This January, Michigan Tech Department of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) students presented their work in the Design, Technology, and Management (DTM) Expo at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Region 3 Conference, hosted in Madison, Wisconsin.
VPA Sound Design and Audio Production & Technology students, along with their faculty mentor Assistant Professor Jeff Sherwood, received the Don Childs DTM Cross-Discipline Collaboration Award for demonstrating an exceptional level of collaboration on the recent Michigan Tech Theatre production of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, directed by Assistant Teaching Professor Nich Radcliffe. These students include Madison Brown, Ronan Higgins, Sam Matlak, Katelyn Roblee, Evan Meyer, and Aidan Sanders, who were members of the sound design and music composition team for the production.
In addition to presenting in the DTM Expo, VPA students also competed in the Tech Olympics competition. VPA Theatre and Entertainment Technology student Isaiah Hilkemann received the Fastest Knot Tying Award, and set the new all-time KCACTF Region 3 record at 20 seconds.
As part of VPA career development and professional presentation travel courses, students have an opportunity to attend and present at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region 3 Conference led by VPA faculty. As part of the curated study away experience this year, Associate Professor Kent Cyr and Assistant Professor Terry Jachimiak also arranged facility tours, site visits, and industry professional meetups in the area.
Our VPA students also worked as Conference Student Assistants, and our VPA faculty participated in the planning and execution of the conference. Associate Professor Kent Cyr, serving as Festival Technical Director for the past seven years, provides support to the invited theatre productions from colleges within the region who attend and perform on the festival stages. Assistant Professor Jeff Sherwood currently serves as Co-Vice Chair of Design, Technology, and Management of KCACTF Region 3 and assists with the preparation and organization of the DTM program areas. Assistant Professor Terry Jachimiak currently serves as the Region 3 Webmaster. Professors Cyr, Jachimiak, and Sherwood also presented several workshops at the conference to numerous students from Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio.
Congratulations to our Huskies and their well-deserved recognition of excellence.
