University of Wisconsin-Stout
Design professionals from across Wisconsin representing some of the state’s largest and best-known brands gathered May 18 in Milwaukee for the University of Wisconsin-Stout’s third annual Design Wisconsin event.
The event was hosted by Milwaukee Tool at its headquarters and supported by the Milwaukee Chapter of the Society of Industrial Designers of America. It featured exhibits from Milwaukee Tool and more than 20 other companies that have made Wisconsin a leader in industrial and product design, including Mercury, Kohler, Gulfstream, Oshkosh Corp., National Presto, Trek, Brooks Stevens and Fiskars.
UW-Stout, which started the event in 2022 under the direction of School of Art and Design associate professor David Richter-O’Connell, announced it will host Design Wisconsin on campus in May 2025.
“Since our industrial and product design program serves many employers beyond the borders of Wisconsin, we decided to hold next spring’s event here on the Stout campus and include many of our excellent design/manufacturing partners in northern and western Wisconsin and Minnesota. The impact of our I&PD program reaches regional, national and international levels, and we believe it is important to continue telling the story of our ever-expanding reach,” said Richter-O’Connell.
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Richter-O’Connell, who previously worked for Kohler, started the event to “showcase the impact of industrial design and industrial designers on Wisconsin’s culture, commerce, community and brand: past, present and future.”
“Wisconsin is a major center of innovation and new product development globally, across many diverse product categories, and we want to continue to show that key leadership with our events,” he said.
Richter-O’Connell, UW-Stout Chancellor Katherine Frank and Tim Albrecht, Milwaukee Tool group president, were among Milwaukee Tool speakers.
The first two Design Wisconsin events were held in 2022 at DELVE in Madison and in 2023 at Trek in Waterloo, east of Madison.
Student wins Merit Award
The Milwaukee IDSA chapter sponsors an annual Merit Award competition for students, part of a national IDSA competition.
UW-Stout’s Amelia Dobbratz was named the Merit Award winner in an on-campus competition among seniors in the program and submitted her work to Milwaukee Tool. She will continue to compete for the IDSA regional title and possibly the national title this fall in Texas.
Dobbratz, a senior from Waupun, is majoring in industrial and product design. He presented three products he designed, a lamp, a hearing device and a table, in three hands-on study courses.
Two other UW-Stout industrial and product design students were chosen as finalists for the Campus Merit Award: Jordan Dinwiddie, a senior from Minneapolis, and Ananda Van Wie, a senior from Merrill. They graduated on May 4.
The contest judges, all UW-Stout students, were professionals Mike Berge, of National Presto; Riley Crotteau, Nordic Ware; and Angela Hastings of Rypen Furniture.
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