EMU Today

YPSILANTI – Interior design students from Eastern Michigan University won the top three places in the student rendering category in a nationwide CET Designer contest sponsored by Configura, a major Swedish software company.

The students’ impressive sweep came this fall in the12th annual CET Designer Awards. CET Designer is a space-planning software used around the world.

Megan Wilbur took first place, Farah Nassereddine placed second and Pei Huang came in third.

The three students are currently enrolled in Interior Design Studio V, taught by Dr. Diane Guevara, an NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design) licensed interior designer in the School of Visual and Built Environments in the EMU College of Technology.

The awards announced that this year’s student competition drew 179 submissions and more than 5,800 votes – the highest number yet in the event.

A special, motivated group of students

“I teach interior design in order to watch students succeed and watch them reach goals that they set for themselves,” Guevara said. “Eastern Michigan University is unique in that the students are so driven and motivated."

School director Suleiman Asher said, “I congratulate the faculty and instructors in the Interior Design program for the quality of education they provide to our students, and to Diane for leading our students in this prestigious competition.”

The competition had six categories – Success Story, Rendering (for office, material handling and healthcare spaces), Kitchen Rendering, Student Rendering, Video and 360 Panorama.

Strong competition

“Our 2019 CET Designer Awards finalists were chosen among fierce competition,” said Danielle Hirka, a Configura training and support specialist and interior designer who managed this year’s competition. “The work we saw using CET Designer was absolutely incredible.”

The CET Designer Awards were awarded at the CET Experience, held this fall in Orlando. The CET Experience is Configura’s annual conference for users and creators of CET Designer.

The winning work is posted at the Configura awards site. For more on the study of interior design at Eastern, see the program website.

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves nearly 18,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and, its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.