Samantha Rude

Degree: BFA, Product Design, minor in Sustainable Business

Graduation Date: Spring 2023

2023 Scholarship
Michael and Stacy Koehn Award

I Am Originally From Portland, OR

WHY I CAME TO THE UO AND HOW I CHOSE MY MAJOR
I chose the University of Oregon primarily because of my family. My grandfather, grandmother, dad, and brother all went to this school before me. Hearing stories and seeing the university through their eyes made me fall in love with it. I grew up going to the sports games and being enveloped in the school spirit. Once I got to campus, I was drawn in by the beautiful buildings and tree-shaded walkways. Having the opportunity to walk this campus as a student has been amazing. I spent a great deal of time in Lawrence Hall, always inspired by the wide range of works created by the College of Design students. My favorite part of this department has been the number of creative outlets I have been able to explore such as metalsmithing, ceramics, and woodworking.

I chose Product Design because I knew I wanted a job that would allow me to be creative. Through this major, I have been given the tools I need to create whatever designs I want, limited only by my imagination. This major is challenging because it forces you to be proficient in a wide variety of skills like CAD modeling, sketching, prototyping, graphic design, etc. Product design also allows me to combine my interests in art, science, and sustainability to create new designs.

UNIQUE QUALITIES I BRING TO MY STUDIES
Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, I have been fortunate to be surrounded by so many natural wonders. I go skiing at Mt. Hood in the winter, hike the Gorge in spring, surf Indian Beach in the summer, and bike around Bend in the fall. I have a deep love for the outdoors, and I try to translate that into my designs. Sustainability is a very important factor to me, and I try to be very considerate of the life cycle of a product when designing. Experimenting with materials and envisioning how they can be transformed into something new is where I see the most potential in product design.

MY INFLUENTIAL PROFESSORS
I would say that Kiersten Muenchinger has been a particularly influential professor I have had at UO. She is an exceptional educator and role model. I took a manufacturing class and a SolidWorks class that she taught, and in both, I felt as though she made the most of the limited time we had to make sure we were prepared to move forward. I highly value her perspective as she is very experienced in the world of design. Outside of class, Kiersten has an ongoing research project dealing with the public perspective of sustainability and has shared some of her findings with us to challenge how we approach sustainability in design. She is someone I look up to as a designer and from whom I have learned a lot.

MY EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
I was involved in PE classes and workshops hosted by the Craft Center. I also participated in some UO chapter meetins of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) during my final year. It was important to me to try the different activities the university had to offer, while also benefiting my mental and physical health. Through these activities, I met a lot of wonderful people from different majors and backgrounds whom I shared similar interests with.

MY GREATEST LEARNING EXPERIENCE AT UO
One of the greatest learning experiences I  had was during a studio class in my final winter term. One of our teachers is the founder of a local design company, that really focuses on materials and craftsmanship. One way that he is able to accomplish this is by working with local companies. In this class, our teacher was able to set us up with tours of various manufacturing and design companies in Portland. This was a great learning experience for me because I was able to better understand the process of bringing a product to life. This knowledge helped inform my designs to make them easy to interpret by manufacturers and also broadened the scope of what I knew the machines were capable of producing.

AFTER GRADUATION
I hope to continue doing what I’m passionate about in whatever form that takes. I want a job that allows me to make sustainability a priority in design. The education I’ve received while at UO has given me the tools I need to keep designing and innovating from wherever I’m at. I am very excited for what’s to come, and will hopefully be filling homes with sustainable alternatives in the near future.

YOUR GIFT
When creating a product, I always dream that one day I’ll see it in a store or someone’s home, but never having enough faith to believe it. This scholarship is important to me because it conveys that someone else believes in my dream too. It will allow me to dive deeper into the research, prototyping, and manufacturing of my product, Musgo. This water-activated light was created using simple materials to make an electric charge. I plan on meeting with several electrical engineers who can help me keep the mechanics simple, but suitable for everyday use. I will then continue working towards the final design, conducting user testing and surveys, as well as conferring with other designers. During this time, I will be doing a lot of material and form testing as well. Once I am satisfied with these stages, I will bring this product to manufacturers and start the outreach to get the product noticed. I look forward to the exciting challenges ahead and the chance to make this product a reality.

It’s a blessing to have the resources I need to start my entrepreneurship journey and I will be forever grateful for your generosity. Thank you!