A big hello from the First Industrial Design GradEx Committee 2021!
The last academic year has been one of unprecedented change.
It is a yearly tradition for OCAD University to host GradEx, a showcase displaying the culmination of the thesis work from graduating students. However, on March 11th, WHO classified COVID-19 as a global pandemic, and GradEx was cancelled. The following day, OCAD U announced the suspension of in-person classes and access to studios. Despite the transitional period of grief, chaos, and anxiety, the 2020 Industrial Design GradEx student committee and faculty continued to work collaboratively to find and implement a plan B. This year, the 2021 Industrial Design GradEx student committee has been passed the torch to continue showcasing student work. The theme is “First”, as we are the first thesis class to complete our work in an entirely virtual format. This collection of projects seeks to investigate the identity of industrial design from our own points of view and pays homage to our cumulative years at OCAD U as well as the students who came before us and who will succeed us."
We will be launching our Virtual Grad Exhibition on May 14th.
Opening Night Reception
We've finished our opening night reception! Our panel of OCAD U alumni, faculty, and students discussed topics such as how to define industrial design, how to navigate the design industry during the pandemic, how the pandemic impacted our graduating students' thesis work, and more!
We're recorded the event so you can watch the whole thing below.
In Association with
Ontario College of Art & Design University
OCAD University's 106th Annual Graduate Exhibition
Website built on FORMAT
first: Industrial Design Grad Show Participants
Usman Abdullah, Rima Al Moman, Connor Andersen, David Barter, Aryeh Bookbinder, Edward Chan, Sydney Cooling-Sturges, Emilio Esteban-Canizares, Ziying (Milk) Fan, Jalen Gabutan, Santiago Garcia Sanchez, Oleg Gorlenko, Juling Hancock, Wenjing Hong, Beth Jessup, Jasmine Khnanishoo, Dayna Konopelny, Davis Ladouceur, Alexander Molyneaux, Chacha (Mark) Mwita, Ajay (Daniel) Naraindas, Grant Novak, Justine Orbovic, Victoria Park, Xuejun Pei, Jessie Peng, Terra Pham, Parmis Rabet, Calum Ralston, Chance Shermet, Shabad Singh, Ge Song, Vermont Urbanovich, Shiyu (Ash) Wang, Juhyun (Tim) Yim, Xiaoyu (Anna) You, Anna Zablah, Shu Jun Zhang, Wenyue (Beryl) Zheng, Haocheng (Herk) Zhao, Meng (Vicky) Zhao, Ze Cheng (Eric) Zhou
Grad Show Committee
Project Manager: Sydney Cooling-Sturges
Creative Directors: Vermont Urbanovich, Shu Jun Zhang
Editors: David Barter, Juling Hancock
Committee Members: Aryeh Bookbinder, Ziying (Milk) Fan, Ajay (Daniel) Naraindas, Terra Pham, Juhyun (Tim) Yim, Meng (Vicky) Zhao, Ze Cheng (Eric) Zhou
Faculty Advisor: Job Rutgers