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Life & Arts

Prof teaches how to design the world

Industrial designer Wells focused on getting University's new program -- the first in the state -- off the ground 

by LEE CLARK 
The Daily Cougar

Industrial designers play a major role in the marketplace by designing everything from the cars people drive to the shoes they wear. And while this seems to be a daunting task, there are some who thrive off the test. 

Industrial design professor Adam Wells started teaching at UH in Fall 2006 because of the challenge the job would provide.

"Industrial designers work in a variety of industries, from Ford to Nike and from Motorola to Apple," Wells said. 

"Every single physical object that's out there that's not a building would be designed by an industrial designer." 

Industrial designers must have an artistic sensibility in addition to engineering skills; they must make sure a product is not only ergonomic and easy to use but aesthetically pleasing as well.

Wells brings a strong artistic background to industrial design. 

He studied sculpture at Kansas City Art Institute and went to graduate school at Domus Academy in Italy, one of the top design programs in the world.

Wells has worked at design firms in Kansas City, Miss., and Boston and taught at design schools in Wisconsin and Michigan, but the position at UH stood out because it allowed Wells to play a part in building a program.

The Industrial Design Program in the College of Architecture is still very new -- Eun Sook Kwon started it in 2004. It also has the distinction of being the first such program in the state.

"Being the first industrial design program in the state of Texas is a really big deal," Wells said. 

"Texas has the second largest population in the U.S. and had no industrial design program, whereas Ohio, for example, has four."

Wells studied classical music for 12 years. Though he enjoyed playing music, he said didn't see a future in it.

"I pursued a career in the visual arts because I realized I wasn't good enough at music," Wells said.

Wells' immediate future has him focused on getting the incipient UH program off and running.

"The objective is to create a strong national program to compete against the other programs out there," Wells said.

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