Student wins interior design contest with new door Senior interior design major Michelle Pyne won a $3,000 scholarship from JELD-WEN, a leading manufacturer of doors and windows. In its third year, the JELD-WEN Student Door Design Contest received a record-breaking 349 entries from 89 different colleges. Winners were selected based on creativity, attention to detail, and suitability for today's architecture.

"The JELD-WEN Student Door Design Contest is an opportunity for young designers and architects to showcase their abilities," said Elizabeth Souders, JELD-WEN door product manager, in a press release. "We were overwhelmed by the number of outstanding entries, and we are even more excited to see these emerging architects and interior designers use their talents outside of the classroom."

The judging panel, which included editors from top design publications, chose Pyne's door design for its clean, contemporary style.

"I love the simplicity and spareness of this design," one judge said in a press release.

Pyne was inspired to create her modern door design by Frank Lloyd Wright's design for Ward M. Willitts in Chicago. Wright's design featured a symmetrical facade of stucco with thick, dark wood strips.

Pyne won in the contemporary style category.

"I really like craftsman style houses. I like a lot of straight lines and everything, it seems to make more sense to me and using the proportion with the straight lines," Pyne said.

 "(Interior design is) a creative major, but has practical uses, so it's not like art where a career is harder to attain. I definitely wanted something that wasn't the same every day and that I could be creative with," Pyne said. She plans on working in an architecture firm with an interior design department.

"I'd like to go to a firm that focuses on sustainable and green design, but in a more commercial field, not specifically residential," Pyne said.

Pyne said she will definitely keep in touch with JELD-WEN in the future.

"They are planning on coming in the beginning of the year and presenting the check to me, and it will be awesome to meet the local representatives for the east coast. I get to talk to them in person; they've been really good with communication. I'm sure that if I wanted to look into a job there they would be helpful, so that's always an option too," Pyne said.

The door design was a studio assignment during the Spring 2008 semester. Students submitted designs to both the door design (JELD-WEN) contest and the RBT Annual Student Light Fixture Design competition. Virginia Tech had winners in both competitions.

Amanda McAlpine, senior interior design major, won the RBT Annual Student Light Fixture Design competition.