Hillier College Alumni, Student Work Featured in Annual Design Showcase Event

The Hillier College of Architecture and Design (HCAD) hosted its Design Showcase, the college's flagship fundraising and networking event, which provides a chance for members of the Hillier College community to connect personally and professionally. This year's event took place in the Jewel Box of One Gateway Center in downtown Newark.

"In 2030, NJIT will be a nexus of innovation dedicated to student and faculty success, digital transformation and to the powerful concept of engaged community," said Gabrielle Esperdy, interim dean and professor of architecture at HCAD. "That's what HCAD already is an engaged community more than 5,000 strong evident tonight by every single person who is in this room, whether you are an alumni, student, faculty, staff, or our professional colleagues and supporters, you are here because you believe in the mission of NJIT and the Hillier College."

The Design Showcase also serves as an important philanthropic event, providing benefactors with a rare opportunity to intimately discover how students, faculty and the college are taking advantage of enhancements in curriculums and facilities. Previous showcases have raised funds to support improvements of the fabrication facilities, including animation and 3D print labs, a motion capture studio, a digital fabrication lab featuring a robotic arm and VR technology to enrich interactive design.

The showcase celebrated student and alumni accomplishments in architecture, interior design, industrial design and digital design.

The four alumni award honorees were Ebony Payne '22, who received the Emerging Designer Award; Stephen Aluotto '80 was awarded the Friend of the Hillier College Award; Justin A. Mihalik '93 received the Distinguished Alumni in Leadership Award; and Gregory O. Minott '02 was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Impact Award.

"We align talented students with opportunity, and we're creating a nexus of innovation to continue to serve students today and in the future," said President Teik C. Lim. "I'm excited for our future. I know all of you are excited for the future and each of you who are dedicated to HCAD and NJIT are very excited for the future."

Best in Show

A major component of the Design Showcase is the student competition, which awards student projects in both the undergraduate and graduate disciplines within HCAD: architecture, interior design, industrial design and digital design.

Industrial Design - Christopher Frias

"JamStack" by second-year industrial design student Christopher Frias is an educational, sharable instrument designed for the needs of children with autism.

"I have a very close family friend, David, who has a brother who's on the autistic spectrum, so I worked very closely with him to design JamStack, which is for interaction between families to have that level of music therapy and play amongst themselves," said Frias.

JamStack combines the concept of music therapy, as well as fun game-like activity to engage children and find ways to play.

"I hope to narrow down what I want to do in the industry," said the Hackensack, New Jersey native. "I am sort of more on an entrepreneurial track, so I want to start my own businesses and see where I can make my place in the world."

Digital Design - Esai Jacobson

"Chop Bot" by digital design student Esai Jacobson originated from a project that asked to animate a mechanical device that comes to life after demonstrating its mechanical function. The animation follows the story of Chop Bot, a robotic chef whose purpose is to slice carrots for preparation of use by the chefs in a high-end restaurant.

"I just wanted to make something that was interesting and something that was complex, but also that people could relate to in the action," said Jacobson. "I wanted the animated action to be relatable; I'm glad that it resonated."

He added: "It's been exciting to do things at NJIT, I love this program. It's gotten more interesting this year as we've learned how to take the basic design fundamentals and use them to make complete animated projects. I'm really learning how to use art to tell stories and appeal to an audience and create emotions in the audience."

Interior Design - Logen Eshmawy

"Randa Hotel" by interior design major Logen Eshmawy is about the promotion of mental and physical health through nature, movement and biophilic design. Biophilic design is a concept used within the building industry to increase occupant connectivity to the natural environment through the use of direct nature, indirect nature, and space and place conditions.

"I'm honored and very excited to win first place in the interior design category," said Eshmawy. "It took a lot of hard work and dedication and I'm glad it's paying off. I think what stood out most in my design is the sustainability aspect to it. I really focused on making my hotel as sustainable and biophilic as possible."

The hotel was created to promote healthy behaviors for the mind, body and spirit by adhering to the guiding principles of the WELL Building Standard. This is the second time she won a competition. She also won the NEWH Green Voice Design Competition.

Architecture - Nidhi Sutariya

"Movements of Moments" by Nidhi Sutariya earned the best in show award for architecture. Drawing inspiration from Canaletto's masterful touch, Sutariya infused sentiments into the cityscape.

"The project holds great personal significance, and I must credit my professor, Viktoria Diskina, for her invaluable contribution," said Sutariya. "The positive feedback from both external jurors and peers has been overwhelming, and I'm grateful for the recognition. My approach to the design of Canaletto Museum aimed to convey a unique narrative, focusing on the essence of Venice and the artist's work.

"Movements of Moments" reflects the deliberate effort to craft a narrative that invites visitors to connect with Canaletto's paintings on a deeper level.

"By infusing the space with soulful conceptual elements of Venice, I created these five beautiful moments within the space," said Sutariya. "I aimed to transcend mere aesthetics and capture the essence and beauty of the city. This approach, rooted in meaning and storytelling, set my design apart from others."

Graduate Architecture - Dhruv Umrigar

Graduate student Dhruv Umrigar took home the award for best graduate architecture design with his work titled "Jazz Link."

Umrigar's design offers an outlook to what Rutgers University-Newark's Jazz Link could look like at 5 Central Avenue and Broad Street. RU-N's Institute of Jazz Studies is committed to showcasing an environmentally sound and sustainable adaptive re-use of the property at the block corner of 5 Central Avenue and Broad Street.

"They take a positive approach to my design, they told me how I should improve it, so that's great," said Umrigar. "NJIT has good programs to reach out in the industry like the career fairs and this design showcase. There are a lot of opportunities to be recognized."

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