Contact: Sammy McDavid
For the second consecutive year, senior interior design majors from Mississippi State University are national winners in a lighting design contest.
Lauren M. Hoover of Winona and Kelly A. Sullivan of Jackson are among students from five colleges who finished in first place at the recent 22nd annual Halo/Metalux/IRiS Lighting Competition. MSU is the only school this year to have more than one winner.
Hoover, a 1995 Winona High School graduate, received $1,100 for her entry in the student commercial fluorescent category. She designed an upscale ladies boutique with strategically placed Metalux strip lighting.
Sullivan, a 1994 Jackson St. Joseph graduate, captured $1,500 in the student residential fluorescent category. She designed a 20-by-20 foot living/work loft with uniform illumination by Metalux fluorescent luminaries.
Students from Cornell, Iowa State and East Carolina universities, as well as the Ringling School of Art and Design, were first-place winners in other categories.
Last year, MSU senior Cristi C. Moore of Starkville was No.1 in a similar contest sponsored by Cooper Lighting, an international manufacturer of illumination products. Like Sullivan this year, her award came in residential fluorescent category.
The competition that Hoover and Sullivan entered was part of the recent American Society of Interior Designers' 1998 conference and showcase in New York City.
Hoover is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Hoover, while Sullivan is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Sullivan [243 Ashcot Circle, 39211].
A part of MSU's School of Human Sciences, the interior design program enables students to develop skills to create functional, efficient and aesthetically pleasing residential and commercial environments. The four-year curriculum holds national accreditation from the Foundation for Interior Design Education and Research.