#lance rake

Tonight I had the absolute pleasure of listening to KU's Hallmark Symposium speaker of the night, John Bielenberg.

At first, I really had no interest in going. I had just finished 3 hours of stat and studio homework after a class filled morning and the last thing I wanted to do was block out 2 hours for someone I wasn't familiar with. However, attendance is mandatory for the "class" grade so I got up and went.

I left feeling so secure in my decision to go into design, I felt inspired, enlightened and impressed. There are so many avenues and facets of design and to see so many of them being combined in ways to benefit the world and create change in places that need it was a great thing to witness.

One of the key projects he discussed was one in Greensboro, Alabama where they're working on making bamboo (a highly sustainable crop) a main agricultural staple. How so? By making bikes of all things. I had heard about this a little bit on the internet, but actually hearing how this company grew into what it is today was amazing. He also happened to work with an industrial design professor at KU, Lance Rake. If you're interested in some more of the story or pictures, click here.