Gilles brought technology to interior design students

An assistant professor of interior architecture will retire in May, having taught both basic and advanced computer aided design (CAD) to students at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Lynn Gilles, who joined the UWSP faculty in 1979, has taught CAD for the last 10 years because she likes the constant challenge of new software, the problem solving aspect and the hands-on part of teaching.

"There was a need for computer aided design to be taught within the division and it appealed to me," she said. "I have enjoyed teaching it because it’s constantly challenging as well as fun. Students really get into it as they are able to draw quickly and accurately."

This past fall she began teaching three-dimensional modeling and visualization in an advanced CAD course, having received a technology grant to learn the software. Students use the program to create computer generated models of their designs, complete with materials, furnishings and lighting.

"Strong computer aided design skills make students a lot more marketable," she said, "as employers won’t have to train them to use the AutoCad software."

Gilles started in UWSP’s home economics department, teaching space planning, color and design, fiber arts, structural decorative textiles and applied textile design. In recent years, she has focused on interior architecture and assumed the CAD classes.

She has been the academic adviser for students in both interior architecture and retail studies for over 12 years, meeting with and planning schedules with all of the students. She also meets with most prospective students and parents.

When she returned from leading a study abroad trip to the South Pacific in 1996, she and Associate Professor Kathe Stumpf created a virtual design studio so that UWSP students could work on design projects with architecture students in Australia via the Internet. Gilles has delivered presentations on the virtual design studio and 3-dimensional visualization in Canada as well as the U. S.

"We’ve all worked together in our small department to bring up the standards over the years," she said. "I am definitely proud of how far the division has come.

"I will miss the students, my colleagues and the stimulating atmosphere here," she said.

Gilles decided to retire now to join her husband, Bill, who retired four years ago, at their Presque Isle home in Northern Wisconsin. They plan on traveling to British Columbia and Nova Scotia as well as a return trip to the South Pacific, where they led a semester abroad. She also hopes to continue contemporary quilt design, knitting, basketry and gardening. The couple has five grown children.

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