KCAD Innovation Hub

Ferris State University’s Kendall College of Art and Design (KCAD) is working in partnership with the MiSTEM Network and Intermediate School Districts (ISDs) in Kent, Muskegon, and Ottawa counties to facilitate a K-12 design competition- The West Michigan Design Prize. KCAD will be working with elementary, middle, and high school teams within these counties to develop product ideas for the competition.

KCAD is seeking three (3) student interns to support the design refinement stage of the competition. The KCAD student interns will be responsible for working directly with the K-12 student teams to refine their product ideas. This includes facilitating direct communication with teachers as students within the participating school districts, providing feedback to their ideas, creating visual renderings of student team concepts, and developing a poster for each team to use during their pitch at the competition event. This project will require KCAD student interns to manage relationships with teachers/students and apply visual communication skills in a professional manner.

The project will require student interns with a background in product design, product visualization, graphic communication, or similar disciplines. All project activities will be done in collaboration with the West Michigan Design Prize KCAD representative, Jon Moroney. The KCAD student interns will work in a hybridized work flow that will include some in-person meetings with teachers/students, remote work, and design reviews with the project lead. The project will also require collaboration with the KCAD FlexLab to coordinate printing of posters for the competition.

This is a short-term position that will coincide with a project timeline, starting on January 12, 2026 and ending on February 27, 2026. Student interns will work an average of 8 hours per week for eight weeks of project activity, not to exceed a total of 64 hours per student.

Students applying for the positions should be at least junior status entering the Fall 2025 semester.

Students applying for the positions should have strong visual communication skills and experience using digital sketching tools (i.e. Adobe Photoshop, Procreate, etc.).

Students applying for the positions should have experience using 2D design tools (i.e. Adobe Illustrator or InDesign).

Students applying for the positions should have a strong sense of the design process and be confident providing constructive feedback on design ideas.

Students applying for the positions should have strong skills in communication, teamwork, collaboration, and creativity.

Student interns will apply many of the skills, capabilities, and processes learned through their coursework at a level consistent with what is expected and practiced in a professional internship.

Students will communicate directly with the teacher/student teams located at the various school districts within the participating counties.

Student interns will participate in weekly, in-person or virtual design reviews with the project coordinator to develop and submit all project deliverables.

Student interns will have the ability to self-manage work done remotely for the project.

• Cover Letter - Please include a letter of interest that indicates which academic program you are studying at FSU/KCAD, why you are interested in the position, which skills/abilities you have that will make you a good candidate for the project team, and how this project will help support your education.
• Resume 
• Portfolio - Please include three work samples that demonstrate the ability to visualize/illustrate product concepts and develop digital compositions that communicate product use cases. Work samples can include projects, presentations, reports, documentation, etc. you created for your courses (you can submit the same material you submitted for the course).