council, and president of Gianninoto Associates from 1932 to 1983. He served as an honorary professor at Western Connecticut State University. IDSA awards one Gianninoto Graduate Scholarship annually for $1,500 USD to be used for graduate course tuition fees in the completion of an industrial design degree.
“It’s such an honor to receive this scholarship,” says Liu. “I’m very thankful that IDSA supports students in their education and development in various ways!” She sees design as a vehicle to make the world a better place.
Marcin Wieczorek, S/IDSA, a rising senior at the University of Illinois-Chicago, is the winner of the Design Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship 2017. “This award means a lot to me as I continue my journey in industrial design,” says Wieczorek, who came to the United States from Poland as a child. He says although he had difficulty in learning a new language and making friends, he found comfort in art.
IDSA, through the Design Foundation, a public charity supporting design education, grants the $1,500 USD undergraduate scholarship annually to be used toward undergraduate course tuition fees in the completion of an industrial design degree.
Both the undergraduate and graduate scholarships are awarded based solely on the excellence of the work submitted by students.