Kansas State University

SALINA — Two digital media technology students from Kansas State University Salina put what they learned in the classroom to work, taking the top spots in a poster design contest entered as part of a class assignment.

Ben Crabtree, junior, Shawnee, and Khaled Abduljabbar, senior, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, submitted designs for the Engineering Education Service Center's poster contest in the engineering technology category. Crabtree placed first and Abduljabbar placed second. This was the first time either student had submitted work for the contest. Both students said they had a strategy for creating their projects.

"I started off by looking at past winners' designs and decided to focus on using a simple yet inspirational approach," Crabtree said.

"I threw around a few ideas in class with our teacher Bill Genereux and came up with the concept of using representations of all aspects of engineering on my poster," Abduljabbar said.

The design contest served a dual purpose for the students as they used it as part of a project in their Digital Media I class as well. Both estimated they spent about two weeks of class time perfecting their creations.

Graphic design is just one of the areas Bill Genereux, associate professor of digital media technology, says is required in the curriculum. Both the associate degree and the four-year degree option, added in fall 2013, include elements of computer programming, physics and animation. Genereux says it's not a typical design program. It reflects the campus's rich history of engineering technology and it sets the program's students apart from the rest.

"There's something to be said about passing challenging courses — and that's what makes our students different," Genereux said. "This program produces students who have a unique set of skills so they will be well-prepared and versatile in the workplace."

Students interested in digital media at K-State Salina can receive an Associate of Technology in engineering technology with an option in digital media, or they can work toward a Bachelor of Science in engineering technology with a digital media option.