Flexsteel, Ashley, Room & Board, KI among furniture makers benefiting from industrial & product design grads’ skills
October 1, 2026
With creativity shaped by universal design principles and honed by applied learning, graduates of UW-Stout Polytechnic’s B.F.A. industrial and product design program are creating industry-leading furniture designs, producing pieces you may already be working, sitting or sleeping on.
“One of the things that has always stood out to me about Stout's IPD program is that design is deeply connected to engineering, manufacturing and real-world implementation,” said alumnus Brian Linehan, merchandise and design manager at Room & Board in Minneapolis. “The focus extends far beyond aesthetics to understanding how products are built, produced and brought to market.”