Disney's Imaginations Design Competition

Niihka: A New Tradition

Disney's Imaginations Design Competition is a competition for college students in their Junior, Senior, or Grad school year.  This competition, put on by Disney Imagineers, encourages students to apply the same principles that Disney uses in their designs to a conceptual design project.  This years design prompt read,

"Our parks, resorts, cruise ships and entertainment venues are designed to be places for families and friends to gather and create memories together. Beyond the attractions, restaurants, shows and parades, our parks and resorts include outdoor spaces that are functional yet invite guests to pause and enjoy the time in between their activities. We challenge you to apply some of our same design principles to create a new outdoor space within your college or university that addresses current students, faculty and visitors needs while providing a respite from the stresses of college life." 

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My team, consisting of Erin Socha (Architecture major from Miami University, Sarah Miholer (Mechanical Engineering major from Carnegie Mellon, and myself) created "Niihka: A New Tradition", which pays tribute to The Myaamiaki Tribe, whose land our school is founded on, and the current Miami University community.  This outdoor space would allow students and current members of the tribe to come together as one and learn from each other.

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Recognition:  Our team had the honor of being named "Finalist".  Us, and 5 other teams from around the country were flown to Walt Disney Imagineering headquarters in Glendale, CA to present our projects, learn about the behind the scenes magic of Disney, and interview for internships.  Out of 350 project submissions, "Niihka: A New Tradition" placed 3rd.